UX

Concept: RunNote - a Simple Running Journal

I have been a casual runner for a couple of years now – never running more than maybe 5 miles a week. In August, I was invited to run in a half-marathon this November. I began searching the IOS store for a running tracker app, excited and eager to start training. 

I never found exactly what I was looking for.

What was I looking for? I wanted an app that would function mostly like a journal but with some extra bells and whistles. I wanted something that would track basic information while providing insights into my progress over time.

Despite the arguably over-saturated workout app market, I feel there is a lack of simple and aesthetically pleasing choices. I was faced with two options:

  1. Simple and minimal functionalities but outdated interfaces
  2. Beautiful but overly complicated with too many features that felt cluttered (classes, friends, challenges, etc.)

I ultimately settled on using Strava + Apple Fitness to track my training, but decided to try designing my own app that fit the what I was looking for. 

Basic and beautiful

Opening the app, you are greeted with a summary of your most recent run. This summary includes:

  • Distance
  • Duration and pace
  • Weather
  • Location and map
  • Heart rate
  • Difficulty level
  • Mood / “How did it feel?” 
  • Notes

Scrolling down, you are presented with summary cards of previous runs. Clicking these cards will open up a more in-depth summary identical to the first one. These cards include the date, distance, heart rate, average pace, and difficulty. If no difficulty level is selected, it will default to weather.

Track what's important

On the “Trends” page, you can view trends over three time points: one month, three months, and one year. The app presents you with a graph and a summary of your progress.

         Which trends the app tracks is customizable, with the options being:

  • Average pace
  • Weekly mileage
  • Daily mileage
  • Average heart rate
  • Mood levels

Final thoughts

Starting this project, I expected to know exactly what I wanted from a running app. In reality, this forced me to analyze my priorities and ensure I didn’t fall into the trap of adding anything and everything that might be helpful. In the future, I would like to expand on this project and dive more into user research. I made decisions for this app based on my personal preferences, but I would like to get insight from the running community and develop this idea into something that could be useful. 

 

Some features I would look into adding include: goals, pain/injury tracking, expanding the time points, and elevation tracking.

2023