ARWell: Reimagining Personal Fitness Through Gamified AR

ARWell leverages augmented reality (AR) exercise games to help users meet personal physical fitness goals. While clinical research proved the benefits of AR exer-games, the team lacked specific user research to verify whether their consumer app, ARWell, was meeting active user needs.

Initial usability reviews revealed that the app suffered from "click fatigue" on customization screens, lacked clear in-game exercise guidance, and hid useful tracking metrics (like progress tracking and streaks) from the user's dashboard.

My objective as Project Manager and UX Researcher was to run a comprehensive research and usability sprint, identify friction points, and design mid-fidelity solutions to elevate ARWell's System Usability Scale (SUS) ranking from "OK" (71.5) to "Best Imaginable."

To uncover cognitive accessibility gaps and motivational barriers, I designed a multi-method research strategy consisting of surveys, semi-structured interviews, and usability tests.

1. Surveys & Interviews

I distributed a physical wellness experience survey to multiple universities and community centers (n=45, ages 18-64). It revealed that while 61.6% found technology useful, only 30.8% remained consistent.

Follow-up semi-structured interviews (n=5, ages 20-30) showed that users care deeply about physical health but struggle with maintenance due to outdated care, highlighting an urgent need for in-app feedback and active motivators.

2. Usability Testing & SUS Score

We conducted 30 usability sessions (ages 7-32) split into unmoderated peer group tests and moderated think-aloud tasks:

• Unmoderated Peer Tests (n=20): We ran an in-class peer engagement activity where groups rotated roles between active users and note-taking observers.
• Moderated Sessions (n=10): I observed users completing 3 specific gameplay tasks, followed by post-test questionnaires and the System Usability Scale (SUS) survey.

ARWell scored an average **71.5 SUS score**, indicating its usability was in the "OK" range but left significant room for enhancement.

3. Affinity Mapping & Dovetail Coding

As Project Manager, I proposed and led our affinity mapping strategy. We coded our research findings inside Dovetail, transferred them to FigJam, and synthesized usability observations into three thematic user needs: **Motivation** (streaks/goals), **Customization** (personalization without choice fatigue), and **Guidance** (clear exercise objectives).

1. Goal Setting & Motivation

ARWell collected steps, arm movements (hands above shoulder-level), and game stars on the back-end but didn't display them. To foster motivation, I designed a goal-setting dashboard that surfaced this data, allowing users to prioritize exercise quality over quantity.

2. Eliminating Click Fatigue

In the original avatar customization flow, users had to click through colors one-by-one in a carousel. We replaced this with a dropdown picker, expanding color options while displaying choices at a single glance without requiring developers to export new SVG assets.

3. Instruction Screens

Users needed guidance before starting games. I designed an instructions screen containing a clear game objective, a defined exercise type, and a clean stick-figure animation demonstrating the motion required.

4. Immediate Feedback

Previously, games returned users directly to the landing screen, leaving users confused about whether time ran out or if they had won. I designed a completion screen detailing exactly what was accomplished to spark motivation.

With the design changes my team delivered, ARWell saw a 23% increase in user satisfaction and task efficiency after designing features informed by extensive user testing and research that encouraged consistent use and supported fitness goals.