Building a fitness app for mothers, with a real trainer on the other end
ROLE
Lead Product Designer
Duration
2 months
Team
1 Product Manager
2 Mobile Engineers
2 Mobile Engineers
STATUS
Shipped
The project
Mari-Carmen is a personal trainer in the UK who works with women through pregnancy and the months after. She had built a loyal client base over years of 1:1 coaching, and wanted a way to bring that same experience to more mothers without losing what made it personal.
The ask was an app that could hold everything in one place. Workouts and video demos, recipes and meal tracking, step tracking through Apple Watch and FitBit, a shop for her products, and a way for her clients to message her directly.
The ask was an app that could hold everything in one place. Workouts and video demos, recipes and meal tracking, step tracking through Apple Watch and FitBit, a shop for her products, and a way for her clients to message her directly.
The problem
Mari-Carmen had spent years coaching women through pregnancy and the months after, one client at a time. Her approach was specific. Workouts built around what a postnatal body can actually do, nutrition advice that fits around a baby's schedule, and a tone that came from someone who had been there herself.
The problem was that 1:1 coaching has a ceiling. There are only so many hours in a week, and only so many women within driving distance of her studio. Mothers further out, or with smaller budgets, or with newborns at home, were asking for her help and there was no way to give it to them.
The app had to do two things at once. Carry her expertise into a product that could reach more women, and do it without flattening what made her coaching feel personal in the first place.
The problem was that 1:1 coaching has a ceiling. There are only so many hours in a week, and only so many women within driving distance of her studio. Mothers further out, or with smaller budgets, or with newborns at home, were asking for her help and there was no way to give it to them.
The app had to do two things at once. Carry her expertise into a product that could reach more women, and do it without flattening what made her coaching feel personal in the first place.
Who we designed for
We built the personas from Mari-Carmen's years of working with her own clients, the patterns she'd seen come up again and again, and what we could learn from her existing community.
Two clear groups came out of those conversations.
Two clear groups came out of those conversations.
The working mother
Mid-thirties, a couple of young kids, a full-time job, and almost no time for the gym. She wants to stay fit and lose the weight she put on during pregnancy, but the only realistic window is at home, in short bursts, around everyone else's schedule.
The new mother
First-time mum, still in the early postnatal months. She wants to get her strength back but doesn't know what's safe yet. She's tired, she's figuring it out as she goes, and what she needs more than anything is someone trustworthy to tell her where to start.
Both groups needed the same things in different proportions: workouts that fit around their lives, food and nutrition guidance that wasn't another thing to figure out, and the feeling that an actual expert was on the other end of the app.
What to build first
The brief had more in it than two months could hold. We sat down with Mari-Carmen and the PM, mapped everything against impact and effort, and drew the line.
The core of version one: workouts, the meal diary, progress tracking with Apple Watch and Fitbit syncing, and direct chat with Mari-Carmen. The things mothers would open the app for every day, and the things her expertise actually lived inside. Articles, recipes, and the shop made it too, since they plugged straight into her existing business.
What waited: the Android app, community features, and group challenges. All worth building, none of them the reason a tired mum opens the app on a Tuesday morning.
What waited: the Android app, community features, and group challenges. All worth building, none of them the reason a tired mum opens the app on a Tuesday morning.
Information architecture
With the scope locked in, we mapped the full app into a structure that kept the daily-use features within a tap or two, and everything else tucked into clear groups.
Five tabs at the bottom. Home for the daily snapshot, Diary for food and water, Workouts for the day's plan, Discover for articles, recipes, and the shop, and More for everything else.
The Solution
Onboarding
Quick sign-up with email, Google, or Facebook. Kept light on purpose, the heavier setup comes later, once users have a reason to commit.
Splash
Welcome
Create account
Subscription
Three programs at different price points, each with its own scope. Users see what's inside before they pay.
Choose a program
Program details
Make payment
Questionnaire
A 12-question setup that captures goals, body metrics, preferences, and lifestyle. The answers feed into a personalised plan.
Date of birth
Goals
Priority
Interests
Location
Current Weight
Homepage
The daily snapshot. Today's activity, weight trend over the last 8 weeks, and a shortcut into the day's workout.
Diary
Food and water tracking, with trainer-recommended meals already loaded for the day. Search, barcode scan, and manual entry all available.
Diary
Recipe
Meal entry
Meal entry
Meal entry
Barcode scan
Workouts and Live Chat
Each day's workout sits alongside the full program plan. Live chat with Mari-Carmen is one tap away, so users can ask questions without leaving the app.
Workouts
Workout plan
Live Chat with Trainer
Discover and Shop
Articles, recipes, and Mari-Carmen's fitness products in one place. The shop ties directly into her existing business.
Discover
Article
Shop
Shop Item
Cart
Payment
Profile and Badges
Account, favourites, order history, and achievements. Badges show up for milestones like weight loss and workout streaks.
Profile
Badges on wins
Testing and Iteration
We ran usability sessions with five women from Mari-Carmen's client base. Two changes came directly out of those sessions.
Choose a program
The first version put each program on its own card, which meant tapping in, reading, tapping back, and repeating for the next one. Users wanted to compare without all the back and forth. We moved program details onto the same page using tabs, so the choice could happen in one place.
Before
After
Diary
The original date selector only showed one week, and going further back was harder than it needed to be. We added a calendar to jump to any date directly, and used ticks and crosses on the day strip so users could see at a glance which workouts they'd done and which they'd missed.
Before
After
The response
The app launched on iOS and crossed 5,000 downloads in the first month. The reviews told us the rest.
Love this app
Easy to use in the gym. Everything is in one place and so much good mum content in there! Really good recipes so the ideas are there for you. Mari has thought of everything so you don’t have too. I really liked the beginner work outs to start me back off in the gym after a long period off, simple to follow and effective.
This app has been a game-changer for me!
There is a great variety of work-outs tailored for post natal women. It’s given me the confidence to get fit, knowing I am in the hands of experts. Many of the express work outs make a big impact in a short session (which is perfect for busy Mums!) Im starting to really notice a difference in my fitness, energy and motivation levels.
Wow
I have recently downloaded the FitMama app by Mari-Carmen and I cannot recommend enough.
I have found my ‘crutch’, my ‘hand hold’ that I needed being a busy, overwhelmed, working Mummy!
I have found my ‘crutch’, my ‘hand hold’ that I needed being a busy, overwhelmed, working Mummy!
Fountain of Knowledge
This is more than just an app, there’s an absolute fountain of knowledge put into this, personalised workouts, workouts to do at a time that suits you, recipes, pre and post-natal information, everything you’d want. Mari-Carmen has spent so much time and effort making sure that you have everything at your fingertips and the app is so easy to use, with timers for resting in between sets, music behind the workouts to keep you going, and demonstrations of every move. I love it!!!
Great for busy working mums!
I have been working with mari for a couple of years now as she helped me lose weight and maintain this loss for my wedding. This app is brilliant and perfect for busy working mums you can fit work outs around busy lifestyles no problem at all. Lots of work outs on the app to meet all different levels of abilities, including different meals and snacks you can prepare which I think also helps massively. You won’t be disappointed if you get this app! :)
Finally getting results!
Have been using the app for around 4 weeks now and it is the first time I have lost weight since having my daughter 3 years ago! What has really helped is changing my mindset about food and dieting, as well as tracking my progress and making myself accountable. Love that it is easy to fit in with family life!
What I took away
Designing for someone else's expertise.
The hardest part of this project wasn't the screens. It was learning to design around a domain, pre and postnatal health, that I knew nothing about going in. Mari-Carmen was the source of truth, and the work was as much about asking the right questions as it was about pushing pixels.
Scope is a design decision.
Two months and a brief that could have filled six. Sitting down to draw the line between what shipped and what waited was one of the most useful conversations of the project. The app worked on launch because we were honest about what it didn't need to do yet.
Real users change the work.
Five usability sessions changed two flows in ways we wouldn't have caught on our own. The Choose a Program redesign in particular felt obvious in hindsight, but only after watching someone struggle with the original.
Small teams move differently.
Four people, including the client. No layers, no handoffs, no waiting on approvals. Decisions happened in the same room and the work moved as fast as we could make it. It's the closest I've come to designing without friction.