#seattle startups

(Overview from January 1st is here)

There are a huge number of fitness apps that are probably making their rounds right now, but what I love about EveryMove is that it's pretty unique. Basically, you track your activities (or sync with apps that you already use to track) and you get points for each workout, walk, or check in at the gym. Then you can use those points for awesome rewards!

For today's post, I'm going to do something a little different. I read this article recently by the co-founder of Bump on "cognitive overhead", which differentiates a minimal app with an app that is easy to use. He gives a few ways that products can minimize the cognitive overhead, such as:

Put users in the middle of the flow so they know exactly what's going on. Reduce the tasks done behind the scenes.

Give people real-time feedback so they know it's working (and make sure it's accurate!)

Slow down your product and let people appreciate what your tool is doing for them.

I love EveryMove, both the web app and the mobile app, and I recommend it like crazy to anyone looking to be more motivated in working out. However, I thought could apply this idea of cognitive simplicity to the EveryMove app to make it a little more intuitive and habit forming. So here's a couple changes that I think could make EveryMove better:

1. Activity page:

This is the first screen you see when you open the app. Here's where you can see the activities that you've tracked, as well as what your friends are doing. You can like or comment on these activities as well.

I think this page is great at being cognitively simple. The only change I would make would be to reduce all the empty space. I would like to see more activities on one screen.

2. Social Page:

This is the next screen, the second icon on the bottom menu bar. It could be a lot more simple and easy to understand. There's the concept of listing friends by their current month points, but also showing the leaderboards from the last 30 days. I think that's too much, and it should just be one screen. The friend's list could be sorted by 30 day points earned since that's the most motivating to try and beat.

3. Rewards Page:

I love the layout of the rewards - you can see right away what your progress is for the current reward, and you can swipe to see your health insurance and employer info. Plus, it's easy to use the menu at the top to see what you've already earned, and what other goodies are available! I think this screen is very straightforward.

4. Profile

This is the page that I think needs the most love. A good chunk of information is repeated from the other 3 screens, such as Activities and Rewards. This isn't necessary, especially since the Activities are already front and center when you open the app.

I would add Connections as a menu item on the Activities page. On that page, you see the results of the apps you've connected, e.g. I ran 2 miles with RunKeeper. So if I see something off or missing, I will see it on the Activities page and want to change it right away - this would put the user in the middle of the action. Plus here, it's ambiguous if Connections relates to app connections or social connections.

Insights are great, but I would make this screen act like the Rewards screen, so you can see your basic options and be able to swipe to see more detailed info. Then another swipe to see Memberships. This would also preserve consistency across the app. The benefit of making these changes would be putting the user in the middle of the flow, and making it more clear how to use each feature of the app.

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PLEASE tell me I am not alone in this experience:

"Hey, I'm leaving work now, I'll be out front to pick you up in like 20 minutes."

<TRAFFIC>

So, you can probably start to see a good reason for the location sharing app Glympse. It's a simple way to share you're route for a short period of time to a particular person or group, so they know exactly when you'll arrive.

(Since this is Day 1, I'm going to list out the parts of the CIRCLES method from Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews by Lewis Lin. I'm applying it liberally since it's more a review of an exisiting product than creating a new one.)

Comprehend the Situation - at the heart of it, the situation is needing to send not just location but changes in location with a time element associated with it.

Identify the Customer - this has a few answers, but for today I'm going to stick with the customer that needs to share location to arrange a timely pickup (i.e. picking up a spouse on the way home from work).

Report the Customer's Needs - the target customer needs to share their journey to one or more people only, and only for a certain amount of time. It also needs to be very quick and easy since this person is probably driving (I mean, at a stoplight right?).

Cut, Through Prioritization - If I were building this today, I would start with the ability for the customer to send the Glympse only to the relevant person(s), since this is a privacy concern. Next would be the ease of use for a driver, since it would fuel adoption and repeat use. If I did have to cut something, it would be the time limit. This is because it's also a privacy feature, but even if the Glympse never expired, privacy can still be controlled by selecting who can view it.

List Solutions (or Updates) - When I use Glympse, I almost always just want to share my location. I would put this action front and center and reduce the cognitive overhead for a user to do that main task. Again, the user will most likely be distracted while performing this action so it makes sense to reduce friction to do it. Next, the feature to add a shortcut/favorite is buried and a little hard to find. I would also surface that as a sub-option on sending a Glympse. Then all the other options (calendar feed, groups, requesting a Glympse) would all be in a menu slightly tucked away.

Evaluate Tradeoffs - The benefits of reorganizing the app this way would increase adoption and repeated use. The cons would be that someone might have a dire need for an option and not find it right away, and not use the app even though the feature exists. Since I think this change is more likely to increase use with very few people "giving up" on finding their advanced option, I would still recommend to make this change.

Summarize - A small change could make this great service even better and easier to use. The only other problem I have? Not enough people are using this app!

Christina Green Resume 8-2011