The Product A performance coaching platform for House of Athlete, now live here. Tailored to high-performing individuals - from former athletes to fitness-focused professionals - seeking expert guidance in training, recovery, nutrition, and mental fitness. The experience integrates digital coaching, wellness tracking, and custom content to empower users to optimize their performance from anywhere. It also supports trainers by providing tools to connect with clients, manage programs, and track progress effectively.
The Project Duration August 2023 – February 2024
The Problem High performers and former athletes often struggle to find an integrated, personalized wellness solution that addresses their full spectrum of needs—training, recovery, nutrition, and mental health. Additionally, trainers lack streamlined tools to deliver expert-level coaching digitally, making it difficult to offer tailored support at scale.
The Goal Design a digital platform that offers a holistic, performance-focused coaching experience. The goal was to make it easy for members to access personalized programming from expert trainers while supporting coaches with robust tools for communication, progress tracking, and program management—all aligned with House of Athlete’s premium brand and wellness philosophy.
Role and Responsibilities As the UX/UI Designer my responsibilities included transforming business and athlete needs into user flows, designing wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes, and collaborating with stakeholders across performance, marketing, and engineering teams. I ensured the experience reflected House of Athlete’s premium positioning while being intuitive, inclusive, and mobile-optimized.
User Research Summary To understand the needs of both high-performing users and coaches, I conducted interviews with current House of Athlete members and performance staff. Initially, I assumed users wanted quick access to workouts. However, interviews revealed that users were seeking a more connected experience - one that mirrored the in-person coaching environment, supported wellness tracking, and fostered long-term accountability. Coaches also voiced a need for a centralized dashboard to manage multiple clients effectively. These insights shaped the platform’s core features and UX priorities.
User Pain Points
1. Lack of Personalization Across Wellness Domains
Pain Point: Users felt existing fitness apps were too generalized and lacked depth in nutrition and recovery.
Design Solution: We built an integrated dashboard that adapts recommendations across training, nutrition, and recovery based on user input and goals.
Pain Point: Users felt existing fitness apps were too generalized and lacked depth in nutrition and recovery.
Design Solution: We built an integrated dashboard that adapts recommendations across training, nutrition, and recovery based on user input and goals.
2. Limited Coach-Client Interaction Tools
Pain Point: Coaches struggled to stay connected with clients or provide real-time feedback.
Design Solution: We introduced in-app messaging, progress check-ins, and feedback loops, making it easier to maintain accountability and connection.
Pain Point: Coaches struggled to stay connected with clients or provide real-time feedback.
Design Solution: We introduced in-app messaging, progress check-ins, and feedback loops, making it easier to maintain accountability and connection.
3. Disjointed Mobile Experience
Pain Point: Users found mobile fitness apps cluttered or unintuitive.
Design Solution: We implemented a clean, mobile-first interface prioritizing ease of navigation, daily goals, and program visibility.
Pain Point: Users found mobile fitness apps cluttered or unintuitive.
Design Solution: We implemented a clean, mobile-first interface prioritizing ease of navigation, daily goals, and program visibility.
User Persona
Usability Testing
1. Program Discovery
Finding: Users had trouble locating the right training or wellness program due to overwhelming options and lack of personalized guidance.
Impact on Design: We introduced a short onboarding quiz to help personalize program recommendations, refined program categories, and added search filters based on goals (e.g., strength, recovery, mindset).
Finding: Users had trouble locating the right training or wellness program due to overwhelming options and lack of personalized guidance.
Impact on Design: We introduced a short onboarding quiz to help personalize program recommendations, refined program categories, and added search filters based on goals (e.g., strength, recovery, mindset).
2. Coach Communication
Finding: Users weren’t sure how to message or engage with their assigned coach, often missing key updates.
Impact on Design: We added a persistent coach contact button, integrated push notifications for new messages, and included a quick-start tutorial for first-time users.
Finding: Users weren’t sure how to message or engage with their assigned coach, often missing key updates.
Impact on Design: We added a persistent coach contact button, integrated push notifications for new messages, and included a quick-start tutorial for first-time users.
3. Mobile Navigation
Finding: Mobile users found the navigation confusing and sometimes missed key sections like nutrition and mental fitness.
Impact on Design: Redesigned the bottom nav bar for better clarity, consolidated overlapping sections, and introduced icons and labels for faster recognition.
Finding: Mobile users found the navigation confusing and sometimes missed key sections like nutrition and mental fitness.
Impact on Design: Redesigned the bottom nav bar for better clarity, consolidated overlapping sections, and introduced icons and labels for faster recognition.
4. Progress Tracking
Finding: Users wanted more visibility into their progress, but found the current tracking interface too data-heavy.
Impact on Design: We simplified the dashboard with visual progress rings and clear weekly summaries, making performance tracking more engaging and digestible.
Finding: Users wanted more visibility into their progress, but found the current tracking interface too data-heavy.
Impact on Design: We simplified the dashboard with visual progress rings and clear weekly summaries, making performance tracking more engaging and digestible.
5. Account Setup & Onboarding
Finding: Users were unclear on what to do after signing up, leading to early drop-off.
Impact on Design: We created a guided onboarding flow with step-by-step setup tasks and an overview video to help users feel confident and supported from day one.
Finding: Users were unclear on what to do after signing up, leading to early drop-off.
Impact on Design: We created a guided onboarding flow with step-by-step setup tasks and an overview video to help users feel confident and supported from day one.
Accessibility Considerations
1. Color ContrastConsideration: Users with visual impairments need sufficient contrast between text and background to read content clearly.
Solution: Applied high-contrast color combinations across text, icons, and key UI elements to meet WCAG AA standards and ensure strong readability, especially in low-light environments like gyms.
2. Keyboard Navigation
Consideration: Users with motor impairments must be able to navigate the platform without relying on a mouse or touch input.
Solution: Ensured full keyboard navigability throughout the site and app, including visible focus states, logical tab order, and skip navigation links for faster access.
Consideration: Users with motor impairments must be able to navigate the platform without relying on a mouse or touch input.
Solution: Ensured full keyboard navigability throughout the site and app, including visible focus states, logical tab order, and skip navigation links for faster access.
3. Screen Reader Compatibility
Consideration: Users relying on screen readers need clear, meaningful descriptions of content and structure.
Solution: Integrated semantic HTML and ARIA labels for buttons, menus, and key UI components, while also providing descriptive alt text for all functional images and icons.
Consideration: Users relying on screen readers need clear, meaningful descriptions of content and structure.
Solution: Integrated semantic HTML and ARIA labels for buttons, menus, and key UI components, while also providing descriptive alt text for all functional images and icons.
4. Tap Target Sizing
Consideration: Mobile users with limited dexterity require larger tap areas for navigation and interaction.
Solution: Increased button sizes and spacing across all touch elements to meet accessibility guidelines and reduce accidental taps.
Consideration: Mobile users with limited dexterity require larger tap areas for navigation and interaction.
Solution: Increased button sizes and spacing across all touch elements to meet accessibility guidelines and reduce accidental taps.
Next Steps
The next phase for House of Athlete includes gathering post-launch feedback to refine user experience across web and mobile platforms. Priorities will focus on further optimizing accessibility - such as voice control support and motion reduction options - and introducing new engagement features like habit tracking and deeper integration between coaching, recovery, and nutrition.
We’ll also continue collaboration with coaches and performance staff to expand the digital coaching toolkit and explore data-driven personalization powered by AI. A/B testing and user analytics will guide ongoing enhancements, ensuring the platform remains inclusive, intuitive, and aligned with the evolving needs of the high-performance community.