Pulse: Fitness App UI Design
Pulse is a fitness tracking app for people who already train but do not want another medical dashboard. I designed the mobile UI so the day compresses to three signals — move, recover, improve — and the rest of the data stays one tap away.
- Client
- Pulse Fitness
- Role
- Mobile UI/UX designer
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Platforms
- iOS · Android
Day-7 retention
+22%
Home bounce (single open)
−35%
Pulse
Close the day. See the run.
+22%
Day-7 retention
−35%
Home bounce (single open)
3.1s
Time to grasp daily status
01 — The problem
What was broken
Existing health apps treated every metric as equal. Heart-rate variability sat next to steps next to yesterday’s weather. Users opened the app, scrolled a wall of numbers, and closed it without changing behavior.
Runners wanted pace and route. Gym users wanted a closed ring. Sleep-focused users wanted to know if they should push or rest. One home screen had to serve all three without becoming a settings panel.
02 — Research
What I learned
The home is a ritual, not a report
If the first screen does not answer “how did I do today?”, the app loses the morning open. Rings beat tables for that job.
Recovery needs a story
Sleep scores without context felt like a grade. Users wanted “you are 80% recovered — keep today’s run easy” more than a raw hours chart.
Dark mode is the brand
Pulse is used in gyms and on early runs. A dark, high-contrast UI reduced glare and made the product feel like training gear, not a hospital portal.
03 — Process
How the work happened
- 01
Jobs-to-be-done interviews
Spoke with 11 regular trainers. Clustered needs into close the day, understand a run, and decide whether to push. That became the three home modules.
- 02
Metric hierarchy
Moved secondary metrics (HRV, VO2 estimates, weather) into drill-downs. The home only shows rings, last sleep, and the next planned session.
- 03
Visual system
Designed activity rings, a sleep timeline, and a pace map that share one dark palette and one accent. Motion is short: rings fill, maps draw, nothing loops for decoration.
- 04
Prototype and test
Tested the home and a run-review flow with five users. Tightened copy on empty states and made the primary CTA “start session” instead of “log workout.”
04 — Solution
What shipped
Activity rings as the daily contract
Move, exercise, and stand (or training load) close as rings. Completing a ring is the habit. Detail lives behind the ring, not beside it.
Sleep as recovery, not a score
The sleep view pairs duration with a plain-language recommendation. Charts support the sentence; they do not replace it.
Pace maps for the people who care
Run review shows the route, splits, and a single “vs last week” comparison. No twelve-tab activity dump after a 5K.
Scope delivered
- Rings-first home for the daily open
- Sleep timeline with a recovery recommendation
- Pace and route review for runs
- Dark-mode visual system for gym and outdoor use
- Empty states that teach the habit instead of showing zeros
05 — Outcome
The result
Post-redesign analytics showed more daily opens and fewer one-and-done sessions. In testing, users answered “how did I do today?” from the home screen in a few seconds — without opening a metrics dump.
+22%
Day-7 retention
−35%
Home bounce (single open)
3.1s
Time to grasp daily status