HEIMAT (2020)
HEIMAT, a novel social gym nestled in Los Angeles, redefines fitness by offering a premium gym experience complete with lounging areas, fitness classes, social events, a spa, and an onsite restaurant. The German term "Heimat," embodying a sense of nostalgic belonging, encapsulates the heartwarming essence of the establishment.
Team
Jordan Jacobi -Project Manager
Edenspiekermann - Brand Design & Oversight on App Design
Bukht Awer - UX/UI - (Full-time 7 months)
Bert Vermeire - Developer
Objective
Our mission was to shape HEIMAT's Minimum Viable Product (MVP) app, a digital gateway for users to seamlessly book fitness classes, events, spa packages, and restaurant reservations. Our aspiration was to fuse convenience with a touch of home.
Process
Idea Generation & Research: We started by brainstorming and doing thorough research, which included analyzing our competitors. This helped us come up with an app that meets the needs of users and follows industry trends.
User Flows: Gathering input from different stakeholders was crucial. We used user flows to communicate and translate abstract concepts into clear paths and actions. By collaborating, we made sure that the decisions we made were understood by everyone on the team.
Information Architecture & Low-Fi Designs: Structuring the information in the app was like creating a blueprint. We then created low-fidelity designs to provide an initial look at how users would interact with the app and how the interface would be laid out.
Style Guide & Hi-Fi Designs: With the groundwork done, we focused on creating a style guide that reflected HEIMAT's brand design. This guide helped us create high-fidelity designs that combined aesthetics with functionality.
Ethical UX Practices: My involvement went beyond design. I made it a point to advocate for ethical UX practices to prioritize the well-being and engagement of users. I also shared strategies to keep users excited and loyal without using manipulative techniques.
Brand Design By ESPI
Edenspierkmann previously helped create HEIMAT's brand identity. The design style, with calm greens, neutral beige tones, and gentle shadows, beautifully reflected the nostalgic "Heimat" concept & it gave me the foundations for the visual design for the app.
User Journeys
User flows was the main tool I used to get clear business requirements from a a short meeting with many people. I presented several different potential flows from the ideas that were presented to me. This is how I avoided gaps in my thinking, and made sure that the team was on the same page for the decisions they were making.
UX Flow Example - Booking a Class
Once we completed the business requirements for a section, such as ‘application stage’ or ‘booking a class’ I would get started on the research phase. I personally work by analyzing competitors flows, sometimes creating my own flows from them and see what is working and what isn’t. I was not granted time to do research with actual users, so I conducted online research reading reviews and problems with our competitor apps.
For each screen, I organized an hierarchy of information, got it approved, then moved on to low-fi wireframes.
This screen shot is from a presentation for booking a class. The user filters the class, opens up the one they want, then moves on to booking the class.
Road Blocks
After we finished with the UX process, I presented our screens to the developers who were building on top of a pre-existing platform. We learned we had many limitations such as not being able to add an image in the lists, or sending notifications to users. In the user experience I solved these problems by adding add to calendar links after booking a class.
Booking a Class - UI Flow
Takeaways
Although this case-study is a quick overview of the flow so that you may understand my process, our small team actually completed the app with all the sections including: application, signup, booking classes, viewing booked classess, cancelling classes, viewing and booking events, viewing & booking spa sessions and booking a table & seeing a PDF menu of the restaurant.
Working on this project with a small team from such an early stage allowed me to be extremely detail oriented, as well as work quickly and get something to production. I added a note from my project manager below.
Thanks for your time and attention.
Reference from PM Jordan Jacobi
I worked with Bukht full time on a UX heavy project for 7 months. She has great design/UX instincts and was very collaborative with our cross functional team of copywriters, developers and PMs. In addition to her product focused design brain, she also has a great eye for visual design. I look forward to working with her on many projects in the future. Main tools used were Figma, Invision, GDrive and Asana.
Jordan Jacobi