“Jason is a real person. He really cares. He’s always there. He’s a good guy. He doesn’t push anything he doesn’t believe in. He speaks directly to you.”user survey response
The Story
Jason Helmes is a force. Maybe it’s because he lives in the Upper Midwest and you gotta be tough to deal with those long winters, but wowza, Jason doesn’t stop.
I knew this two hours after getting off the first call with him when I received an email simply titled “Brain Dump.” Jason had written 12 pages outlining and describing in detail every section of the new Anyman Fitness app, a health and fitness tool meant to digitize his already very successful coaching business. Keep in mind, we’d just met and hadn’t even started the project yet. Jason is my dream client.
When you make something for as enthusiastic and positive a dude as Jason, your main task becomes funneling all that passion into places that will provide the greatest return of value. For Jason, it was giving him opportunities to express what coaching meant to him, and what better fitness and health meant to his members.
Because I knew that if the Anyman Fitness app was going to work, it had to be like having Jason in the palm of your hand, personally invested, always ready to jump in and help.
(Special thumbs up to Volum8 for bringing me on, and to Michael Smith for managing this project, assisting with research, and helping me keep pace with Jason’s energy.)
What was done
For Jason I designed a complete health and fitness web app with a full-range of features that would allow members to sign up, log in, and reach their own personal fitness goals. The app allowed live logging of weight-lifting sessions, in-app messaging, a library of custom fitness programs that could be selected and tracked, macro-nutrient tracking, a recipe database, and more.
As always on an app this large, I spent considerable time in discovery before any wireframes were created. I conducted dozens of one-on-one interviews with Jason’s existing members, defining what attracted them to Jason’s coaching, identifying his current weaknesses and strengths.
Hours were spent on calls with Jason, picking his brain, giving him homework (which he would do in minutes), and trying to keep him from spontaneously combusting from excitement.