Virtual Training
Looking at how the pandemic has affected physical wellness, and harness the power of digital interventions to build a business model for virtual wellness that benefits both, trainers and learners.
(A research project done under the mentorship of Satya Shetty. This is a conceptual project that was done to understand the problem statements arising with the pandemic, while iterating possible digital solutions.)
Overview
The world came to a standstill as unprecedented lockdown measures closed countries, borders, cities, deserted streets and confined people to their homes. The whole map was on a standstill and the corona virus has left its impact globally. This project looks at the global shift to virtual trends in the yoga and wellness industry to propose digital interventions that benefit both wellness instructors and learners without the restriction of physical borders.
Scenario: The modern world is busy
The world today is fast moving, always evolving and on the go. In order to keep up with the velocity of development while also trying to make ends meet, people are engaged in a pool of multi-tasking activities. Managing a busy work-life, while also managing the household, and spending time with family, collectively takes a toll on an individual thereby creating an over-scheduled and overworked culture.
Technological advancements and the advent of digital transformations today, have made customers spoilt for choice. They are now accustomed to getting information and experiences at their fingertips and as per their convenience. The number of smartphone users worldwide today surpasses three billion and is forecast to further grow by several hundred million in the next few years.
People today feel “pressed for time,” that there’s “not enough time in the day,” and that they are “running out of time.”
The impact: A virtual shift!
With the second wave of lockdown measures approaching, gyms, workout centres, entertainment centres etc have seen a prolonged closure. In the midst of fear and restrictions, the world has gone virtual!
People are looking at services that they can access anytime — anywhere.
And that hold true also for their overall well being!
Problem Statement Identified
“How might we work with the physical restrictions of the lockdown to encourage wellness practices to one and all from the comfort of their homes?”
“How might we harness the power of digital to connect wellness instructors and enthusiasts in the midst of the lockdown.”
Outlook and idea
Iterating a collaborative platform that promotes practices targeting well being and overall development of the mind, body and soul. The core idea is to attract the various target groups to explore and be surprised by the vastness of various possibilities when it comes to well being.
The intent of the platform is to serve as a catalyst to promote yoga instructors, institutes, specialists , and connect them with enthusiasts looking at undertaking such practices.
The most important aspect of this initiative is to facilitate virtual access to various services from the comfort of individual households.
Market Study — What’s available in the current landscape?
Before moving ahead to chalking down the various use case specific features, we might want to include into our business model, we had a look at some similar practices that are currently live in the market.
Market study findings
Having looked at some existing platforms, we noticed some commonalities and interesting takes with certain initiative. Some of the general observations being:
Platforms benchmarked
We then looked at 2 platforms as benchmarks that resonate with the concept of the initiative.
1.Airbnb
Airbnb has been benchmarked for it’s ease of use and customer focused approach, while also being visually appealing with a minimalist approach. Additionally, the transition from host to guest in terms of their user journey’s makes it a website to gather inspiration from.
#ease of use. #customer centricity. #simplicity. #personalised experience #guided communication
2. Adidas Runtastic
This has been benchmarked for it’s gamified approach to fitness that promotes social networking and tracking at the same time.
#customer centricity. #gamification. #customised experience #engagament
The initiative
We brainstormed on defining the “who we are” of the concept which led to us benchmarking the archetypes of the initiative as “The Everyman”.
Who is it for? Target groups
We outlined various user types who would be targeted via this platform, each with their specific needs and requirements. We defined these user groups and assessed all their requirements to provide a service that caters to the target in every way.
1. Health and wellness professionals
2. Fitness Freaks/ enthusiasts: users who are well aware of the wellness practices.
3. Users with basic knowledge of yoga but not the principles of various practices.
4. First timers (Inquisitive) : Users with no knowledge of yoga or other wellness practices.
Content buckets
It’s imperative to base the structure and design of the website based on the laid out objectives, TG behavior, best practices, competition analysis and User experience principles. Following the discovering and defining stage, a content bucket was drafted to highlight possible features and navigation for the 2 core user flows:
- Trainer
- Learner
Iterated flow
Based on the research findings and listed content buckets for information dissemation, a website flow was devised with the below-attached approach.
https://xd.adobe.com/view/732933b7-a2ee-43cb-a6e8-20a274025373-267a/
