PERSONAL LEAD
BY
UC FIT, INC.
Marta Walkuska
Judy Chin
Nalee Anantarattana
Neha Pathak
Jessica Jackson
HCI 445: Analysis and Design of HCI
Final Deliverable
November 12, 2003
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
PRODUCT NAME: Personal Lead
GROUP NAME: UC Fit, Inc.
TEAM MEMBERS AND ROLES
Marta Walkuska – Content Generation and Research
Judy Chin – Graphic Design
Nalee Anantarattana – Business Analysis
Neha Pathak – Project Management
Jessica Jackson – Information Architecture
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Personal Lead is a software application for health clubs, and health
club members, that acts as a personal training assistant. This product will be
launched on the clubs’ main computers when a member swipes their
membership card for entry to the club, and it will generate an exercise plan
for the member. Using an individualized approach to fitness, our product
provides members of all fitness levels with time-efficient, safe and highly
effective exercise programs. This product generates one’s exercise plan for a
daily, weekly or monthly schedule depending upon the individual member’s
need.
Initial information for the system will come from an initial fitness
assessment with a personal trainer. Information will potentially include:
 Daily calorie ranges
 Workout types
 Common pre-selected diet types i.e. the Zone or Atkins
 Workout goals i.e. weight maintenance, loss, gain, muscle building or
toning.
The deployment of the application will be dependent upon the individual
health club’s needs, such as existing equipment, space and traffic flow. Two
alternatives for presenting and updating plans for the member will be:
 kiosks or computer consoles located in the gyms lowest areas of
traffic. The kiosk will allow members to make changes and updates to
their profiles.
 a paper printout which is given to the member at the time of entering
the club. The plans will be printed at the gym reception.
Following the entry of personal data such as physical attributes,
preferences, goals, etc. by the member into the computer, a suitable
exercise plan will be generated and distributed to participating members.
-2-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
BUSINESS CASE
The Market
Leading a healthy lifestyle has become of utmost importance for
Americans, as can be seen by the growth of health clubs and fitness centers.
The number has increased from 16,938 clubs in January 2001 to nearly
18,000 facilities by January 2002, a total of 5.1 percent.1 And the number of
health club members in the United States has climbed to a record 36.3
million people.2
While individuals have many reasons to become health club members,
personal training is not just a “‘feature’ in clubs, but the vehicles most likely
to bring new and existing members the results they seek.”3 As such, it is
both a popular draw and a reason to remain a health club member.
Marketing plan
UC Fit, Inc.’s initial sales will focus on distributing Personal Lead
software throughout two major health club chains in the Chicagoland area
where the average number of members per club is over 300. Future plans
include utilizing existing contact with chain clubs and expanding our
customer base to other areas of the United States.
An experienced sales team will generate consumer awareness of
Personal Lead by demonstration, free trial, and special promotion through
designated health clubs. The major benefits of Personal Lead that will be
emphasized for the club are increased membership and branding loyalty,
increasing numbers of customers who look to club programs to help attain
their goals, and increased membership retention.
Currently, 91% of health clubs offer personal training, and 89% offer
fitness evaluations; these numbers are the highest of any program offered
by clubs5. Here is where UC Fit, Inc. plans to position itself and lend our first
customers an edge over the competition. Clubs who invest in Personal Lead
will offer a much-desired service at a comparative steal. The initial
assessment can be easily incorporated into the free fitness evaluations
offered by most major clubs (see below), and the first workout plan may be
free as well. Thereafter, health clubs may offer Personal Lead to members
for a weekly fee of five dollars, three of which will go to UC Fit, Inc., with
package discounts available to club members. This is a vastly reduced rate
compared to personal training.
U.S. Health Club Numbers Continues To Climb; retrieved 9/21/03, from
http://clubindustry.com/ar/fitness_us_health_club/
2
U.S. Health Club Membership Reaches A Record High; retrieved 9/21/03, from
http://clubindustry.com/ar/fitness_us_health_club_2/
3
Achieving Professional Status (and Pay) in Focus on Personal Training; retrieved 9/21/03, from
http://clubindustry.com/ar/fitness_focus_personal_training_5/index.htm
4
Health Club Industry Review 2003, retrieved 9/21/03, from http://www.promoteit.com/Health_Club_Industry_Review.pdf
1
-3-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Our pricing strategy for clubs is low as well. It includes free Personal
Lead software training for personal trainers (at least one per club), offering a
one-month-free trial to clubs, and offering discounts to clubs who enroll
large numbers of people or who have a high ratio of enrolled/non-enrolled
members. Clubs may lease Personal Lead on a quarterly basis, with the
dollars lost from the initial free trial prorated into later payments. The
starting price point per club location is $1500 per quarter. Incorporated as a
benefit to leasing the software will be updates that include the latest
research on fitness and health trends. Even without promotional discounts,
clubs will recoup their costs if 63 people are enrolled per week, and
membership numbers beyond that are profitable.
Benefits for staff
Personal trainers are positioned as a secondary user of the product
(see users demographics below). In the past, personal trainers may have
performed a similar function to Personal Lead. Nevertheless, according to
Richard Body, president of Personal Training on the Net, “reportedly the
world’s largest educational resource for personal trainers,” few personal
trainers are providing individualized workout plans for clients, and thus are
not fulfilling their position.5 UC Fit, Inc. sees the purpose of a trainer as
more specialized than that of a workout planner. The true benefit of a
personal trainer is their fulfillment of the roles of consultant, coach, and
teacher.
Personal Lead can remove unnecessary overhead for the trainer, and
give members exposure to personal training. In a club that implements
Personal Lead, personal trainers are a complement to the system. While
members may not be aware of the value personal training and are thus
unwilling to put their dollars into this expensive venture, Personal Lead
offers a low cost glimpse at these benefits with an eye to graduating the
consumer to the more attentive level of personal training in the future.
Personal Lead allows for the customer to consult and confide in a personal
trainer at any point of the weight program, without completely relying on
them.
Finally, Personal Lead may help reduce the cost that health clubs incur
related to hiring, maintaining, and possibly educating personal trainers. The
use of UC Fit, Inc. software may also offer clubs more flexibility through the
reduction of overhead incurred by retaining a number of personal trainers on
staff.
Competitive analysis
Strengths
 Low cost to the consumer when compared with personal trainer
Are Trainers Meeting Clients’ Expectations?; retrieved 9/21/03, from
http://clubindustry.com/ar/fitness_focus_personal_training_6/index.htm
5
-4-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003



Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Flexible hours - a customer may utilize the product without being tied
to personal training appointments
Easily accessible for modification and update
Tailored to the individual’s daily goals and desires
Weakness
 Does not provide motivation, a customer may stop anytime they want
Competitor Descriptions
Direct Competitor: eDiets
eDiets6 is an online service that advertises that it is “like having a
nutritionist, a psychologist, a personal trainer, and a coach rolled into one.”
eDiets offers diet plans, weekly meal plans and shopping lists, around-theclock access, invaluable advice and encouragement, optional custom
workouts, and tools and tips for $5.00 a week. For those who have further
concerns, they may consult a nutritionist for $90/hr, a fitness expert $50/hr,
a group therapist $60/hr, a psychologist $120/hr and a psychiatrist $180/hr.
When clients sign up for Personal Lead, they meet with a live, trained
professional. The assessment is more thorough, personal, and accurate.
While eDiets focuses on nutrition, the program is not highly tailored. Rather,
it is based upon mathematical weight calculations such body mass index,
without consideration to personal lifestyle and needs. Weight loss, gain or
maintenance is the main goal of the program; fitness is not as well
addressed. Sculpting, building muscle, increasing muscle tone, and
endurance are only some of the goals that Personal Lead caters to and that
eDiets is not concerned with.
In addition, as an online service, eDiets may potentially be unable to
offer customers the level of security and credibility required, as is sometimes
the case with online services. There may also be an issue with the validity of
information being returned to the consumer from the site. Since an
individual’s information is initially inputted via an online form, there is no
way to ensure that information, such as the customer goal, is within healthy
or realistic limits.
Risk
Risks associated with the development and implementation of personal
training software application includes cost and the motivation of the target
market. Assuming that health clubs will become interested in offering
Personal Lead, the consumer cost of personal training software application is
low when compared with the cost of personal training per session. But the
customer may have difficulties trusting the efficiency and effectiveness of
this application; in other words, the consumer may be skeptical about
6
www.ediets.com
-5-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
whether the product will work for them. The club risks not making back its
leasing fee, and increasing paper clutter.
Development costs include hiring sales people (highest cost, in the
tens of thousands for professionals, or hundreds to thousands for amateurs),
the time involved to develop the software and marketing strategy, the cost
to consult and test designs with users throughout the development cycle,
the price of consulting with experts on proper fitness programs to be
implemented, and user testing. Ideally, UC Fit, Inc. would convince a single
location of one club chain to accept our product for free, and allow us to use
their site as testing ground for usability, marketing, and determining primary
user acceptance. This delays the point at which income will be coming into
UC Fit, Inc., however, we believe having a proven product will increase the
likelihood of Personal Lead to be incorporated into other clubs and locations.
INTENDED USER CONSTITUENTS
Our user constituents will be self-motivated and looking to fulfill
specific training goals. They may have general or specific knowledge of
particular diet plans. Some will have familiarity with exercise equipment,
although this is not necessary. Furthermore, our users will be looking to
spend anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours in the gym and would like to
have an exercise program tailored to their needs. The user is looking for a
simple way to obtain this tailored exercise program without the expense of a
personal trainer.
Primary Users
The primary users of Personal Lead are club members who pay a
monthly fee to use the product at the gym.
Assumptions about primary users:
 Male or female: Gym membership has been shown to be 53%/47%
female/male, and both of these groups are targeted5.
 Between the ages of 18-34: This market tends to have less disposable
income and time
 Novice to Advanced Beginners for equipment usage and fitness
routines
 Highly motivated: Users are able to sustain motivation with progress
towards goals without constant encouragement
 High frequency of use (daily)
 Comfortable using computers and IT
Assumptions about primary users’ characteristics
UC Fit, Inc. has identified 4 main user groups that are wanting to:
 Lose weight
 Improve strength
-6-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
 Improve muscle tone
 Increase endurance
Users from these groups tend to have the following characteristics:
Lose




Weight
Sedentary lifestyle
Need help setting up a routine
Unwilling to devote much time to exercise
Low tolerance for difficult tasks or exercises, but willing to try for
limited amounts of time
 Need help setting measurable goals
 Needs to spend time on cardiovascular activities and lifting weights
 Interested in but have trouble sticking to trendy diet plans
Improve Strength
 Tend to be used to physical activity
 Willing to learn new machines and exercises
 Considers themselves knowledgeable
 More experienced with equipment
 Unwilling to devote much time to learning software
 Spends a fair amount of time and is more interested in lifting weights
than cardio
Improve Muscle Tone
 May have been an athlete at one time, but whose lifestyle has become
more sedentary
 Understand routine and willing to follow one
 Willing to spend time learning software
 Willing to learn new machines and exercises
 More experienced with equipment
 May be interested in newer diet plans
Increase Endurance
 Tend to enjoy cardiovascular activities
 May be training for amateur sports events
 Highly motivated and used to routine
 Unwilling to devote much time to weights or new machines.
 Willing to follow a lead and change routines on familiar equipment
 Engages the use of time-honored fitness plans over fad diets
Secondary Users
There are 2 secondary user groups: UC Fit, Inc. training staff and
personal trainers.
-7-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Assumptions about Secondary Users Characteristics:
UC, Fit, Inc. Training staff:
 Advanced user of Personal Lead
 Highly experienced with software in general
 Have acquired a bit of domain knowledge about fitness, but not nearly
as knowledgeable as personal trainers
 Interested in training and database management
Personal Trainers
 May not be entirely comfortable with computers
 Schooled knowledge of the fitness field
 Willing to learn about new routines and tasks if they see the benefit to
themselves and their clients
 Trust in their own ability to advice clients
 Interested in earning more income by simplifying their job and taking
on more clients
 Enjoy the personal interaction of coaching
INTENDED TASKS
The system will allow users to perform the following intended tasks:
 Allow users to update their personal profile
 Allow users to update their goals of achievement
 Allow users to control the progress by expediting or slowing the plan
per set goal
 Organize and display a daily weight loss plan per set goal
 Organize and display a daily toning plan per set goal
 Organize and display a daily muscle building plan per set goal
 Organize and display a daily endurance plan per set goal
-8-
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
USER TASK MATRIX
USERS
TASKS
Update
Personal
Profile
Update
Personal
Goals
Update
Progress
of Plan
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Endurance
Oriented
x
x
x
UC FIT Staff
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Personal
Trainers
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Weight Loss
Oriented
Strength
Improvement
Oriented
Muscle
Building
Oriented
Organize &
Display
Strength
Improvement
Plan
Organize
&
Display
Muscle
Building
Plan
Organize
&
Display
Weight
Loss Plan
Organize
& Display
Endurance
Plan
Database
Maintenance
x
x
x
-9-
x
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
USERS’ ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN IMPLICATIONS
The physical, social, and cultural environments of our target users are
important to the successful use of our product, Personal Lead. Below is a
breakdown of these environments for our target users. The descriptions are
based on the use of the product in its primary location, Chicago area health
clubs.
Weight Loss
Improve
Muscle Tone
Physical
 Loud (music, and
machines whirring)
 Crowded
 Many treadmills, other
cardio machines
 Fans
 Smells of sweat
 Smells of chlorine (if
pool)
 Bright








Loud (music, and
machines whirring)
Crowded
Many treadmills, other
cardio machines
Fans
Smells of sweat
Smells of chlorine (if
pool)
Bright
Social
 Men and women
who may be
trying to get back
into shape.
Therefore, move
a little slower
compared to
other veteran
gym goers.
 Pressure to
quickly move
through exercises
so as not to seem
unable or novice
 Workout with
others for
motivation
 women seeking
to improve
physique via
classroom
workouts such as
yoga or pilates
and some
machines
 men seeking to
improve muscle
definition via free
weights and
some machines
 potentially
attempt to outdo
each other in a
classroom setting
or in a the weight
room setting
 attempt to use
machines without
full knowledge of
the proper
method of use
- 10 -
Cultural
 members of all
ethnicities
 tend to be of the
middle
socioeconomic
class
 most likely
working out to
lose vanity
pounds
 potentially a
group that may
travel a lot
(based on age
group possible
that they are
consultants)
 already consider
themselves fit
 see muscle
toning as the
next step or the
maintenance step
of their workout.
 Potentially
approach fitness
as a trendy
activity not as
something to
improve health
 All ethnicities
 Varying
socioeconomic
classes
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Improve
Endurance







Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Loud (music, and
machines whirring)
Crowded
Many treadmills, other
cardio machines
Fans
Smells of sweat
Smells of chlorine (if
pool)
Bright





Personal
Trainers








Loud (music, and
machines whirring)
Crowded
Many treadmills, other
cardio machines
Fans
Smells of sweat
Smells of chlorine (if
pool)
Bright
Many people asking
questions while at
reception





- 11 -
Aerobic
classroom
exercise
Spinning or
classroom
running or
aerobics.
Veteran gym
goers, therefore
know how the
machines work
Know how their
bodies work and
move
Competitive with
themselves and
those around
them
Busy lifestyle of
consulting with
many different
types people
Required to work
with gym staff
very closely
Work with regular
gym members
throughout the
day
Consistent
personal contact
with members to
answer various
fitness related
questions
Questions
regarding the
usage of
machines and
other equipment.











Athletes in some
lifetime
All ethnicities
Varying
socioeconomic
classes
Experience with
fitness gadgets
such as heart
rate monitors for
runners etc.
Enjoy a team
oriented
environment
Enjoy working
with others
Highly motivated
individuals who
enjoy motivating
others
Mostly men but a
few women
Place a great
value on fitness
for themselves
and those around
them
All ethnicities
Varying
socioeconomic
backgrounds
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
UC Fit







Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Loud (music, and
machines whirring)
Crowded
Many treadmills, other
cardio machines
Fans
Smells of sweat
Smells of chlorine (if
pool)
Bright





Travel for
installations
Required to know
the “ins and outs”
of the system,
i.e. the backend
workings as well
as the front end
“how to’s” for
various actions
No space to keep
their equipment
on site.
Carry a phone
everywhere to be
able to reach
other team
members for help
if necessary
Potential hazard
of getting hurt by
machines or
weights if not
paying attention
to those around
him





Highly
knowledgeable
technologically as
well as with
fitness
Must work quickly
as a result of
pressure from
customers to get
back to their
routines
Understand the
value of working
in a team
All ethnicities
Various
socioeconomic
classes
FACTORS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AFFECTING THE INTERFACE
There are many factors of the environment that will affect the
interface of the Personal Lead product. As described above the environment
in which Personal Lead will be used is various Chicago area health clubs.
Following are some environmental factors that will affect the design of our
interface:
Cleanliness
Health clubs tend to be very crowded places. As a result, there will be a
great deal of contact with machines, and other people. With personal contact
there is always contact of germs, dirt, and sweat. If a touch screen is to be
implemented for the kiosks it could cause a problem with the cleanliness of
the screens and the volume of people touching it.
Temperature
As described above, health clubs tend to be crowded. Therefore a lot of heat
will be generated from the volume of people, as well as the physical exertion
which occurs. As a result the interface should be very easy to access and the
use so customers are able to get in an out quickly.
- 12 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Moisture
There is the potential for a lot of moisture due to sweat, heat, pools,
showers, and beverages i.e. Gatorade and water. Therefore all kiosks,
machines and other equipment should be resistant to moisture.
Space, Volume and Motion
Due to the volume of machines, bodies in motion, and the space in which
everything is placed, the delivery of information must be light weight,
inexpensive, quick to accommodate the number of individuals in the gym,
and small enough that it does not take up a lot of room on the gym floor.
The application that is developed must allow for quick movement of people
and not cause an accumulation of people in one place. In addition, the
method of delivery should also be quick for the same reasons. The process
of inputting and updating workout information should also be quick;
therefore, the interface should be very easy to work with, not one that will
force the user to wonder what certain terms mean or how certain things
should be done.
Time
Depending upon the purpose for working out, individuals will have different
views of this. Those who typically do not work out but only do it as a trendy
activity, and do not have a specific goal in mind may not be willing to spend
the time to input information. Those that work out with a specific goal in
mind and see our product as something that will help them achieve their
ultimate goal(s) will be more likely to spend the time to input and update
the information. They will see it as an aid to help them get to where they
want to be.
Privacy
Health clubs are a shared space. As a result, the application should be a
secure application, one which will require a userid and password from the
individuals and a network or administrator id and password from the
personal trainers and the UC Fit implementation team. Another idea is to
develop a kiosk which will ask for an id card, ideally the gym id, to identify
the user and give them access to their account with the membership card.
The kiosk would be similar to those currently being used in the airports for
check in.
- 13 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
USER PROFILES
- 14 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
- 15 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
- 16 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
- 17 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
USER SCENARIOS
For each of our user constituents, individuals seeking weight loss,
improved muscle tone, muscle building, improved endurance, personal
trainers, and UC Fit team members, UC Fit has developed two user
scenarios, for different tasks that each of these constituents would
potentially perform. These scenarios are outlined below.
User: Strength Improvement Oriented
Task: Update Personal Goals
Ben was a football player in high school and college. He married his high
school sweetheart after college, and they moved to the city. He became a
stockbroker and they lived life in the fast lane. He turned 30 last month and
is paranoid about getting older. He and his wife have been eating out for
the majority of meals and Ben’s body has gotten flabbier with a bit of the
paunch associated with alcohol-induced weight gain. His current routine
includes cardio and weights on alternate days of the week. He feels fairly in
shape, but he’s going on vacation in 3 months with his wife and wants to
look really good (the way he used to) for her. Ben wants to change his goal
in Personal Lead from maintaining to building strength.
 As Ben finishes up his cardio routine, he decides that now is the time
to start bulking up.
 He walks over to a computer that already has Personal Lead up on
screen. He enters his username and password, and logs in
 Ben hits the “Goals” button and 4 options appear: lose/maintain
weight, tone, build strength, and build endurance.
 He selects “Build Strength” and then selects which parts of the body
he is most concerned with.
 He selects “Goal Duration” and then “3 months.”
 He selects “Workout” and “View Today’s Plan” and prints out his
updated workout.
 He logs out, picks up his print out, and goes to get a drink of water
before continuing his workout.
User: Strength Improvement Oriented
Task: Organize & Display Strength Improvement Plan
Robert Owen is a sales manager at the McClurg Court Center. He is
responsible for all rental activities in the apartment building. His goal is to
improve his strength by working out with a personal trainer at the gym, but
his greatest challenge is his time constraint. His limited time schedule does
not allow him to attend any strength improvement classes as he would
desire.
In the evening after work, he walks to Lake Shore Athletic Club and plans
out his exercise routine for the evening with the purpose of improving
strength.
- 18 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003








Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
He sits down at his computer in his office.
He goes to UC.Fit, Inc. homepage, and logs in.
He enters his sign-in name and password, and is logged into his
personal page information.
On the computer screen. He fills out his personal information such as
weight, height, age and etc. and his goal, improve strength.
After he fills out of all information, he clicks at the enter button.
Then he clicks on the display exercise plan tab.
The improve strength exercise schedule is shown on the screen.
He clicks the sign out button to leave the home page.
User: UC FIT Staff
Task: Database Maintenance
Taylor Mallard, Database Administrator, UCFIT, works Monday – Friday 8AM
to 5 PM, on call 24 hours when needed.
Taylor has being the Database Administrator at UCFIT for 3 years with 5
year prior experience. He is the main point of contact for any problems with
the database for ‘Personal Lead’.
 Taylor receives a page from the help desk support regarding a case
#2168 that was entered for a problem with duplicate records in
‘Personal Lead’, which was causing problems for the gym members.
The gym members would update their workout plan but the updates
failed to be saved. This call was made by a local gym in Illinois that
received several complaints from their members.
 Taylor sits down in front of the mainframe computer that tracks all
changes made to the Oracle database.
 He logs in by typing in his username, password, and host string.
 He quickly views the logs of the actions that was processed in the
database within the last 48 hours.
 His prior knowledge and experience helps him identify the root cause
of the problem. There were some data anomalies with certain records
that gets processed at certain period of time during the night.
 Taylor inserts a few line of code to quickly correct the problem.
 He calls the help desk support back and closes the case.
User: UC FIT Staff
Task: Update Personal Goals
Frank Lewis is a 35 years old, part–time student at CTI department of
DePaul University, working at a Chicago Loop area gym as a trained member
of the UC Fit Group. He stays in contact with gym members that may need
his help via emails. He has been working with UC Fit Personal Lead software
for approximately a year. He knows almost all of the possible features that it
offers.
- 19 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003















Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Frank receives an email from Candy Nelson, one of the members of
the gym he works at. Candy has been using her Personal Lead for
three months now. Frank was the one that created her profile and
tailored her workout routine to fit her goals. Candy’s goals have
changed so she wants to meet with Frank to change her profile.
Frank responds to the email and schedules the appointment with
Candy for the following day.
Frank meets with Candy at the gym. They sit down in front of the
computer to find a solution to Candy’s needs.
Franks logs on to the system by putting in his username and
password.
He pulls out Candy’s profiles from the database.
It shows her goal as weight loss plus the workout routine that was
designed for her.
Frank clicks on ‘Change profile’ button
Candy explains that she is happy with her current weight and would
like to concentrate on toning her muscles right now.
Frank changes her goal to toning muscles.
He presses ‘Accept’
Few suggestions of the routines are visible on the screen
Candy and Frank discuss the optimal workout. They come to a solution
they agree on.
Frank clicks on ‘Accept changes’.
Message ‘The Profile has been updated’ pops up on the screen.
Candy’s goals have been updated. She can continue working out with
the support of Personal Lead.
User: Muscle Building Oriented
Task: Update Progress of Plan
Kristen Jones is a young and relatively fit individual. She recently recovered
from a car accident so some of her original muscle mass that she had
worked so hard to build had diminished. Approximately one month ago she
met with a personal trainer at her health club that suggested that she
gradually get back into lifting weights to build up her muscle mass again.
Her personal trainer suggested she use Personal Lead to help her keep track
of her workouts and her progress. A few days ago she noticed that her
original workout plan, as designed by her trainer, lacked resistance. Kristen
has decided that its time to update the progress of her workout plan.
 She sets up a meeting with her personal trainer.
 Her trainer runs through some strength exercises and some other
body mass measurements.
 She chooses to update her progress into the system on her own the
next time she goes to the gym.
- 20 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003












Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
When she arrives at the gym she locates the kiosk for viewing,
updating and printing plans.
At the kiosk, Kristen logs into her account using her Id and password.
Her id and password give her access to her account.
On her personal main page she quickly identifies an option for
‘progress.’
She clicks on the button and pulls up another screen which shows her
all of her initial settings with blank text boxes next to them which
allow her to enter her new information from the meeting with her
trainer.
She begins to type in the new figures one by one. She thinks to
herself, “How nice, I can visually see the progress that I have made
over time!”
At the bottom of the screen she is given the options to save, clear, or
cancel.
She chooses the save button, and a confirmation message appears
stating that she has “successfully updated her progress! It will be
noted.”
Then a message appears asking if she would like to print a new
workout plan, or if she would like to continue with other tasks.
Kristen chooses to print a new workout, after which she is prompted to
go the reception desk to pick it up after she has completed other
tasks.
Kristen is done for the day and decides to exit the application. She
finds the option to exit, to which the system responds,
“Congratulations on your progress! You have now successfully logged
off the system. Please visit the reception desk to retrieve any printed
items. Thank you for using Personal Lead!”
Kristen then walks to the reception desk and gives her Id to the
counter clerk who then hands her a copy of the new work out plan.
User: Muscle Building Oriented
Task: Organize & Display Muscle Building Plan
Mark Falcon is a full-time student at Columbia College in Chicago. He
recently moved to Chicago from Alabama. His parents help him with the
tuition, but he pays his own living expenses. He had a few part time jobs as
a waiter and a receptionist, but the money was never very good. He was
always told how handsome and tall he was and that he should try his hand
at modeling. Mark wants to give it a try since the money is pretty good. He
had a few meaningless shows, but his agent told him he needs to improve
his muscle structure in order to get better offers. Mark is a member of his
local gym and uses the Personal Lead system to better target his goal.
 Mark walks into the gym for his daily workout.
- 21 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003









Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
He has been following the same muscle building routine for the last
two months and is bored with it.
Today instead of getting his workout printout at the door as usual he
decides to reorganize his routine.
Mark notices one of the kiosks.
He logs into the system by entering his full name and password.
His current goal, Muscle Building, is displayed on the screen along with
his current routine.
Mark clicks on the ‘Change routine’ button. His available options are
displayed on the screen. He looks carefully and decides on the routine.
He checks the box next to it and clicks on ‘update routine’.
The ‘Your routine has been updated’ message pops up on the screen.
Now Mark is given an option to print out the new routine or to Exit the
system.
He prints out the routine and proceeds to the gym.
User: Personal Trainers
Task: Database Maintenance
Sean Block is the Head Trainer at Lake Shore Athletic Club in Streeterville.
He specializes in strength training for the general population of the club.
Sean’s primary goal is to maintain his job as a personal trainer. Recently, he
acquired an additional responsibility, to maintain the database of club
members who use Personal Lead as a personal training assistant.
 He sits down at his computer in his office.
 He goes to the club home page, and logs in.
 He enters his sign-in name and password, and is logged into the club
database.
 He clicks on the Personal Lead users tab to enter Personal Lead users
section.
 On the screen, it shows all the Personal Lead users and personal
information.
 He checks all the information and the exercise plans for the users and
clicks the OK button.
 He clicks the sign out button to leave the home page.
User: Personal Trainers
Task: Update Personal Profile
Joseph Keller is a member of the UC Fit team. He travels to various health
clubs around the city. Today he will be working at a Bally’s in the Chicago
Loop area. He has been called upon to work with the lead personal trainer at
the health club, Michael Kors. He will be training the personal trainer on how
to update the personal profile of an existing client.
 Joseph arrives at the gym at approximately 8am in time for his
meeting.
- 22 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003














Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
He contacts Michael, and after brief discussion, they decide on a
computer at which they can work.
Joseph recommends that Michael start his computer. While they are
waiting Joe asks about how Michael collects the information he needs
to update a customer profile and how he stores the information.
Michael notes that he writes everything down in a chart that he
created for himself when he first started as a personal trainer. The
chart just identifies some things that he should be aware of and be
sure to discuss in a meeting with a client. Michael explains that it
serves more like a checklist for him.
Now that the computer is on Joe asks Michael to login to the Personal
Lead system using his administrator id and password.
Now that Michael is in the system he sees a screen that offers him
options of things to do, such as update profiles or create new plans, or
search for an existing client, etc.
Joe instructs Michael on one of the added features of the application,
which is to update a single profile by searching one name or by
updating multiple profiles by selecting the update profiles option.
Michael settles on the single option, and proceeds by clicking on
“search clients,” and typing in “Jane Jetson,” for whom he would like
to update the profile. He then clicks “search.”
After a few seconds Jane’s Profile appears, with various options to
update, clear, delete, and cancel.
Joe explains to Michael what each of the options mean. Update will
allow him to modify the existing profile. Clear will empty all of the
fields on the page. Delete will delete the entire record from the
systems memory. Cancel will take one back to the starting page.
Joe explains that in this situation the best option to choose will be to
update. Michael clicks on the button, which allows for all of the fields
to be updateable.
Michael then reviews the information from the profile and begins to
enter in the appropriate information.
After entering all of the new information Michael is presented with a
set of options at the bottom of the page similar to the first set,
however the update button has been replaced with Save.
Michael chooses the save option and a message stating that “you have
successfully updated the profile!” appears.
Joe then continues the training session by walking through some of
the more common tasks needed by the trainer for efficient use of the
Personal Lead system.
- 23 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
User: Endurance Oriented
Task: Organize & Display Endurance Plan
Tim Bishop has been a runner all his life. Running is his passion. He recently
started a new job which forces him to travel quite a bit more than he used
to. As a result of this he does not get to run as much as he used to. After a
visit with his personal trainer he suggested that he use Personal Lead to help
him keep track of what he does while he is on the road as well as while he is
in the gym. The trainer also suggested that it will help him alternate his plan
and do different things. Tim is about to go on the road again for a week. He
is at the gym attempting to organize and display his endurance oriented
workout plan.
 Tim arrives at the gym and locates a Personal Lead Kiosk.
 He signs into his account using his id and password.
 He is given multiple options to view, update, and create his endurance
oriented workout plan.
 Tim selects View, which presents him with his current plan as well as
an option to view alternate plans, and to mix and match multiple
plans.
 Tim chooses to mix and match plans so that he has the opportunity to
some different things.
 The mix and match function allows him to choose parts of his current
workout such as running on the treadmill with parts of the alternate
plan such as a spinning class at an out of town gym.
 When he is through creating the plan, he is given the option so Save
and/or Print.
 He chooses to do both and he receives a message stating that he has
successfully saved the plan, and he is prompted to visit the reception
desk upon logout so he may retrieve the new plan to take on the road
with him.
 Tim visits the reception desk before he leaves the gym to pick up the
new plan.
User: Endurance Oriented
Task: Update Progress of Plan
John Balubar is an Automotive Technician at a Chevrolet Dealership which is
open Monday – Saturday 7AM to 9PM. He currently works as an apprentice
in the Service department. John’s work is very active because he is
constantly moving and working with heavy automobile parts. In order to
keep up with his line of work, he has decided to increase his level of
endurance in his current work out plan at the local gym.
 John walks into his gym around 6PM. He has just gotten off of work.
 He quickly locates a kiosk on the main floor against the wall.
 John logs into the system by entering his full name and his log-in
password.
- 24 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003









Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
On the screen he sees four tabs: Weight Loss, Muscle Building,
Strength Improvement, Endurance.
He clicks the Endurance tab.
John clicks on Update Plan located on the top of the screen underneath
the tab navigation.
His current plan, goal, and current progress is displayed.
He clicks the check boxes located next to ‘Target Level of Endurance’.
He changes his endurance level from 3 to 4 on a scale of 1-5, 5 being
the highest level, by clicking a radio button located under the topic
heading of ‘Target Level of Endurance’.
He clicks the ‘UPDATE NOW’ button to finalize the change.
A screen displays the message ‘THANKS JOHN, YOUR ENDURANCE
PLAN HAS BEING UPDATED AND WILL BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY’.
John clicks ‘Log Out’ on the bottom right side of the screen.
User: Weight Loss Oriented
Task: Update Personal Profile
Sally had her first child a year ago and gained more weight than was
healthy. She joined a fitness center shortly thereafter and participated in
low-impact classes and water aerobics. The weight didn’t come off, but she
felt healthier. Sally had four personal training sessions, but due to
increasing child costs, has decided to use Personal Lead instead. Over the
past month, her weight and diet has changed, and she wants to record the
progress.
 Sally arrives at the fitness center, swipes her card, and walks over to
the computers.
 She sits down, brings up the Personal Lead application, and the login
screen comes up.
 She logs in by entering with a username & a four digit password
 Sally hits the “Profile” button to display her current profile
 Sally looks over her profile and hits the “Update” button on the page.
The data in the display changes to editable text fields.
 She types in her new weight and calorie intake.
 Sally hits “Save Changes.”
 The screen refreshes so that updated data is displayed. The
appearance of the data is no longer editable fields.
 She wants to see how these changes affect her workout, so she hits
“Workout” and “View Weekly Plan.”
 She is satisfied with the changes, and wants to print out her plan for
the day.
 Sally hits “View Today’s Plan” and hits print.
 She walks over the printer, collects her plan, and goes to workout.
 Sally forgot to logout, so after 5 minutes, Personal Lead automatically
logs her out and the login screen comes back up.
- 25 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
User: Weight Loss Oriented
Task: Organize & Display Weight Loss Plan
Sarah De Guzman is an unemployed student. She attends Harper College
classes on Monday through Wednesday, majoring in Medical Billing. Sarah
leads a very inactive life. Since she’s not currently working, she’s always at
home moping around or sleeping. At 5’1”, she weighs in at 160 pounds. Her
weight has been a problem for her. She is now 24 years old and single. She
wishes for a boyfriend to end her lonely days. Her hope is suddenly
dependent on trying to lose 40 pounds to increase her self esteem and
improve her chances of finding someone.
 Sarah goes to the gym to sign up for membership.
 She sees a sign advertising about the Personal Lead Program
 She asks the receptionist at the desk about the details of the program
 The receptionist asks if Sarah would like for her to sign her up and edit
her profile
 Sarah’s self conscious about her over-weight stature and declines the
offer because she is more comfortable keeping her goals and current
weight private.
 Sarah is handed a quick guide to setup her workout plan at a kiosk by
the receptionist.
 She walks over to the kiosk that’s against the wall.
 She sees the initial screen and clicks on the ‘New Member’ button.
 She then sees a screen with a bunch of questions that requires her
input.
 Sarah enters her basic demographic information, her name, current
address, telephone numbers, email addresses, and picked out a
password for her account.
 Sarah then clicks on the continue button.
 She sees the next screen which specifically asked questions in regards
to what she wishes to accomplish as her goal.
 Sarah clicks on ‘Weight Maintenance’, enters her current weight,
enters her goal weight, enters the period of time she wishes to devote
to her workout plan, and other relevant information such as previous
injuries.
 When all the information has being entered, she clicks on ‘FINISH’.
 The system displays a screen outlying her program for the length of
time she has specified to dedicate, from the type of machines she will
be using to reps that is required for each specific exercise.
 The same screen displayed 2 buttons: ‘I am satisfied with the plan’
and ‘Edit Plan’.
 Sarah clicks ‘ I am satisfied with the plan’.
 Sarah clicks ‘Log Out’ on the bottom right side of the screen.
- 26 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT OUR USERS
Many assumptions may be made regarding our users. However, only
some of them will assist UC Fit in the successful design of Personal Lead.
Some of these assumptions are outlined here.
A. Goals
We made the following distinctions among members based upon their goals:
Members
1. An individual exercising with the aim of losing weight.
2. An individual exercising with the aim of improving strength.
3. An individual exercising with the aim of improving muscle
tone.
4. An individual exercising with the aim of increasing endurance.
Besides fulfilling the above exercise aims, we assume that all four
member groups would like to:
 Reduce the dollar amount spent on personal training sessions.
 Exercise, but not exert a lot of effort in thinking about the
best way to approach it.
The following are our two remaining user groups:
Staff
5. A personal trainer
6. A UC Fit, Inc. staff member
Personal trainers would like to:
 Help users to achieve their goals using Personal Lead
 Promote the idea of an expert, custom-built routine and
coaching
UC Fit, Inc. Staff have the following goals:
 Teach personal trainers, and possibly members, on how to
use the client (members) interface and how to best pass on
the knowledge to others.
 Maintain the database and troubleshoot any difficulties.
B. Tasks
All four of our member user groups will perform the following tasks:
 Login/logout
 Enter a personal profile upon joining Personal Lead
 Choose goals and timeframes to achieve these goals
 Allocate times to exercise per day, week or month.
 Examine different goals/plans and choose among them
 Plan exercise schedules for particular machine.
 Generate an exercise list.
 Exercise according to the exercise plan.
 Evaluate actual exercise time per visit.
- 27 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003





Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Calculate the calorie loss after a session.
Review different results between exercise with personal
trainer and software application.
Update/edit/delete personal profile
Update/edit/delete personal goal
Update/edit/delete progress of plan
The corresponding individual member groups would also:
 Organize & display weight loss plan
 Organize & display strength improvement plan
 Organize & display muscle building plan
 Organize & display endurance plan
Personal Trainers would
 Add a new member to Personal Lead
 Update/Delete entries in the database
 Teach members how to use Personal Lead by going through
member tasks
UC Fit, Inc. Staff would
 Maintain the database by logging in and accessing individual
or group member data
 Add a new member to Personal Lead for training purposes
 Update/Delete entries in the database for training purposes
 Teach personal trainers how to use Personal Lead by going
through member tasks
C. Behavior
All four member groups:
 Users make time in their schedules to go to workout
 Users workout more on certain areas of the body than others
 Sometimes, exercise plans will be printed but users won’t
have the motivation to exercise as the list is given or won’t
finish the list.
 Users will change their workouts sometimes daily, depending
on what they “feel like.”
 Users choose exercise based on past experience and use
machines that are convenient.
 Users evaluate the effectiveness of a machine by whether
they feel tired (but not exhausted) afterwards
Individual member groups:
 Users who are looking to lose weight will do cardio & weights
50/50
 Users who are looking for endurance do mostly cardio
- 28 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003


Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Users who are looking for increased strength do mostly
weights
Users who are looking for increased toning do cardio &
weights 50/50
Personal Trainers:
 Trainers may have to assist/teach/help multiple users within a
short time frame with the software
 Trainers have appointments set and can only help members
with Personal Lead in between training sessions
 Trainers have scheduled breaks and are unavailable during
these times
 At least one trainer is scheduled at all times
 Trainers will be handling high numbers of impatient members
at check in
 Trainers will keep lines moving and if there are long lines,
minimize chat time while conveying friendliness at check in
UC Fit, Inc. staff:
 Assess and solve problems quickly
 May perform site visits to help trainers and will have to be
readily available to do so when software is first installed
 Set up group Personal Lead training sessions for personal
trainers
 Explain all aspects of using Personal Lead to both trainers and
possibly members
D. Stages of Use
Lose weight users:
a) Personal Lead: These users are familiar with interacting with
computers and fairly comfortable approaching new systems.
However, they will only be approaching Personal Lead to
quickly gain an appropriate workout, and not to understand
the intricacies of how Personal Lead works. Therefore, these
users will most likely be novices with the possibility of quickly
moving to advanced beginners.
b) Creating an individualized workout: These users may have a
tendency to follow different diet trends and change their
workout often. They are most likely interested in receiving a
workout and do not consider themselves knowledgeable
enough to know “what works” to be creating their own.
These users will most likely be novices.
c) Gym equipment: These users may be completely new to gym
equipment or have had a number of years pass by since they
- 29 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
last used equipment (during which time the equipment has
altered). Some may request assistance from fitness staff to
understand how to properly work the machines. Others may
receive enough help from the picture on the machine. These
users will start off as novices and may eventually move to
advanced beginner or competent performer.
Increase endurance users:
a) Personal Lead: Users may be familiar but not overly
comfortable using computers. They have relied on coaching
in the past and are used to receiving workout instructions.
This user may be familiar with how to read the workout on
paper and will have a high likelihood of following through.
Due to their familiarity with the subject matter but not
necessarily computers, these users will be novices with the
possibility of quickly moving to advanced beginner
b) Creating an individualized workout: These users will be
familiar with workouts, how to pace themselves, and what
has worked in the past. While they may have a high degree
of familiarity with cardiovascular activities, they may not have
as much familiarity with how to use weights effectively.
These users will be advanced beginners to competent
performers.
c) Gym equipment: Users will have familiarity with cardio
machines, but may not be as comfortable with the variety of
weight machines. Once again, these users will be advanced
beginners to competent performers.
Improve strength and Improve muscle tone users:
a) Personal Lead: These users may not be as savvy or entirely
comfortable with interacting on the computer. They will be
used to tracking the progress they have made using weights
and cardio routines. These users will be novices with the
possibility of moving to advanced beginner
b) Creating an individualized workout: These individuals may be
used to a particular type of plan, such as “maxing out” or “low
weight high rep” but may not accurately assess what
equipment to use or what weight/rep ratio works well for
them. These users may start as novices or advanced
beginner, with a high percentage becoming competent
performers.
c) Gym equipment: These users are quite familiar with weight
machines and have used the cardio machines before. Some
of the “Improve Strength” users may have experienced injury
- 30 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
in the past due to not using the machines properly, and have
had to become aware of the necessity of proper posture.
These users are advanced beginners to competent
performers.
Physical trainers: competent performer
a) Personal Lead: These users are familiar with computers and
the process of logging members in and using menus to access
information about members. With training by UC Fit, Inc.
These users will move from advanced beginners to competent
performers.
b) Creating an individualized workout: These individuals have
had previous training and should be highly adept at creating
workouts. They are competent performers to experts.
c) Gym equipment: These users are up to date and aware of
how to properly use all gym equipment. They are under
obligation to know how to teach members how to use the
equipment. In this area, physical trainers are experts.
UC Fit, Inc. Staff
a) Personal Lead: These users have helped to develop the
software or have had extensive training on both use and
maintenance. They are experts on Personal Lead.
b) Creating an individualized workout: Most UC Fit, Inc. staff
that will be presenting the software or teaching others about
it will have familiarity with how the software creates the
workout, but are not necessarily familiar themselves. Most
staff will be advanced beginners in this area. However, the
creation of this program involved consulting experts on how
to create effective workouts. From time to time the experts
may be accessed to update the software.
c) Gym equipment: UC Fit, Inc. staff is trained to be familiar
with equipment insofar as how it is input into plans and what
equipment is included. Other knowledge is based upon their
past experiences. They are novices to advanced beginners.
E. Environmental effects for member users
 Users go to a gym location near them
 Users will carry a paper/paper + clipboard around with them
in the gym
 Users have space to set the paper down between machines
without hindering the ability for others to walk/access
machines
- 31 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003

Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Users may want the option of spraying the computer keys
with a cleaner due to sweat and high traffic usage
Environmental effects for personal trainers
 Small space to maneuver in hallways and exercise rooms
 They may need to ensure that members do not block traffic
(gym entry/computer stations)
Environmental effects for UC Fit, Inc. staff
 May live/work far from individual gym sites and will have to
travel if repair is needed
 Once in the gym they will be working in a tight space and will
need to be in and out quickly to avoid inconveniencing
staff/members and avoid anyone noticing them handling
hardware.
USER RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
UC Fit chose to use surveys and contextual inquiries as our pre-design
research techniques. Surveys allow for the team to reach a larger group of
users, which in turn led to a greater amount of consensus for or against
some our assumptions. The second technique of contextual inquiries allow
for the UC Fit team to learn more about our users’ environment and how
they behave within that environment.
For the purposes of task analysis we chose to focus on our primary
users. As a result, we chose not to interview with personal trainers who are
a part of our secondary user group. Moreover, the tasks which will be
performed by the secondary user group incorporate administrative type
tasks for which training will be provided by the UC Fit implementation team.
Surveys
Surveys are an important research technique that can be used at any
stage of product development. Typically surveys are short paper forms that
can be distributed to a large group of users at once. This technique allows
researchers to gather feedback from the users about the product in
question.
Personal Lead is a new product to the market, therefore using surveys
is a good method to gain more information regarding the target markets
perception as well as their interest level towards the new product. Surveys
are also a good method to retrieve information that can be used for
quantitative data which can put more evidence behind some assumptions
about our users. In addition, since surveys are typically not administered
person to person they allow us to reach many users quickly, and at the same
time. The cost of using this technique is also relatively low when compared
to other research techniques such Usability testing.
- 32 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
There are several concerns associated with the use of surveys as a
research technique. One such concern is the potential for biased data.
Answers to some questions, specifically those related with time
measurements or frequency of events may not be as reliable as they could
be. In these instances one is retrieving information about what the user
thinks he does as opposed to what the user actually does.
Surveys also rely on the users’ willingness to participate. Many surveys
may never make it back to the final point of drop off. In some situations the
open ended questions, which may be considered the most valuable in terms
of the richness of information, may be left unfilled.
Another concern is that in order for surveys to be effective and
valuable they must be administered to a very large audience. The questions
also must be relevant and easily understood to avoid any potential for
misunderstandings of responses. If the questions are not clear, the
responses have the potential of being questioned for their accuracy and
most importantly the responses may be misinterpreted.
Preparation:
 Decide on the goals, what needs to be captured
 Decide on the target population
 Conduct the survey script
o Use people with different backgrounds to build clear and easy to
understand questions
o Decide what types of questions should be used
o Decide which questions are necessary and which can be dropped
- should be short and condensed with clear and self explanatory
questions
o Test the survey on someone outside of the team to ensure all
questions are understandable.
 Decide on the method of delivery
 Deliver the survey to as many users as possible
 Should included some open ended questions
 Gather the data.
 Analyze the data.
 Make conclusions.
Execution:
 Surveys will be available at the health club reception as well as at the
UcFit/Personal Lead stands.
 Inform all health club employees of the purpose and logistics of the
survey.
 Health Club employees will inform members of the study and the
surveys
- 33 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003




Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Club members will be given the option to complete the survey at the
health club.
Club members will be given the option to take the survey home and
return it to any of the health club employees within a specified time
frame
Members will be informed about the purpose of the study
Members will be informed that their participation is not obligatory
Contextual Inquiry
After analyzing the data obtained from surveys we were able to
conduct contextual inquiries as a way to confirm or challenge our
assumptions about our users. Contextual Inquiry is a more complex
technique which allowed the team to gather different kinds of information
ranging from behaviors to perceptions, attitudes and body language within
the health club. This research method incorporates user interviews with
observation of users within the product environment. Observing users at the
gym, allowed us to see how they behave while working out. We were able to
obtain more information regarding the amount of time users spend at the
gym, and what our users’ typical workout routine would be. We were able to
obtain answers to questions such as:
 Are they confident in what they do?
 Do they look confused?
 How often do they ask a professional for help?
 Do they follow the same work out routine with every visit to the gym?
 Are they in a hurry? Do they choose machines randomly (depending
on the availability)?
 Do they take their time and choose machines carefully?
In addition, we followed a few users through their entire work out routine.
We asked them to explain what they do, why they chose specific machines,
what rules (if any) they follow while creating their work out plan.
Contextual Inquiry or the process of observing, listening and talking to
users as they perform their tasks is a technique that allows us to understand
our users the best because the users’ desired tasks are being performed in
front of us, in their natural environment. It is less likely that the researchers
received false responses to questions. For example, a user may say that he
enjoys working out and is very enthusiastic about working out, but when the
researcher observes the situation we may learn the complete opposite based
on the user’s body language or physical and emotional responses to various
activities within the gym.
A downfall to the contextual inquiry is that it can be time-consuming and
at times difficult to arrange.
- 34 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Preparation:
 Analyze the data gathered using previous research technique.
 Get to know your users and their goals.
 Decide what is important while observing the users. What you should
pay attention to.
 Prepare an interview script
 Plan your interview (e.g. using the GASP method: Greeting, Acquiring
information, Supplying information, Parting)
 Deliver the interview to as many users as possible
 Allow room for additional questions and answers.
 Be prepared to take notes.
 Gather the information.
 Compare the data to create conclusions about users and their goals.
Execution:
 Employees of the gym will be informed about the research
 They will inform gym members as they enter that the research is being
done.
 Each of the researchers will have a notebook or a recorder to keep
track of their observations.
 Each of the researchers will carry an interview sheet
 Each of the researchers will have a notebook or a recorder to
document interview scripts
 Users will be informed about the purpose of the study
 Users will be informed that their participation is not obligatory and
they can stop the interview at any time
 Interview should not take longer then 20-25 minutes
 Team members should ensure that they answer all the questions users
may have during the interview.
 Notes will be taken or recorded during the interview.
 Users will be informed when the process is completed.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
Our research findings proved to be inconclusive in some areas. We
found that some responses from the survey were negative however, when
the same questions were asked during the contextual inquiries we received
positive responses. Specifically, we found that more individuals were
interested in the application when asked during the contextual inquiry then
when asked during the survey. Our results also indicated that those that
have previously used the services of a personal trainer are interested in the
product however, they prefer to use the previous workout plans created by
their personal trainers. Those individuals who currently use a personal
trainer did not find the product to be useful or of interest. These same
individuals however, do not find the services of personal trainers to be
- 35 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
expensive; therefore, they are not inclined to use our product, and are also
not a part of any of our user constituent groups.
Another interesting finding from our user research showed that we can
not assume the level of computer expertise of our users. This finding has an
impact on the design as well. This is so because the system will need to be
fast and buttons, workout options and other elements of the design need to
be large enough to allow the users to quickly find what they are looking for.
Based on some of our results we also found that working out and
physical fitness are personal activities for most. They are activities that
many use as a method of reducing stress, and part of the enjoyment of
working out for people comes from creating personal workout plans on their
own. This may also become a critical success factor of our product. The
workouts that are produced should be of a professional level and accurate.
These two elements will determine whether users will be satisfied with what
is created which will ultimately determine the usage and the success of the
product and the design.
CONFIRMED AND DISPROVED ASSUMPTIONS
Our two pre-design research techniques of surveys and contextual
inquiries, offered UC Fit valuable information regarding our assumptions of
our user constituents. Through interpretation of data, these initial
assumptions about potential Personal Lead users have been proven true:









Users do not have much spare time for exercising; they exercise
when they have free time.
The perceived cost of personal trainers is expensive.
Paper is the preferred delivery method of workouts
Users do not want to spend much time entering their personal data.
They prefer to use a familiar application.
Users exercise with familiar machines in order to achieve their goals.
Users want to exercise with a personal trainer because they are
experienced.
Users exercise variety to avoid boredom.
Users go to the gym more often when they are provided with
continuous professional, personal trainer services.
Users do not want to create their own workout plan, they prefer that
experts create it for them.
The following assumptions have been proven false:


Users are familiar with computers.
Users work out according to the workout plan they created.
- 36 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
EFFECTS OF USER RESEARCH ON THE DESIGN DIRECTION
Our user research results allowed the research team to learn more
about our users, specifically their preferences, and the tasks that they go
through to achieve their workout goals. Some assumptions made about our
user constituents were proven false, but the majority of the assumptions
were confirmed.
The results of our research had a significant influence on our design
decisions. Below is a synopsis of these results and their effects on our
design.

Result:
o Users do not have much spare time for exercising
o They exercise when they have free time
o They prefer to use familiar applications
Decision:
1. The interface must be clear and easy to learn, our users will not
have time to learn a new interface.
2. The benefits of our product and the positive impact it will have on
users’ time must be salient.
3. The design should be engaging and quick moving to avoid waiting
and an abundance of people in one area of the gym.

Result:
o The perceived cost of personal trainers is expensive.
o Users want to exercise with a personal trainer because they are
perceived to be experienced.
o Users go to the gym more often when they are provided with
continuous professional, personal trainer services.
Decision:
1. The cost of our product is well below the cost of a personal trainer.
2. The product should be continuously accessible, therefore the
system will be accessible online at the gym or health club.
3. The printed workouts should correspond closely to those created by
a personal trainer, and based on the goals and needs of the user.
Therefore, the results of the initial assessment will be able to be
inputted into the system.

Result:
o Gym goers preferred to have their workouts delivered on paper.
Decision:
- 37 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
1. Workouts will be printed at the gym reception at the time of the
users’ entry to the gym.

Result:
o Users prefer to have variety in their workouts to avoid boredom.
o Users exercise with familiar machines in order to achieve their
goals.
Decision:
1. Our product needs to offer a variety of workout options to keep our
users interested.
2. The options offered should be familiar, using machines or programs
that are easily accessible.
- 38 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 200
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
TASK FLOWS
- 39 -
UC Fit, Inc.
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Update user’s goal
Sit in front of computer
Go to Personal Lead Website
Log in to your personal page
Click “full review”
Button in goal section
No
Change user’s goal
Yes
Click at the check box to
Change goal
Click “update” button
Keep old goal
Change to new goal
- 40 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
CHARACTER MATRIX
Personal Lead
Users’
Characteristics
Users’ Name
Age
User’s Goal
Place in
working out
How often
users work out
The Most use
work out
machine
Computer User
User 1
User 2
User 3
User 4
Lisa
John
Mary
Michael
30
25
24
28
Improve health
Build Muscles
Build Muscles
Gym
Gym
Loose/Maintain
Weight
Gym
Once a week
Everyday
Twice a week
Running
Cardio
Almost
everyday
Cardio
Occasion
Frequent
Frequent
Frequent
Good
Good
Good
Good
Gym
Cardio
Internet
Familiarity
Motivation for
learning New
Interface
Language
Low
High
High
Medium
English
English
English
English
Stage of Use
Advance
Expert
Competent
Competent
Primary
computer Use
Work
Home
Home
Home/work
QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE GOALS AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
General:
Quantitative
 Percentage of members who retain their membership the following
year is 88% higher among Personal Lead users
 Process of updating plans should take no more than 10 min.
 95% of the participants should be able to trigger automatic printing of
plans at the time of swiping into the gym with approximately 2mins for
each printout.
 95% of users recognize the terminology used in the application, no
matter their fitness expertise
- 41 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable

95% of users perceive the process of creating an account and profile
as easy
 95% of users believe the application is helping them to reach their
goals
 95% of users are satisfied with the workout they have chosen
 To prevent overflow of the gym members around kiosks, wait time at
each kiosk should be no more than 3 min.
 80% usage rate by gym members
 95% of members using Personal Lead achieve their intended goal
within 3 months of start date.
 1.5% rate of complaints, measured by feedback surveys supplied after
the first 3 weeks of usage.
Qualitative
 Names of categories should be recognizable by the health club crowd
 All paths should be relatively flat and therefore easy to locate.
 Users are qualitatively satisfied with the program, measured through
survey feedback
 The number of days that a member visits the club increases by at least
one day per week
 The number of individuals seeking a physical fitness assessment
increases.
 The number of individuals interested in personal
training increases.
UCFit Staff:
Login, tailor users plans
Qualitative
 Users consider product quick and easy to use
Quantitative
 Users are able to update plans and profiles within 3 min after login
 100% of the users are able to change the workout plan and update the
profile without any problems
 99% of users are able take advantage of all the functionalities product
has to offer
Updating profiles
Qualitative
 Users consider updating profile a simple process
 Users have not experiences any difficulties performing the task
Quantitative
 Users are able to update plans and profiles within 2 min after login
 100% of the users are able to update plans and profiles any problems
- 42 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003

Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
99% of users are able take advantage of all the functionalities product
has to offer
Gym Members:
Changing the workout routine
Qualitative
 Users are satisfied with the variety of routine options offered
 Users consider it easy to make changes
 Users are satisfied with being to speed up or slow down their workout
by variety of preset paces. Users are satisfied with being in control of
their workout and health.
Quantitative
 Users are able to update their workout routine within 4 screens from
login.
 99 % of users can complete the task of update personal goal.
 Users make 2 or less errors during updating process of plan.
 Users will be able to enter their goals for their workout within 2
minutes regardless of users’ computer experience background
Login, view the current workout plan
Qualitative
 Users are satisfied with the ease of update process of plan.
 Users consider the product easy to understand.
Quantitative
 99 % of users can complete the task without any mistakes
 100% of users can complete the task in less than 5 minutes
Update/Create the profile
Qualitative
 Users are satisfied with only updating the information that needs to be
changed without retyping everything in their profile
 Users consider the product easy to understand.
Quantitative
 Users will be able to enter all their demographic information within 2
minutes regardless of users’ computer experience background.
- 43 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
- 44 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
RELEASE ONE FUNCTIONALITY
Release one of the Personal Lead System will include the following
functionality:
 A note taking functionality or a built in online chart that can be used
by trainers to record information gathered during the initial
assessment.
 Initial entry to the system should include a button to login at the end
of the session there should be a button to logout.
 Security in the form of userid and password. Depending upon the user
should offer different rights. i.e. personal trainers would have admin
rights to the system.
 Userid should be at least 8 characters long.
 passwords should be 4-6 alphanumeric characters
 For personal trainers search functions that include searching by name
and by member number (i.e. criteria used by the gym to individually
identify a member)
 Navigation that includes buttons or tabs for each of the primary
functions such as identifying goals, updating plans, creating plans, and
profiles (personal initial information from the initial assessment with
the personal trainer).
 Goal identification tab should offer the options of lose weight, increase
muscle tone, increase endurance, build muscle, combination of the
above.
o Select areas of the body that are a concern
o Select goal duration (time to complete)
o Select "Workout" main category
o Select "View Today's Plan"
o Option to “View Weekly Plan”
 Update options for the goals should include an option to determine the
challenge level of the workout.
o each level of workout attribute’s challenge is ranked from 1 to 5,
5 being the highest level of challenges.
 Options or functions available at each tab should include the following
at minimum:
o Update will allow for modification
 this could change to “I am satisfied with the plan.” And
“edit Plan”
o Clear will empty all of the fields on the page.
o Delete will delete the entire record from the systems memory.
o Cancel will take one back to the starting page.
o Save Changes will save changes made
o Print will print the selected screen
 Feedback for each successful task completion and incorrect completion
i.e. error and success screens.
- 45 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003





Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
Auto printing of plans at time of gym entry.
o Triggered by swiping card at the front door.
At time of logout offer the user the opportunity to see a session
summary.
Session timeout after 5 mins of inactivity
Prior to session timeout should be a message i.e. the system will log
out in 15 seconds. Shut down occurs when there is no response from
the user
To maintain or troubleshoot the site, all work should be done against
the mainframe so this saves time since updates are direct and
instantaneous and saves time from sending someone out to the gyms.
- 46 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPES
Please see Appendix A for detailed drawings.
- 47 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPE TESTING METHODS & OBJECTIVES
Task objective
Through user tests our group will address the issues raised by the following
objectives:
User:
1. Will users be able to understand the online personal training without
help from the Test Moderator?
2. Will users be satisfied with the Personal Lead system overall?
3. Will users be satisfied with the format of the daily exercise schedule?
4. Will users consider the process of logging in to the system to be
painless?
5. Will users perceive entering profile information to be easy?
6. Will users be satisfied with the goals presented and the convenience of
the updating their personal goals?
Test environment
The usability testing will be conducted in DePaul University Lincoln
Park Academic Center lounge. The Academic Center is located near the
university gym, and we assume that many gym members visit the place
before or after their workout. We considered it a good place for finding
potential Personal Lead users.
The test facility will be outfitted with a table and chairs. The Test
Moderator and participant will sit adjacent to each other. The observer(s)
will be seated 3 feet away across from the participant, so as not to disturb or
distract the participant during the test but close enough to see the
interaction. The paper prototype will be displayed on the table and
manipulated as necessary by the Test Moderator.
Test design
An exploratory design was chosen to get the maximum benefit out of the
low fidelity paper prototype. While difficulties or successes with particular
tasks will be noted, the emphasis in data collection will be on users
impressions of the application, its relevance to their fitness routine, and ease
of use. Two users were chosen to participate in testing. Each one was given
a different task to perform to maximize the amount of information we could
gather on different aspects of the prototype. The moderator script, survey,
task list, and informed consent documents are attached.
1. The test moderator will greet the user and ensure the user does or has
worked out with gym equipment in the past and is 18-34 years of age.
The moderator will query the user to understand their level of
computer experience, experience with similar applications, and general
experience with online interfaces.
- 48 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
2. The test moderator will inform the participant of what lies ahead
during testing, obtain and informed consent, and present the task for
testing. The moderator will begin the test by reading the task aloud to
the participant. The participant will then be encouraged to work
without guidance.
3. If the participant has problems during the test and struggles for more
than thirty seconds, the test moderator will offer suggestions to help
the user recover from the confusion and progress onward.
4. During the test, two observers will record the participant’s actions,
errors and comments. Observers will also make notes about the
relevant participant behavior, comments, and any unusual
circumstances that might have an effect on the results.
5. After each screen, the moderator will ask additional questions to get
more detailed opinions about the prototype.
6. The test moderator will make sure that the participant performs at a
pace to accomplish all tasks within a maximum time of fifteen minutes.
7. The moderator will ask the participant to complete a brief survey.
After completing the tasks, test moderator will debrief the participant for
feedback about the application, perception about the usability of the system,
and to help understand the user’s thoughts about specific errors or problems
during the test and also make sure that all questions regarding the test
objectives are answered.
Evaluation measures
During testing, we will be noting impressions of screen content and
layout. The moderator will probe on areas where the user takes a wrong
path or appears confused, which may indicate an area where the interface is
not intuitive to the user. User comments and suggestions will be noted,
which will then be incorporated into the interface. Probes will concentrate
on the goal and workout areas, to see if users understand the presentation
of information. After the tests, the brief survey completed by the participant
may reinforce our observational findings, as well as the user’s subjective
feelings about the application.
Test Results
USER #1: Male, 25 years old, student and TA, single, works out occasionally
TASK: You’ve walked into your gym and heard about a program called
Personal Lead, which can give you customized workout plans. Create a new
account for yourself. Your member number is 15.
Login/Account Creation/Profile/Goals, Introduction to the Personal
Lead system, not a first time user:
- 49 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003


Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
User performed the task without any problems or hesitation, was
familiar with the layout of the login page
The user had no further comments or questions.
View your workout plan:
 The user asked additional question regarding the Personal Lead
system.
 He was able to achieve task, but with a slight hesitation.
 He liked the layout of the page.
 He said that he would like to click on the workout numbers to update.
 He considered the layout clear and easy to use (update/change).
Overall:
 The user suggested increasing the amount and size of text
 The user preferred to go right to the workout page after login.
USER #2: Female, 21 years old, student, single, works out regularly, gym
member
TASKS: You’ve signed up for Personal Lead and have been using it for a
month. You’ve decided to change your goal weight and you want to go from
endurance training to muscle toning. Please do this now.
Login to the Personal Lead system, an experienced user:
 User performed the task without any problems or hesitation.
 She liked the simplicity and familiarity of the page.
Update your goals:
 The user easily completed this task.
 User didn’t like the term “losing weight” and suggested “decrease body
fat or something because you don’t want to lose muscle”
 She liked having the option to select lower arms and upper arms.
 She thought challenge levels were appropriate and detailed enough
Update your profile:
 The user was not clear where to find the Goal Weight. She hesitated
between Your Profile and Your Goals tabs and made an error choosing
Your Goals tab.
 When she could not find the Goal Weight button or link on the page
she switched to the Your Profile tab and accomplished the task.
View/Update your workout plan:
 The user said she liked having the left hand workout synopsis
 She was familiar with the layout of the reps/weights
 She suggested putting the number of sets in the diagram
- 50 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003



Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
She suggested that the numbers in cells be selectable
She suggested that the calories burned/exercise be shown
She suggested that to update the routine, allow one to compare
equivalent workouts (calories burnt or difficulty) on different machines
Overall:
 Screens are easy to use
 She would go to the UserHome page rather than viewing a workout
after logging in. She like seeing a synopsis of what is entered.
 On the UserHome page, she would rather go to full view and update
than go from the synopsis because “changing one thing could affect
others. I want to make sure its right.”
Both of the users gave us a feedback on the overall ideas of the product as
well as the interface. Their opinions and UcFit members’ observations
resulted in the list changes used in creation of high fidelity prototype.
CHANGES TO BE MADE TO THE PROTOTYPE BASED ON USER FEEDBACK



Make numbers on the workout page changeable
Show the number of calories burnt per exercise
Tie the muscle area groups to the difficulty level on the diagram
o For low users, have arms, calves, thighs, abs, gluts
o For medium users, have upper arms, lower arms, calves, thighs,
abs, gluts chest, back
o For high challenge users, have muscle groups, e.g., tricep, bicep,
quad, calf, abs, gluts, sides, etc.
o Use the UserHome as the page after login
o A change that may be made in a later product version is to allow
comparison of different activities based on difficulty or time for
equivalent calories burnt.
REASONS TO APPROVE THE DESIGN
Our initial assessment of fitness members and their habits showed a
strong increase in the use of personal trainers over the past few years, as
well as a steady income and motivated group of individuals. We saw a
potential for an application, Personal Lead, to provide a lower cost
alternative for generating tailored workout plans. Personal Lead
incorporates the most up-to-date dietary and fitness trends, thereby
reaching out to individuals with highly diversified goals.
User research confirmed our assumptions that fitness members had
specific goals in mind when working out, yet they did not necessarily have
defined plans or a method for obtaining their goals. Both the surveys and
contextual inquiry revealed that users were receptive to an application such
- 51 -
UC Fit, Inc
November 12, 2003
Personal Lead
HCI 445: Final Deliverable
as Personal Lead helping them to reach their goals, as well as encouraging
them to workout and increase their club attendance.
The design of Personal Lead is based upon multiple iterations of both
expert and actual potential user feedback. The resulting prototype
presented here is concise, easy to learn, and integrates well with the users’
existing habits when visiting fitness centers.
This application can provide fitness centers with increased revenue
from Personal Lead profits. It can increase personal training revenue by
exposing members to the great benefits of interacting with trainers and
following fitness plans. Finally, this product will create satisfied and loyal
consumer bases that have fulfilled their own needs through individualized
attention at their chosen fitness center. Personal Lead is a low cost,
effective solution to creating individualized workouts and has a great
potential to benefit consumers and businesses alike in the fitness industry.
- 52 -