Quick Summary (TL;DR)
➡️ Problem: Fitness apps often lose new users before they even start — onboarding feels tedious, impersonal, or confusing.
➡️ Problem: Fitness apps often lose new users before they even start — onboarding feels tedious, impersonal, or confusing.
➡️ Role: I reimagined onboarding as a choice, and users could either chat with a friendly AI guide or set up manually at their own pace.
➡️ Solution: A warm, accessible onboarding experience that feels more like a conversation than a form — helping users start strong and stay engaged.
➡️ Impact: The concept received high marks and positive feedback for its clarity, accessibility, and thoughtful balance between innovation and simplicity.
Keep reading for the full story behind my process and approach.
Intro/Background
FitNest Plan is a concept fitness app designed to help users stay active and motivated through personalized training plans, meal guidance, habit tracking, and social accountability.
Developed as part of my UX Design capstone at UT Austin, the app’s vision was rooted in a key insight: People want personalized guidance from real humans, not from one-size-fits-all fitness apps.
Part of my focus was on the onboarding experience. It's a critical moment that determines whether users stay or abandon the app. My objective was to design an onboarding flow that felt personalized, supportive, and accessible. One of our product's key USP's was using conversational AI as a differentiator to simplify setup and build user trust from day one.
This UX case study explores the question: How might we design an onboarding flow that feels welcoming, intuitive, and motivating — encouraging users to complete setup and begin their fitness journey with confidence?
The Problem
Up to 90% of users abandon apps due to friction during onboarding. When it comes to fitness apps, many are either so minimal in information gathering and personalization that they lump everyone into the same broad categories. Others overwhelm users with lengthy forms, unclear steps, or interactions that feel more like digital paperwork than a motivating experience. Either way, both lead to poor user experiences, and I wanted to change that — while also exploring how conversational AI could create a more natural, guided interaction.
My hypothesis was that simplifying the setup into two stages would improve completion and retention. As well as gather enough relevant information about each user to truly have a personalized experience:
1. Basic info + account setup
2. Personalized fitness, diet, and wellness preferences
2. Personalized fitness, diet, and wellness preferences
The goal was to balance structure and simplicity, giving users choice while reducing cognitive load. By splitting up onboarding and allowing users to explore the app between stages, we could demonstrate value early and begin to build trust before asking for more personal health and diet information.
The pain points identified were:
❌ Tedious data entry: Too many screens and questions.
❌ Cognitive fatigue: Information overload early in the experience.
❌ Lack of trust: Users are hesitant to share personal details before understanding the app’s value or credibility.
Research Goals + Methodologies
My research aimed to uncover what motivates or discourages users in both fitness apps and real-world training environments.
Methods:
✅ Google survey: Collected feedback on first impressions and pain points in popular fitness apps.
✅ Google survey: Collected feedback on first impressions and pain points in popular fitness apps.
✅ Trainer interviews: Explored what keeps clients motivated in their first sessions and what questions trainers typically ask during intake.
✅ Competitive analysis: Compared Strava®, MyFitnessPal®, and Nike Training Club® to identify patterns, usability gaps and best practices.
Key insights:
✅ Users value simplicity and encouragement over extensive data collection.
✅ Users value simplicity and encouragement over extensive data collection.
✅ Reducing visual and cognitive load improves trust and completion.
✅ Basic accessibility (i.e., color contrast, spacing, and legible typography) is foundational.
My Role
➡ Lead Researcher / UX designer / Art director
➡ Translated research findings into flows, interactions, and system behaviors
➡ Designed the information architecture, user flows, and high-fidelity wireframes
➡ Developed the primary screen templates and visual design direction, including grid, typography, and component library
➡ Created the FitNest logo and app icon
➡ Tools used: Google Forms, Google Docs, FigJam, Figma, PowerPoint, Google Meet
➡ Lead Researcher / UX designer / Art director
➡ Translated research findings into flows, interactions, and system behaviors
➡ Designed the information architecture, user flows, and high-fidelity wireframes
➡ Developed the primary screen templates and visual design direction, including grid, typography, and component library
➡ Created the FitNest logo and app icon
➡ Tools used: Google Forms, Google Docs, FigJam, Figma, PowerPoint, Google Meet
A presentation animation showing the FitNest Plan onboarding experience. The user experience features a conversational AI approach that humanizes the setup process and drives completion. It's designed to reduce friction and build trust.
Explore the interactive prototype on Figma
[View Prototype] ↗️
[View Prototype] ↗️
Challenges + Learnings
Working in a collaborative environment with teammates with diverse career backgrounds and levels of professional experience presented creative opportunities as well as logistical challenges. Aligning design decisions and timelines required flexibility, empathy, and communication. These are skills critical in real-world UX work.
One of the biggest learnings was the balance between innovation and feasibility. The conversational AI concept offered strong potential for engagement but raised complexity for development. This taught me how to balance creative ambition with practical delivery.
Ultimately, this project deepened my belief that onboarding sets the tone for the entire user experience. A clear, supportive start can make users feel invested in their journey. And that’s where good UX truly begins.
Impact/Results
Instructor quotes pulled from our capstone feedback:
Instructor quotes pulled from our capstone feedback:
💬 "Loved the visual design! Great option to have both AI and manual."
💬 "Good animations in Nate's section."
💬 "Really nice, thoughtful design that feels pretty realistic. Blitz scaling; really good design files. Well done!"
💬 "It feels real-world, and I could see this app being fully developed."
Postface: As a capstone project, FitNest was not deployed publicly, but the prototype received high marks and positive feedback from peers and instructors for its clarity, visual polish, and innovative use of conversational AI.
If the app were developed, I would conduct A/B testing between the AI and manual flows to measure:
➡ Completion rates
➡ Drop-off points
➡ User sentiment and perceived ease of use
➡ Drop-off points
➡ User sentiment and perceived ease of use
These insights would help determine whether conversational AI improves onboarding retention. This would be a valuable next step for real-world validation.
