HAL Studio: Boxing for fitness and self-defence

In Cooperation with the Queensland University of Technology.
Team from Queensland: Sam Holz, Peter Lin, Barclay Anderson (development boxing gadget)

My Role: Prototyping, Wireframing and UI design

Team Partner: Marcel Kutz

Used Tools: Adobe XD, Illustrator and Photoshop

Duration: 1 Semester

Woman looks at her Hal Studio profile

Overview

Boxing is often associated with injuries. But the first impression is deceptive. A very good eye-hand coordination, high attention, self-discipline and more is essential.

The Queensland University and the Technical University of Ingolstadt forecast in this sport the chance to improve the fitness and self-defense skills of young people. That's how the idea of Modbox (modified form of boxing) came up. The students from Queensland developed several boxing gadgets and made them available for our university. Afterwards we had the possibility to choose the gadget, we liked the most.

During the 3rd semester we developed and designed an app concept for our chosen project.

Project choice & vision

We decided for the idea of "HAL Studio". Their product consists out two batons and sensor modules which can be easily taken anywhere. The training are always requires two people and the gadgets tracks the boxing behavior. We have chosen this project for several reasons.

For us, mobility was an essential factor. This adds variety in every training session. Moreover, the gadget should not be too expensive and therefore affordable for a wide range of people. But the most important aspect for us was the social connectivity. When we got a first impression of HAL Studios concept, we immediately had the idea to link the training sessions with new acquaintances and friendships.

We had the vision of a Modbox Social Network. Our Modbox project should not only serve fitness and self-defense purposes, it should create friendships.

Persona

Persona from Daniel Boxer
Persona from Ben Beginner

Paper prototyping

In order to think like a user, we built a paper prototype with handcrafted animations and transitions. We considered the functions and simulated the interaction with the interface to carry out first tests and evaluations.

Paper prototye from the app development insights

Challenges

How do we reduce the learning effort?
How do we make statistics clear?
Which functions should include the social network?

Which data does the user need?
How do we keep the user motivated?
How can we create a person-specific training?

Low fidelity wireframing

After we clarified the contents of the app, we worked on the interactive wireframe. In the process of wireframing the questions regarding positioning were clarified and further user tests were realized.

Hal Studio wireframe insights
Gif from wireframe interaction

Moodboard

Moodbard for the high fidelity design
Search Partner with Hal Studio

High fidelity design

During high fidelity prototyping, we started creating a moodboard. The moodboard shows the mood and color scheme, the app should reflect. Our goal was a harmonious and clean design.

Right partner at the right place

It was important to us that the personality of every user plays a major role at Hal Studio. Users can therefore create an individual profile and start looking for partners.

Every user has the possibility to choose a training partner from a list of friends, doing own search request or accept the requests from other users.

If users arrange a training session, further details can be clarified with a chat function. In addition to the agreed place and time the user also receives information about how long his partner has been a member of Hal Studio.

Hal Studio high fidality design gallery

HAL Studio-Training

An individual focus can be set before each training session. It is possible to choose between endurance, strength and speed. The user also has the possibility to select a general training which includes all training areas.

During the training a direct feedback is essential. For this reason we have implemented visual and auditory feedback.

Hal Studio training voice animation Gif
Statistics and Trophies from Hal Studio

Statistics and trophies

Developing clear statistics which are reduced to the essentials, was one of the most difficult tasks.

We divided the statistics into two sections. The first section shows the daily, weekly and monthly values and the second shows the whole training process. The values achieved by the user are also divided into to strength, speed and endurance.

Keeping the user motivated is a very important aspect. To ensure that, we developed a trophy system which rewards the user with awards depending on the training process. In addition, the user also has the possibility to compare training achievments with others in a dedicated ranking.