Class Project ~ Jan – Mar 2025 ~ UCI
The SocialARC
A quarter-long project for UCI's Informatics 132: Advanced Topics in Human-Computer Interaction. We designed a mobile fitness app to help UCI students find gym buddies, join intramural teams, and discover events at the ARC — making fitness a more social and accessible experience.
Duration
Jan – Mar 2025
Team
8 Members
Tools
Figma
My Role
UX Research & Design
Many college students struggle to maintain a physically active lifestyle.
As a result, they miss out on the mental and physical benefits of regular physical activity. To truly support student health, it is essential to better understand and address the barriers that prevent students from engaging in regular physical activity and adopting healthier lifestyles.
65%
prevalence of physical inactivity among undergraduate students (Santana et al., International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023)
CDC Recommendation
150–300 min/week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity for substantial health benefits.
Benefits of Activity
- ★ Better mental health
- ★ Lower cardiovascular disease risk
- ★ Improved sleep quality
Understanding the landscape
Competitive Analysis
Each team member conducted an in-depth analysis of a distinct fitness app, evaluating its strengths, limitations, and potential improvements in relation to our problem statement. Across all eight apps, we identified three consistent gaps:
- ★ Built-in scheduling features were either missing or limited, restricting users' ability to plan workouts individually or collaboratively.
- ★ Custom workout planning was not supported in some platforms, limiting users' ability to tailor workouts to their interests or fitness goals.
- ★ Social interaction tools — especially direct messaging — were lacking in several apps, reducing the ability for users to meaningfully connect, coordinate, or encourage each other.
User Interviews
Research Question
"What are the limitations that college students face when trying to maintain their physical health?"
Participants
8 UCI undergraduates
2 from each year level (1st–4th year)
Format
Semi-structured, 1-on-1
In-person or Zoom, ~20–30 min each
Majors Represented
Informatics, Biological Sciences, Art, Psychological Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration
Sessions were recorded with the participant's consent and used solely for note-taking. No identifying information was collected to maintain ethical research practices.
Key Insights
After conducting our interviews, we organized findings into an affinity map to surface recurring themes across participants. By grouping related quotes and findings into themes, we uncovered key insights that provide more insight into college students’ motivations, challenges, and behaviors related to fitness.
Fitness as a Social Activity
Students enjoy working out with peers but are deterred by scheduling conflicts and the social pressure of going alone.
"Most challenging is finding people to do it with because I don't usually go to the ARC alone, hard to find time that works with friends."
When they first started going to the gym, it would give them anxiety to go alone, but due to the timing and people, they had to learn on their own.
Available Resources
Students are content with the ARC facilities but want expanded options and less crowding.
4 out of 8 interviewees expressed appreciation for close proximity to the ARC.
"It's always super busy at the ARC whenever my schedule is available; it's hard to find available machines and I end up having to wait."
Intimidation & Anxiety
Many students want to go to the gym but feel anxious or intimidated, especially when going alone or as a newcomer.
"I have always wanted to go to the gym, but was intimidated because I didn't know how any of the machines worked and I wanted someone to go with. But none of my friends went to the gym."
"Sometimes it's crowded, so I get scared I might be doing something wrong."
Scheduling
Students value physical activity but consistently struggle to prioritize it amid academic and social demands.
"I wish I had more time to go to the gym since I'm very busy throughout the week due to my schedule."
"I'll feel guilty for working out instead of studying, working, and being with friends."
From research to prototype
Design Ideation
After aligning on the app's core purpose, the team deliberated on which features to include. Overall, we wanted to maintain a clean, effective app that was not feature-heavy to the point it would overwhelm users.
Features Included
- ● Direct Messaging
- ● Buddy Matching
- ● Team Formation & Group Discovery
- ● RSVP / Attendance Features
- ● Activity Invitations
- ● Interests, Goals & Fitness Experience (Profile)
- ● Profile Customization
- ● Availability Input & Schedule Integration
- ● Event & Class Discovery
Features Cut
- ● Community Feed
- ● Smart Scheduling
- ● Availability Sharing
- ● Equipment Tutorials
- ● Health & Wellness Resources
Removed to keep scope focused on social coordination rather than diluting the experience.
User Flows
Four primary user flows were mapped before wireframing to identify gaps in the solution and ensure feature decisions aligned with user needs.
Wireframes & Mockups
The team built mockups iteratively — from lo-fi sketches to mid-fi wireframes — critiquing each stage before moving forward to ensure user needs stayed at the center of every design decision.
What We Learned and Fixed
Two rounds of evaluation — heuristic and user testing — surfaced 10 issues that were iterated on before the final prototype.
Heuristic Evaluation
Each team member independently evaluated the prototype against Nielsen Norman's 10 Usability Heuristics, then synthesized findings together.
User Testing
Each team member conducted individual user tests of the hi-fi prototype, then synthesized recurring issues into actionable improvements.
Inconsistent date and time formatting
Standardized formatting (e.g. 3:00–4:00 PM) consistently across all screens.
Inconsistent back button placement and design
Unified back button location and appearance across all pages.
Missing navigation bar on some pages
Added persistent bottom navigation bar across friends and My Events pages.
No onboarding progress indicator
Added a 6-step progress bar so users always know where they are in onboarding.
Onboarding confusion about buddy matching purpose
Added an instructional page before profile setup to clarify the app's purpose.
Unintuitive "Request Buddy" and "Message" buttons
Redesigned icons with clearer labels; clarified that messaging doesn't require being a buddy.
Confusing event labels ("Scheduled for Today" vs "Events Happening Today")
Added date and location to events; rewrote labels to clearly distinguish personal vs. ARC events.
Next/Back button order felt backwards during onboarding
Swapped order so Next is above Back; made Next more visually prominent.
No option to add personal interests beyond preset options
Added a custom interest input field to the interests selection screen.
Scheduling input was confusing and visually noisy
Simplified to a popup time selector with 30-minute increments and clear AM/PM toggle.
Try it yourself
Explore the full hi-fi prototype below. Best experienced on a larger screen.