Usability testing of the prototypes revealed what worked — and what needed refinement.

After building mid-fidelity prototypes, I tested them with real Mecha clients and staff. Their feedback shaped the final designs that I handed off to Mecha's development team:

Schedule enhancements that tested well:

• The location toggle was intuitive and immediately reduced confusion

• The calendar view helped clients quickly find dates that worked for their schedule, instead of endless scrolling

Design refinements I made based on testing:

• Teacher filter was the #1 request from users** — I added it to the final prototype after hearing repeatedly: "I wish I could filter by my favorite instructor"

• Calendar views needed a clearer visual hierarchy to distinguish between booked classes and available slots

• Location toggle needed a more prominent indicator showing which view was active (both locations vs. single location)

Community features that resonated:

• The unified events tab made it easy to discover everything happening at each studio

• Challenge tracking excited members who wanted to see real-time progress

• Accountability features resonated with members looking for workout partners

What I learned after implementation: Testing also revealed technical realities: Mecha uses Mindbody's app platform, which influenced what was feasible to implement:

• Events tab: Supported by the platform, implemented for location-specific event discovery

• Invite friends post-booking: Platform capability allowed this feature to be added

• Social media sharing: Built-in Mindbody integration made this straightforward

• Challenge tracking and accountability features: Required custom development beyond Mindbody's standard features, documented for future consideration

• Teacher filter: Informed future app iterations based on strong user demand

• Payment features: Mindbody platform constraints required these to be handled through existing payment flows

This taught me an important lesson: great design must account for technical feasibility. The features that made it into production were those that aligned with both user needs and platform capabilities.

This project taught me that solving the right problems is more important than solving every problem — and that good design work creates impact even after you hand it off.

My role was to lead the research and design phase: I conducted user interviews, identified pain points, created wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes, and validated designs through usability testing. Mecha's development team then implemented features from the prototype — the location toggle, events tab, and post-booking invite flow all made it into their app.

Seeing my designs solve real problems was validating. Even more rewarding was learning that Mecha recently expanded to a third location (North Boulder), suggesting the redesign supported business growth. When I started, research revealed multiple pain points across two locations: booking friction, disconnected community, and fragmented payments.

In a 6-week sprint, I had to prioritize ruthlessly. The data made the choice clear:

• 70% of instructors were experiencing capacity issues (booking problem), and 95% of clients attended for the community (engagement problem). These two pain points directly threatened instructors' livelihoods and member retention.

• By focusing the prototype on booking and community, I created a research-backed roadmap that Mecha could use to address the crisis — work that started as a class project but became something the studio actually implemented.

The biggest lessons?

• Good product design isn't about building everything users want. It's about understanding which problems, if solved, create the most value.

• Design must account for technical constraints. The most elegant solution means nothing if the platform can't support it. Learning that Mecha used Mindbody's app builder taught me to validate technical feasibility early, not after designing.

• Platform limitations drive prioritization. The features that shipped — events tab, invite friends, social sharing — weren't just good ideas; they were the ideas that aligned with both user needs and platform capabilities.

• Student projects can create real impact when they're grounded in genuine research and solve actual problems.

• Your work doesn't end when you hand off designs. The insights you uncover and solutions you prototype influence implementation, even when the final product differs from the original vision.

• Design impact isn't measured by how many features shipped exactly as designed — it's measured by whether the core problems got solved.

A personal note: This project started as a class assignment, but it became an opportunity to give back to a fitness community I genuinely care about. As both a designer and a Mecha client, I had unique insight into the pain points: I'd experienced the booking frustration, I'd seen instructors struggling with empty classes, and I knew how strong the in-person community was — and how disconnected it felt digitally.

This project showed me that the best work happens when you combine design expertise with personal investment. I got to collaborate with people I train alongside, solve pain points in my own community, and see my design work translate into real features that strengthen the bonds between people who share a common goal. That's the kind of work I want to keep doing.