Project 3 - Exercise “Fake Out”

Team 01:
Emily Page
Kylie Nagel
Thomas Keene
Vaughn Valentino
Table of Contents

Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................3
Exploration................................................................................................................................................... 3
Brainstorming.....................................................................................................................................................3
Background Research......................................................................................................................................4
Problem Space.............................................................................................................................................5
Design Statement............................................................................................................................................. 5
Question...............................................................................................................................................................5
Data Collection............................................................................................................................................5
Observation........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Secondary Research........................................................................................................................................ 7
Interviews............................................................................................................................................................7
Prototyping...................................................................................................................................8
Brainstorming.....................................................................................................................................................8
Sketches / Storyboards............................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 9
Contributions.............................................................................................................................................10
Multimedia Component............................................................................................................. 10
Appendix - Interview Protocol..............................................................................................................10
Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Building Rapport............................................................................................................................................ 11
Interview Questions...................................................................................................................................... 11
Closing Question............................................................................................................................................ 12
Resources:.................................................................................................................................................. 12
Introduction
Fitness trackers are widely used in today’s society to track personal data such as steps,
distance, and heart rate. Companies use them as incentives to have competitions between
coworkers where they might win a prize at the end for their department. Because of this, many
users have come up with ways to “fake out” watches by shaking them or attaching them to a
pet to cheat the steps taken. This behavior needs to change in order to actually empower users
to want to better their physical health by using fitness trackers for their intended purpose.

Exploration
A key part of our process was exploration and brainstorming. Our aim in this part of the
process is to explore and learn more about the topic overall and to come up with ideas that we
can go off of to form our main/final idea. The goal is to learn enough about the topic and to
come together and compile different ideas to pave the way towards our final design and
solution.

Brainstorming
What can we track?
- Heart rate
- Steps/GPS - distance traveled
- Sleep
- Calorie/Food/Protein
- Hydration
- Blood oxygen
Modify My Fitness Pal
Modify Apple Watch
Add an apple focus - Fitness
Gamer fitness
- Offering points, winning badges
Projection to correct workout form
- Behavioral change: know how to do it right
- Decrease injuries
- Colors to show how correct your form is red/yellow/green
- Confetti
- Suggest to lower weight
- Trainer voice coming through air pods
Incentives:
Show the user days added to their life
Quality of life improved
Quality of sleep improved
Beating friends/family/coworkers in certain goal

Background Research
“To rack up fake steps you can sit on a couch and shake your wrist; toss your fitness tracker in
the dryer; or attach your tracker to an electric saw blade, power drill, paint can shaker, ceiling
fan, metronome, dog, bike wheel, or hamster wheel.” (Torgan)

Research studies on activity tracker step accuracy have generally found:

● Trackers are less accurate at slow walking speeds (<2 mph)
● Trackers worn on the wrist may not detect steps if the arms are stationary while
walking
● Trackers may greatly underestimate steps taken during household chores (such as
vacuuming and making a bed)
● Trackers may not accurately count steps done during sports agility tasks (such as
shooting free throws and ladder drills)
● Trackers may detect continuous large arm movements (such as folding laundry) as
steps, resulting in huge over-estimations
● Trackers can be less accurate in people with gait issues (such as people who use a
lower-limb prosthesis or have had a stroke)
● Trackers do a poor job of estimating energy expenditure (the number of calories you
burn)
● The over-and under-estimations can add up significantly over days and weeks. This
can throw off estimates of distances covered, calories burned, and other metrics

And as more sensors are added (gyroscope, magnetometer, altimeter, GPS; plus measures for
posture, heart rate, heat flux, galvanic skin response, etc.) more contextual information will be
built into the algorithms to distinguish factors such as movement intensity (light, medium, high)
and body position (lying, sitting, standing). (Torres)
Problem Space

Design Statement
Apple watch users who lift weights at the gym do not easily know how to correct their form to
prevent injuries. We aim to design a product for Apple Watch users that helps them correct
their improper form. By using our design, it will eliminate any risks of injury and promote more
muscle growth.

Question
How can we empower our users, Apple watch using weightlifters, to be more healthy through
a behavior change by adding a form correcting hologram to an Apple Watch?

Data Collection

Observation
The team conducted in-person observations of weight lifters’ habits, behaviors and
interactions. This was done to gain insight into what these weight machine users used or
needed, and how the setup/offerings of the gym and their fitness watch afforded them these
actions and behaviors. Observations were not invasive of the users' spaces or time, unless they
gave us permission to talk with them.

Observation – Vaughn
While in the gym, I made many observations of gym-goers. These included watching for
people performing exercises incorrectly, or being unaware of how to lift properly. I noticed
some people on back squats lifting and using heavy-weight and not using correct form, this
could lead to many injuries and problems later down the line. On deadlifts as well I noticed
many lifting more than they are capable of lifting, this is very strenuous on the back and could
lead to serious injuries. On most machines I did notice many people using better form as
machines tend to make you conform to a certain form. As for compound lifts, such as back
squat, deadlift, flat bench and most free weight exercises. I did notice people here and there
using improper form and I think our app could benefit them and help them lift safer.
Observation – Thomas
I made this observation at my local Planet Fitness (PF)
over Thanksgiving break. I decided to conduct it at the PF
instead of the Corec because PF is known as the
beginner gym. First thing I noticed was that there were a
lot of older people, but there were also teenagers there.
There was a group of four guys that looked like they
were in high school. Based on my judgement, they
looked like beginners and after seeing their form I found
that I was right. They were all doing a very common
exercise for the chest, flat dumbbell bench press. Their
arms were very wobbly and their arms looked like they
were going to give out during every repetition made.
Since I go to the gym and know proper form, their
problem was that they were using too much weight. I
believe that it was mostly because they are novices, but
they were trying to lift too much weight, causing their
form to break. Lastly, I noticed that there were a few
people in the PF using smart watches. I couldn’t make out what brand they were, but it was
one of my observation goals to see if people actually used them in the gym.

Observation - Emily
I went to the gym with my roommate who works as a fitness class instructor and workouts at
the gym too. She walked around with me and I saw how most people had some type of smart
watch on them, especially her coworkers who also teach fitness classes. There were people
who looked like they had bad form for certain exercises that she pointed out to me. I did not
see anyone using a fitness coach, but I did see many people there with a friend who would
spot them or help them out with form.

Observation Takeaways:
- Lots of people in the gym have incorrect form and are likely not realizing this will create
injury
- There are gym users that use smartwatches and fitness watches in the gym
Secondary Research
Apple Watches have already built in features to detect if you’ve fallen, if your heart rate has
changed, what type of sleep cycle you’re in, how many steps you’ve taken, how far you’ve
traveled, and more. With these features, you could use the watch to detect if the user’s body is
in the right form for certain exercises in the gym. (Apple)

“More and more companies are encouraging employees

to see activity trackers as money makers in this way,
often offering cash or prizes as incentives to opt into
voluntary corporate wellness programs. Five percent of
small firms and 21% of large firms collect information
from workers’ mobile apps or wearable devices, such as
a Fitbit or Apple Watch, as part of a wellness program,
according to a 2018 survey of 2,160 employers.” (Marr)
“Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act and HIPAA
nondiscrimination provisions, employers can provide
discounts and rewards for those who participate in
wellness initiatives, as long as these health-contingent
incentives are no more than 30% of the total health plan
premium, or 50% for smokers.” (Marr)

Wearables and sports apparel like smart shoes and

socks can collect biometric data on body movement,
distance traveled, muscle stretch, and heart rhythm to help people enhance and personalize
their home workouts. (Wellable)

Interviews
The team conducted several interviews with Apple Watch users and weight lifters, to get
in-depth explanations of their preferences, behaviors and experiences with weight lifting or
fitness tracker uses. These interviews were conducted using a script, and were recorded and
transcripted for easier analysis. Expressed consent was gained before recording. The interview
script and links to recordings and transcripts are in the Appendix - Interview Protocol section
below.

Summaries/Takeaways:
- New lifters afraid of the gym
- Ego-lifting can cause injury
- Personal trainers are too expensive
- Correct form will help promote better muscle gain
- They have injured themselves before from improper form
- A video type of app on a watch to show form would be helpful for people who can’t
have personal trainers
- Mirrors are really helpful for fixing form

Prototyping

Brainstorming

Takeaways:
These models helped us to brainstorm what our prototype should include based on what
actions it needs to perform, scenarios it needs to help with, and interactions it will have.
The models showed us that our app would replace the need for a personal trainer.

Sketches / Storyboards

This shows how there would be a holographic projection of the user’s

form coming out of the screen of the watch. It would show a front and
side view of what the exercise is supposed to look like.
 These sketches show how
the hologram displays the
form you used vs. the correct
form that is needed.

This sketch shows how the watch

can be used to improve not only form, but also various pain, and
prevent injury.

Conclusion
After researching the fitness community as well as the Apple Watch and its users our
group found out that our app would be efficient and effective. It would provide helpful
feedback and information to Apple Watch users during their lifts that would help them be
healthier and safer.

After researching the fitness community we identified that having incorrect form was a
big problem. Not only does it not promote effective muscle growth, it can also lead to serious
injury. Our app plans to alleviate this concern by having a personal trainer built into your Apple
Watch. It will do so by using biometric scans of your body while you perform a lift, and then
providing a hologram showing how to correct if you happen to do something incorrectly.

Many new lifters can also benefit, as we found out through interviews. New lifters may
be afraid to go to the gym because they do not know how to perform certain lifts correctly. Our
app would alleviate this fear as well as help them be safer while lifting. By alleviating many
new lifters' social fear of the gym this will help promote more healthy habits as they will be
more confident within the gym.

Contributions
Kylie - Helped with Brainstorming, creating and guiding group through mental models and
journey mapping, Conducted interview, made a sketch and storyboard, helped with
documentation formatting, created script for video, helped with video animations.
Emily - Background research, helped brainstorming, secondary research, did one interview,
made one sketch, one observation, creating video
Thomas - Brainstorming, secondary research, made observation 2, conducted interview,
interview transcript, made sketch 1, presentation content, and video presentation: audio.
Vaughn - Brainstorming, secondary research, observations, interview, presentation, video
presentation

Multimedia Component
Video:
https://youtu.be/XVnqhPW1w54

Appendix - Interview Protocol

Introduction

Hello! Thank you for agreeing to participate in this research study.

To provide a brief introduction to this study, our goal for conducting this study is to modify an
existing fitness Apple Watch to empower users to be healthier.

We would like to clarify that we are not judging you based on your needs for first aid or medicine
and you can answer any question honestly and accurately. Instead we are interested in learning
about your honest personal experience. This interview will last between 10 minutes during which
we will ask you a series of questions. These questions are open ended and there are no right or
wrong answers. We are interested in your honest responses to our questions.

After the interview is complete, your statements will be anonymized and we may share these
anonymized stories for our class project. You are welcome to indicate any part of our conversation
today as “off the record,” and we will then delete these portions as part of our analysis process. You
are also welcome to share any stories you have heard from your friends and family about items of
interest to us, or suggest other people that will be suitable for our study.

So that we can pay full attention to your answers instead of jotting notes, we would like to audio
record the interview session and transcribe the audio later. The recording will be destroyed after the
audio is transcribed. Your privacy is important to us. Any information you provide during the course
of the interview will be anonymized in the transcripts. Do we have your permission to record the
interview?

If “yes,” commence recording.

Would you like to continue to participate in this study?

If “no,” end the interview. If “yes,” proceed.

Do you have any questions?

Building Rapport

1. Before we start the interview, could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
2. What was the last piece of music you listened to that you chose?
3. What is the last movie you saw that you liked?

Interview Questions

1. Can you describe your experience using an Apple Watch?

2. How often do you go to the gym?
3. Do you use weighted equipment, machines, or both?
4. Have you ever had lower back pain due to incorrect form in the gym?
5. Do you find it difficult sometimes to find the correct form on your own? How do you typically
solve this?
6. Have you ever tried a personal trainer?
7. Do you get intimidated to use certain parts of the gym? How do you deal with this?
8. Are there specific types of exercises or workouts that make you more worried about
maintaining proper form? How do you manage these concerns?
9. In what ways do you seek guidance or validation for your workout form? and how do you
think technology, such as apps or wearables, could play a role in addressing these concerns?
10. How important is feedback and guidance in real-time when it comes to alleviating fears
about incorrect workout form? Do you think instant feedback from devices like the Apple
Watch could be beneficial in this regard?
Closing Question

Those are all the questions we have for you. Based on our conversation today and our interest in
how you use and apple watches, are there other questions you think we should have asked you that
would be of our interest?

Thank you for your time and this conversation!

Interview Transcripts:

Thomas' Interview Transcript

Emily’s Interview Audio

Emily’s Interview Transcript

Resources:

1. Marr, Bernard. “Fit for the Future: 10 Trends That Will Transform the Fitness Industry.”
Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Sept. 2023,
www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/04/05/fit-for-the-future-10-trends-that-will-t
ransform-the-fitness-industry/?sh=301b65bf4000.
2. Torgan, Carol. “Why It’s Easy to Fool Your Activity Tracker and What You Can Do About
It.” Kinetics, Carol Torgan, Ph.D.
https://caroltorgan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/torgan-logo2-300x137.png, 15
Feb. 2021,
caroltorgan.com/activity-tracker-accuracy/#:~:text=To%20rack%20up%20fake%20step
s,bike%20wheel%2C%20or%20hamster%20wheel.
3. Torres, Monica. “Everyone Cheats on Fitness Trackers. but Who’s Really Being
Cheated?” HuffPost, HuffPost, 20 Nov. 2019,
www.huffpost.com/entry/activity-tracker-hack-employee-discount_l_5dd2cfbce4b0294
7481bc860.
4. “Watch - Why Apple Watch.” Apple, www.apple.com/watch/why-apple-watch/.
Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.
5. Wellable. “10 Strategies to Prevent Cheating in Corporate Wellness Challenges.”
Wellable, 14 Nov. 2023,
www.wellable.co/blog/10-strategies-to-prevent-cheating-in-corporate-wellness-chall
enges/#:~:text=Setting%20daily%20limits%20can%20help,help%20detect%20and%
20deter%20dishonesty.