Hooray_update

Hooray & WarmUp

To help physically inactive women to start doing more exercise, we worked to eliminate the obstacles that prevent them from doing so. These interactive tools well blend into home-setting environment. That allows users to exercise more spontaneously while they are doing leisure activities at home. Warm Up and Hooray's bouncy and interactive feedback also entice users to exercise a little bit more each day.

Context

Warm up & Hooray was my final graduation project in Industrial Design at National Cheng Kung University in 2010.
The project was subsequently demonstrated at the Taiwan Young Designers Exhibition, an event that saw more than 200,000 attendants. Working through each stage of the project, from initial concept to prototype and final production, my project partner and I worked closely to overcome numerous challenges, ensuring our design was workable and could be manufactured within the budget and on-time. By completing this project we not only learned design process from end-to-end, but also honed our ability to problem solve and optimize resources.
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Team
Ann Lin
Linda Lin

Timeline
2016 May - Aug

Timeline
Top 1 finalist at the 2010 Taiwan International Design Competition.

People today seem to be both busier and lazier. Physical inactivity is still a common problem, even among those that are aware of the importance of exercising and have a desire to do more. Studies have shown that women between 20-34 years old make up 62% of the total population of physically inactive individuals.Seeing how prevalent the issue was, we developed the problem space.

20-34 years old make up 62% of the total population of physically inactive individuals.

Survey & Semi-structure Interviews

We learned more about target users’ attitudes and desires through 47 surveys and 8 user interviews. In general, our potential users lack determination and do not find enjoyment in doing exercise. Many of these potential users share a number of characteristics.

Empathy map

Rather than focusing on just the exercise activity itself, we expanded our research to cover users’ feelings and thoughts before and after they exercise. We found that a home base workout would be a good entry point for our target users to exercise more. Also, boredom and seeing no immediate results from working out are their major pain-points.

Target Users

Don’t enjoy working out much
Don’t have a fitness goal
Have a desire to exercise more
Likely to be encouraged by fitness benefits

Frame insights

Through product analysis and user feedback, we found that many people in Taiwan live in small homes, where traditional fitness equipment feels bulky and intrusive. As a result, it’s often tucked away—out of sight, out of mind. To address this, one of our design goals was to reimagine fitness equipment as portable and home-friendly.

Ideation → Concept Refinement

Warm-up and Hooray were selected as our final concepts. We thought through the financial and technical aspects, in order to ensure the two concepts could be manufactured in time. When fleshing out the final concepts, we create storyboard and designed the interactions between user, product and the environment For example, how Warm-up and Hooray blended into the home-setting environment and how to show the immediate feedback encouraging users.

How Warm-Up and Hooray fit into the home-setting environment.

3D prototype and Testing

We made 3D models in Solidworks then use magnet and chemical pigment demonstrating interactive features. We tested the effects of color, bounce feedback, motion smoothness, and aesthetics. Through conducting interviews with subject matter experts with specialists in health and fitness at National Cheng Kung University, we verified the usability and effectiveness of Warm-up & Hooray. We also set long-term development goals, including the addition of adjustable features to customize the product’s height, weight, and angles, to better serve a more diverse group of users .

We used magnet to create the bounce feedback in Hooray as shown above.

We came up with engineering drawings in order to manufacture the final products.

Incorporate more exercise
into your daily life

How much time you spend relaxing could be how much time you exercise. While seated on any chair or sofa, simply place your feet on Warm-Up. Then let the curve at the stool its slider to guide your legs back and forth in a stretching exercising. It can be used while watching your favorite TV show or playing a game on your smartphone.

WarmUp

Interactive Feedback

As the user’s your body temperature rises during the exercise, Warm-Up turns from green to yellow, helping users witness the results of their workout immediately, even when they can’t be seen.

Effectiveness verified
by fitness specialists

Using Warm-Up contracts muscles in the lower limbs, sculpts legs and promote blood circulation by inducing pressure in the veins. The effectiveness are verified by fitness specialists.

Hooray

Interactive Feedback

Using the Hooray is a little like shaking a champagne bottle as the corked is popped on a night of celebration. The fun, bouncy feedback generated by the magnetic interior encourages users to exercise more.

Immediate Feedback

Hooray changes colors of its white segment according to how much energy was expended during the workout. When witness the color changes, you will know that you’ve achieved the work out goal today.

Effectiveness

The magnetic interior works with the counterweights to generate force that lets you easily work out your arms and abdomen. Users can use the Hooray to train multiple muscle groups by changing their posture and the direction of motion.