Mobile Interface, Design Systems, User Research
The Vasa app redesign is an experimental project focused on maximizing the potential of the current platform while respecting its original framework, goals, and intended use. Throughout this process, I focused not only on giving the UI a modern facelift but also on improving usability. By expanding the available features, I created a more intuitive, high-functioning experience that encourages more frequent user engagement.
User interviews revealed that 80% of users (4 out of 5) exclusively utilize the app for its digital ID check-in feature. Outside of this core action, the platform's only existing use cases were limited to upgrading memberships or managing billing methods, exposing a significant gap in daily value and user engagement.
Many of the original app's features simply acted as hyperlinks to the external website, undermining the value of a native application. Instead of providing a seamless in-app experience, these redirects disrupted the user journey and fragmented the overall interface.
Although the original app's check-in feature served its primary purpose, it required navigating through multiple steps within the interface, making the process feel inefficient. Furthermore, because it relied heavily on a stable cellular network, the feature was prone to malfunctioning in areas with poor signal strength, creating a frustrating bottleneck for users.
The original navigation structure was highly unintuitive, suffering from poor information architecture and low feature discoverability. Because key features were hidden beneath layers of menus, the interface introduced unnecessary confusion and friction into the user journey.
To address these issues, my proposed solution centers on transforming the app into a high-utility platform with expanded, native use cases. I introduced features allowing users to build custom workouts and seamlessly integrate them, alongside scheduled gym classes, into a personalized calendar. To drive long-term engagement, I integrated data visualization tools that track user progress and attendance frequency. Simultaneously, I streamlined the interface by eliminating redundant elements, such as external hyperlinks and invasive advertisements, and designed a native Apple/Google Wallet digital ID pass to bypass cellular bottlenecks and minimize unnecessary friction.
One of my main goals for this project was to conduct guerrilla user testing, which required a high-fidelity, fully functional prototype. Achieving this level of logic inside Figma was a welcome challenge; while the platform is a powerful design tool, standard page-to-page transitions and interactive feedback can fall short for complex user testing. Rather than switching to alternative software, I decided to push Figma's capabilities by implementing variables, booleans, and conditional logic. This architecture was essential as it allowed users to complete testing tasks naturally without hitting dead ends or breaking user flows, while providing real-time UI feedback based on their actions.
The primary objective of this project was to elevate the app's utility by introducing high-value features while simultaneously decommissioning redundant and unneeded ones. Throughout this iterative process, I focused on feature prioritization. My goal was to enhance value during habitual, real-world gym visits, optimizing daily user engagement and introducing meaningful interactions without adding visual clutter or increasing cognitive load.
User Flow
This new feature allows the user to build their own custom workout or choose a premade routine to keep their progress on track. Plus, it can add workouts directly to your schedule for better consistency.
The gym occupancy feature allows the user to view visitor trends and real-time occupancy, helping them avoid peak hours and ensure maximum productivity during their workout.
User Flow
The new digital wallet feature allows the user to add their gym ID directly to their digital wallet, reducing the hassle of using the app when it isn't needed or in situations where they might not have the best cell service.
The progress tracker provides a comprehensive overview of your fitness journey by analyzing check-in frequency, strength gains in weights and reps, and total time spent in the gym.
User Flow
The weight log enables users to track their sets and repetitions, ensuring steady progress and making it easy to pick up exactly where they left off in their previous session.
For this project, I prioritized user testing within my process to validate that all newly introduced features were intuitive, necessary, and correctly utilized. Equally important was ensuring that decommissioning redundant functionality didn't inadvertently disrupt the user experience. This validation phase was crucial; my intent was not to arbitrarily reinvent the application, but to optimize its core architecture to create a more streamlined and engaging environment for the user.
My testing plan followed a structured five-step process, conducted with a pool of candidates who were either active or recent users of the VASA app. The testing phase opened with an onboarding step, allowing users to freely familiarize themselves with the interface to gauge the clarity of the initial information architecture. For the remaining four steps, participants were asked to execute specific, task-oriented user flows designed to validate the system's visual hierarchy and functional intuition. These tasks included a mix of legacy interactions, such as booking a Zumba class, alongside completely new feature sets, such as logging workout metrics (weight and repetitions) and constructing a custom workout routine.
For this project, I prioritized user testing within my process to validate that all newly introduced features were intuitive, necessary, and correctly utilized. Equally important was ensuring that decommissioning redundant functionality didn't inadvertently disrupt the user experience. This validation phase was crucial; my intent was not to arbitrarily reinvent the application, but to optimize its core architecture to create a more streamlined and engaging environment for the user.
Optimized the homepage interface to consolidate essential features, reducing user friction and streamlining accessibility.
Standardized button styling and introduced visual signifiers, such as directional arrows, to clearly communicate clickability and improve interactive consistency.
Streamlined user flows and eliminated dead ends to mitigate user confusion and ensure a seamless end-to-end experience.
Before
After
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After
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After
Redesigning the VASA app provided an invaluable experience in engaging with the full end-to-end product life cycle. Establishing clear goals and identifying core user friction points early on built a strong foundation for the project. Working within the constraints of an existing platform, focusing on strategic optimization rather than building something entirely from scratch, allowed me to directly target usability and improve the overall user experience. Moving systematically from low-fidelity wireframes into high-fidelity interactive prototypes ensured that all systemic logic was fully validated before conducting user testing. Finally, iterating on the design once more to ensured that the friction points recorded during user testing were fully addressed and resolved.
While I believe the final product was an overall success, I would love to conduct several more rounds of usability testing. This would allow me to validate that my recent adjustments had a positive impact on the overall experience, while also testing secondary app functionalities that weren’t included in the initial testing plan. Additionally, while this remains a conceptual redesign, my next step would be to move the project out of Figma. By vibe coding a live, high-fidelity prototype, I could improve the prototypes functionality that would not only improve the depth of future user testing but also make the entire project feel more concrete.
