Improving the Experience of Using the IMA: a UX Research Study

Class Project

Task

Conduct a user experience study aimed to improve a local, public space of interest.

Time frame

10 weeks

Skills

Observational study methods | Semi-structured Interviews | Survey writing and distribution | Affinity Mapping | Qualitative Coding | Quantitative analysis

What is the IMA?

What makes it an interesting subject for research?

IMA is short for the Intramural Activities Building at the University of Washington. At the IMA, students and faculty can access basketball courts, a swimming pool, 3 separate gym/weight rooms, tennis courts, soccer fields, dance studios, a climbing gym, and more.

During my time as a student at this university, I used this facility quite frequently. Given the on-going reports of students feeling uncomfortable using the weight room section of the facility, I decided to focus my research on the IMA weight rooms.

Why are students afraid to use these facilities? How do things like the user demographic, tools and technology, and built environment affect the satisfaction and comfortability of those using the weight rooms?

In short…

How can we reduce “Gymtimidation” in students using the IMA?

Gym-tim-i-da-tion: “the fear of working out in front of others.”

This concept led me to my overarching research question:

How can we help people feel more comfortable and confident when working out in the IMA weight rooms?

Research Study Timeline

First, I conducted an observational study.

Observation is an extremely useful tool for gathering a broader, (less) biased view of the target space being researched. Through observation, I can get a wide view of everything occurring in the space, and narrow in on a few more specific, narrow topics of interest. It also is a great method for capturing workflow in a way that is uninterrupted and natural.

Before jumping in to observations - I developed areas of focus in order to structure my study

Each area of focus will have its own section in my field notes. By including these foci, I can compare data between sites that fall under similar topics and achieve a high breadth of data by remembering to focus on multiple facets of the topic.

Built Environment

Food and Drinks

Where

Spend 30 minutes observing each floor with a weight room (floor 1, 2, and 4)

The Process

Traffic

Media Consumption

The Game Plan

When

Conduct 3 total sessions: one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.

The Data

After coding and organizing the data - some intriguing data emerged. Notable observations from the study include the following:

Tools and Technology

Demographics

How

Take notes on my phone, and lightly workout or walk on the treadmill while note taking in order to reduce suspicion.

1.

“On the first floor, there is a brick wall on one side, white walls, and harshly bright lighting”

2.

“Walking through the entry point causes a lot of people to stare at you. It functions as somewhat of a ‘runway’ in that it's the only path to walk, and people are facing you.”

3.

“Squatting at the mirrored deadlift areas in the back of level 1 is difficult for a short person because you have to lift the weight at head height in order to set up the station”

The weight rooms lacks visual appeal and aesthetic

Based on my observations regarding the built environment, traffic, human behavior and how that affects mood and experience with users, I have discovered that the IMA fosters an uncomfortable, competitive, and vulnerable experience.

What I learned

The spaces feel cramped and uninviting

Overall, the color palette choices, lighting, and general ambiance of the IMA make the space feel dull and lifeless. It is already hard to feel motivated to go to the gym, and an unpleasant space makes it even harder.

Smaller bodies are disadvantaged

Specifically when using cable machines, weight machines, or squat racks, the equipment is not flexible enough to support those with smaller bodies. Though weight machines are typically designed to be flexible to many different body sizes and heights, they typically do not work properly for those 5’4 and below (which is the average female height in the US).

Now that I’ve gained a broad understanding of the space through observation, it’s time to conduct interviews.

Interviews are a great way to collect data directly from the user, and can be utilized to better understand the thoughts, feelings, and preferences of the people using the facility. This step will also help me gain a more detailed view of findings, while simultaneously helping me narrow down my focus even further.

Participant Selection

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Student at UW

  • Age: 18 - 30

  • Goes to the IMA

  • Uses the first floor weight room

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not a student

  • Doesn’t use the first floor weight room

1.

Describe a typical session at the IMA

Game Plan

Transcription

I will transcribe the interview using the voice memos app on my phone, while also transcribing the conversation into a word document.

Once the logistics were settled, I wrote the five main interview questions

The following list of questions are short, and thats on purpose. By having less required questions, the participant and I can head down any tangents that have juicy data. I can’t predict what interesting things will come up - so having flexibility with conversation topic is helpful.

2.

How would you describe the environment in the level 1 weight room?

4.

What parts of the weight room do you enjoy? What bothers you?

Approach

This interview will be conducted as a semi-structured interview, which means there are a few prepped questions to guide the interview - but tangents and follow up questions are encouraged and explored. They will be conducted in a neutral space - a coffee shop.

3.

Are there any specific times of day or areas of the weight room that you avoid?

5.

What kind of gym environment do you prefer? What makes you feel comfortable and confident?

After conducting all three semi-structured interviews, I analyzed the data.

This was done through an affinity diagram, which is a way to code data into categories. By organizing notable quotes from each participants interview into categories, I was able to discern whether a category was more or less significant.

Click HERE to interact with the affinity diagram

Getting stared at and feeling watched causes discomfort

Based on my observations and what I heard during interviews, users (especially women) find themselves avoiding areas where they can easily be seen, and tend to stare at their feet as they walk through to avoid eye contact. While staring could have many causes, participants feel that part of the problem is having nowhere else to look.

What I learned

The gym lacks visual appeal and aesthetic

During observations I found that the level 1 weight room lacks visual appeal and aesthetic. I noticed that the white and empty walls, harsh lighting, lack of daylight, and overall boring color palette contributed to making the place feel unwelcoming and boring. The interviews I conducted validated this observation, for every participant agreed that the environment was gloomy, and uninteresting.

The makeup and layout of the equipment is inconvenient

In the observational study, I often observed that the layout of the equipment as well as what equipment was available contributed to the chaotic nature of the weight room and ultimately caused a lot of inconvenience for the users. The interviews reassured the observation that the environment discourages free exploration of machines, lacks some organization, and misses the point as to what equipment people actually need. 

Now that I’ve gained the users perspective and narrowed in my focus, my last step is to send out surveys.

I am using surveys as a data collecting method because it allows me to confirm, elaborate, and extend on my findings with a wider audience. Including surveys also allows me to incorporate quantitative data, which will help visualize my findings.

Participant Selection

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Current UW students, or graduates from the class of 2021 and after. 

  • Uses the IMA at least once a month

  • Have used the level 1 weight room at least once

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-UW students, or graduates from before class of 2021. 

  • Has never used the level 1 weight room

Game Plan

Platform

I will write and distribute my survey using google forms. This is because it is widely used in the UW community, includes data interpretation tools, and is easily sharable with a link.

Once the survey was written, I shared it with UW students through social media, word of mouth, and flyers.

Despite only having a few days to send and receive responses to the survey, I was able to collect about 40 responses from people within my inclusion criteria.

Approach

This survey includes questions have both qualitative and quantitative data outputs. For example, multiple choice, ranking, and open ended questions are all included. This is designed to cover many the three goals - confirm, elaborate and extend on my current findings.

Click HERE to view the full survey

The weight room is too crowded

Notable survey quotes that confirm this result:

“If I’m there in the morning I’m more inclined to use it, but the evenings are way too crowded and I don’t feel like I can get a good workout in with the amount of people taking up space.”

It’s so busy! Every bench is always taken, sometimes there’s not even room to stand.”

“I like going when there aren’t many people around. It gives me less stress having to do my workouts and I also get to use the machines I want to use.”

Result #1

Recommendations

1.

Spread out heavy weight equipment to multiple areas, and add more benches on other floors.

2.

Designate an area for people to use weights that is specifically designed for non-bench exercises.

3.

Increase hours so that they extend to later in the night. Especially on weekends.

The weight room lacks visual appeal and aesthetic

Notable survey quotes that confirm this result:

“I prefer an environment with attractive lighting, and something to look at. Perhaps some encouragement in areas of the gym or inspiration.”

“It reminds me of a cave.”

“My preferred environment is a not-crowded, open space with a lot of natural light.

“i like seeing daylight and being near windows.”

“Could use some louder music, when I forget my headphones it’s so quiet and you just hear everyone grunting.”

Result #2

Recommendations

1.

Add more TVs with diverse channels other than sports, in more noticeable places.

2.

Add more decor on the walls such as posters, art, and encouragement.

3.

Play music at a loud enough volume, and increase the likability of the music by using student made playlists.

Women typically feel uncomfortable in the weight room

Notable survey quotes that confirm this result:

“I avoid it because it tends to be filled with men and always full. It feels a bit competitive trying to get machines and/or bench spots. The set up also seems to generate more stares and it makes me uncomfortable when people look at me for extended periods of time.

“It’s too crowded, the layout makes me feel watched, and it is often intimidating for someone on the smaller side like myself.”

“There are tons of men down there that make me nervous, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing and will be judged for it ”

Result #3

Recommendations

1.

Implement women-only weight lifting classes.

2.

Rearrange equipment to allow a more secluded, private feel.

3.

Format the gym to support group work - build confidence by going in groups.

Gender

Research further how gender plays into gym environments, and how people can better navigate gender issues

Next Steps

Equipment + Layout

Research equipment preference from students to help improve equipment availability and usefulness

Aesthetics

Further research what options exist in terms of making the space more aesthetically pleasing, such as cost, practicality, etc.

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