FitLoom

Designing for Cultural Connection in Fitness

Reducing onboarding friction with mixed-methods research, and AI-ready insights


A research-led, three-phase approach to uncover emotional drivers and align UX, product, and brand in a lean HealthTech concept.


Role: Solo UX Researcher & Strategist


Project at a Glance

  • Stage: Concept validation (no launch)
  • Domain: Wellness for diaspora users
  • My role: Solo UX Researcher & Strategist
  • Methods: 8 interviews · 56-response survey · ecosystem scan · light usability
  • Participants: Diaspora users (25–50) across US/EU/ME
  • Focus: Trust, tone, language, cultural alignment
  • Outcome: Paused premature build; reshaped tone/onboarding; defined semantic tags for future matching/personalization

voice-anchored snapshot

Cultural Seeker “someone like me”

  • Warm tone; native-language cues build early trust
  • Generic/“cold” apps feel distant and formal
  • Needs soft, human onboarding (low-pressure start)

Interview P03 — Cultural Seeker, 32, Berlin

Oriented Planner “show me the plan”

  • Clear structure, milestones, and accountability matter most
  • Wants culturally aware interaction (not western-centric visuals)
  • Expects progress tracking across time zones

Interview P07 — Oriented Planner, 29, Toronto

Skeptical Drop-Off  “invite me in”

  • Quick to disengage if tone feels corporate or “perfect”
  • Prefers informal, peer-like interface and language
  • Needs a low-pressure first step to try, then commit

Usability T02 — Skeptical Drop-Off, 34, London

I think Design is not started from the schools and institutes.Design even is not part of human's life. It is the life itself and design thinking is the art of living.


I decided to become a UX designer before knowing it as its common definition.


I ground my decisions in the empirical data collected and I embrace improvisational techniques for maintaining resilience and adaptability. I encouraged myself the cultivation of critical thinking habits and practices.

Approach — Research Journey

Emotional Discovery

Interviews with diaspora users to surface motivators, trust signals, and cultural friction. Patterns like “someone like me” and “from my roots” guided tone and onboarding.

Ecosystem Benchmarking

Scan of 10+ platforms showed polished but “cold” UX. We identified whitespace for trust-first, culturally grounded positioning.

Quantitative Validation

A short survey confirmed the hierarchy of needs: trust, tone, and language familiarity ranked above features.


Key Insights

1

Users wanted someone like them , relatability beat credentials.

2

Language + warm tone built early trust more than features did.

3

Over-polished, “cold” visuals triggered early drop-off.

4

Generic messaging failed; human, local stories worked.

5

We turned insights into simple tags (tone, trust cue, cultural match) to support future personalization.

“I don’t need someone perfect. I need someone who understands where I come from.”

Interview P03 — Cultural Seeker, 32, Berlin 

“When the app speaks my language, I relax. I’m not translating—I’m paying attention.”

Survey R18 — Oriented Planner, Toronto

“Everything looked perfect, but I didn’t feel invited. It felt like a gym for somebody else.”


Usability T02 — Skeptical Drop-off, London

Survey Highlights (N=56)

A light validation layer to rank what mattered most. These results informed tone and onboarding priorities—without claiming post-launch impact.

82%

- rated trainer trust “very important”

76%

 - rated native language & tone “very important”

65%

 - reported cold, generic platforms as a barrier

Self-reported importance. Used to prioritize tone/onboarding, not post-launch metrics.

Benchmarking,Where Others Fell Short

  • Polished look; low cultural alignment
  • English-first flows
  • Credentials over relatability

Mainstream

  • Warm, community-like tone
  • Native-language cues throughout
  • Coach stories & backgrounds

FitLoom

Whitespace: trust-first, culturally grounded onboarding.

Where FitLoom Differed

Mainstream

“Cold-Polish”

  • Generic tone; low cultural alignment
  • English-first content and UX
  • Credentials over relatability
  • Formal onboarding; little warmth

FitLoom

Trust-First

  • Warm, community-like tone
  • Native-language cues throughout
  • Relatable coach stories and backgrounds
  • Soft, human onboarding

Usability

&

 Risk Notes

  • Tone comprehension:  “studio-perfect” visuals felt distant warmer microcopy + human imagery.
  • Language cues: Native-language labels reduced hesitation on first tap.
  • Payment/coordination risk: Flagged for design guardrails; mapped to semantic tags.
  • Bias watch-outs: Avoid over-indexing on Western aesthetics in content/images.

From Research to Personalization

Collect

Trust cues, tone preferences, cultural match

Tag

Turn findings into machine-readable labels

Use

Coach matching • Content personalization • Risk modeling

Impact on Decisions

Paused launch

Avoided building on assumptions

Onboarding tone

Warm, culturally familiar microcopy

Voice-anchored personas

Clearer scope & GTM story

Semantic tags

Future matching & personalization