NEO Sportz
Taking a social-fitness app from concept to high-fidelity prototype
Responsibilities
UX/UI Design, Ideation, Product Strategy
Timeline
2 Months
Platform
Mobile Native
The Challenge
The team at NEO Sportz set out to create an app that helps users stay accountable in their fitness journey and connect with friends and like-minded people. The core idea is simple: users submit a photo of their workout to their group, serving as proof of participation and a motivator for consistency.
help people stick to their fitness goals?
HMW:
incorporate social aspects without diluting the main offering?
HMW:
differentiate from other fitness tracking products?
HMW:
Status Quo
I was appointed in the concept phase. The team had come up with some early ideas for the main app functionality, but had yet to create a brand, prototype, or MVP.
The Team
The team was comprised of two co-founders — one with a marketing background and one with a computer science background — and myself as the solo product designer.
The NEO Brand
For the first iteration of NEO's brand, I chose a modern sans-serif typeface to reflect a bold, contemporary tone. A dark mode aesthetic paired with a vibrant, energetic green as the primary brand colour created strong visual impact. I also developed an initial layout system to bring structure and consistency to early wireframes.
User Profile
The user profile’s main function is to help users set and track their weekly fitness goal. I designed two goal-focused cards for the profile page. The "My Goal" card, allows users to set their weekly target and track progress. The second is a calendar widget card that highlights the current week. When a user completes a session, the corresponding day turns green, and if sessions are completed on consecutive days, a band appears across each day. The calendar can also be expanded to show a larger view, offering a broader overview of progress.
Groups
The main "Groups" screen lets users join or create groups and view group stories. I incorporated a floating action button (FAB) for easy access to key actions. At the top of the screen, users can see images of their friends' workout sessions as they’re uploaded in the stories strip.
Record
The "Record" section enables users to upload images to their group or personal story and log their daily sessions. Designing this section presented an interesting challenge, as it had to accommodate various use cases — such as users wanting to upload different session images to different groups, or record a session without uploading an image.
Building the NEO Website
Following the success of the prototype, the team contracted me to design and build their marketing website, helping them establish an online presence and attract early interest.
Final Result
I developed multiple prototype iterations, using internal peer reviews to inform and improve each version. The final result was a high-fidelity prototype with dynamic states, accurately showcasing how the app would respond to key user actions.
Impact
The prototype I delivered enabled the founding team to begin building a mailing list of early adopters. It also served as a foundation for the first iteration of the app, which is now in active development.
At this stage, I would typically conduct user testing to validate the design, uncover usability issues, and ensure the product meets user needs before development begins. It’s a crucial step to reduce risk, save time, and build with greater confidence.
