New York Sports Club
New York Sports Club
Building a stronger, leaner experience.
Role: Product Design, UX/UI • Company: Kettle • Year: 2016
The Client
New York Sports Club is the largest owner and operator of fitness clubs in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, the third largest club operators in the United States.
They operate under the brand names of Town Sports International (TSI, parent company), New York Sports Club (NYSC), Boston Sports Club (BSC), Washington Sports Club (WSC), and Philadelphia Sports Club (PSC). The NYSC brand has been in existence for 38 years.
The Challenge
For many years, NYSC gyms have been a great local place to work out. However, the competition has grown, and as a result NYSC is losing current members to competitors and new memberships are rapidly declining. NYSC has the equipment and the classes - but they will never be as cheap as the no-frills gym, or as niche as the boutique studios.
How can we create a more custom NYSC fitness experience that doesn’t end at the door?
Research
Competitive Research
To get a better understanding of the current digital fitness landscape, we evaluated direct fitness competitors and their digital offerings. Surprisingly, only a small amount of competitors were taking advantage of new technology and offering digital services to make their members' lives better. The lack of best-in-class digital fitness experiences gave us room to explore new ways to bring NYSC to life.
User Research
Building off of our competitive research, we asked stakeholders and members about NYSC and fitness in general to understand what they think is missing from their NYSC experience:
The Business and the Brand
“What do you believe is the NYSC value proposition?”
The Customer
“How would you describe the prime Town Sports customer?”
“Who are they and what do they care about?”
Category and Competition
“What are some of fitness trends that you think are affecting the industry as a whole?”
The Role of Digital
“What are the ways digital can help the operational inefficiencies of TSI?”
Key Findings
The problem according to stakeholders:
The gym isn’t a place people can be proud of like members of higher end gyms are
TSI isn’t competing well with new fitness trends like SoulCycle and other boutique studios
Personal Training, a large source of revenue for the company, has been dwindling down each year
Memberships are typically done on paper
The problem according to members:
It’s not a brand they feel proud to represent
They feel very on their own with their membership, both in and out of the gym
There is very little transparency with what members can and can’t do with their memberships
Lack of access to knowledgable staff
“The staff seems to be getting smaller and smaller. When I have a question about my membership, it’s hard to find somebody with the answer.”
Concept Testing
Based on research and our initial interviews, we created 3 different concepts to test that encompassed these 6 principles:
Tailor the Experience
Inspire to Explore
Reward Members
Make it Fun
Foster Community
Anticipate Needs
Testing Methodology
Recruits:
10 Participants total
5 NYSC Members, 5 Non-Members (ClassPass and Competitor Gyms)
Mix of age, race, and socioeconomic background
Materials we tested:
Concept Write-Ups
Landing Pages
Key Scenarios
Summary of all three concepts
Scoring System:
3pts - Liked
2pts - On the fence
1pts - Didn’t like
Feature Score Card
Scores range from 10-30 points:
25-30 points: Aim to Implement
15-25 points: Should Improve
10-15 points: Should Reconsider
Testing Results
After scoring and synthesizing our results, these were the features users deemed most beneficial to their fitness experience:
On-boarding Process
Initial goal-setting
Customized routine based on time
Step-by-step how-to for each exercise (with multimedia content)
Responsive, smart recommendations based on behaviors
Rate gym / class
Anticipated club crowd levels
Rewards
Responsive Ratings
Longer Term Fitness Plans
On-Demand PT Booking
Competition Mechanisms
New membership models
Check-ins with trainers
Holistic recommendations / guidance
Health/fitness hacks outside of the gym
Applying It All
With the user testing results in mind, we laid out flows for the two most important business objectives: becoming a member and booking classes, training, & fitness programs. To simplify the flows for the NYSC stakeholders, we separated each flow type into 3 different member types: unknown, lead, and member.
Key User Flows: Joining
Key User Flows: Booking
Wireframes & Usability Testing
Giving users what they need.
Additional to our findings from our research, we found many flaws in the current NYSC website experience. Through a taxonomy assessment, we established a new IA and site map that gives the user a continual experience without dead-ends.
Restructuring the navigation system and reducing the amount of clicks it took to join or book a class were top priorities. With usability at the forefront of our design process, we created prototype after prototype to make sure everything we designed was best in class. Interactive prototypes are an integral part of my process as I believe they are the best way to rapidly simulate and communicate true user experiences.
UI & Interaction Design
We reimagined their existing brand and created a product style that elevates their brand to present day.
Results
Within the first month, the newly-designed web experience drove an immediate:
137% increase in revenue
63% increase in e-commerce conversion
45% increase in average cart total