LA Fitness
Building a Scalable Design System for a Better Workout Experience
This project is a personal redesign of the LA Fitness mobile app, created independently and not in affiliation with the company. The idea began when I downloaded the app for my own use, noticed its 2.2 star rating on the App Store, and quickly experienced the frustrations behind it. With a broad user base and clear opportunities for improvement, I set out to reimagine the app through user-centered design. My focus was on simplifying navigation, introducing essential features like workout tracking, and creating a scalable design system to bring consistency and efficiency. This case study walks through my process from research and ideation to interface design and system development, with the goal of delivering a more engaging and cohesive fitness app experience.
Company
LA Fitness
My Role
Product Designer
Industry
Fitness
Year
2025
Identifying Pain Points
I analyzed the current LA Fitness app through competitive analysis, app reviews, a heuristic evaluation, mapping of key user flows, and a UI inventory. This research provided a clear picture of strengths, gaps, and opportunities to guide the redesign.
Inefficient and Disjointed User Flows
Key tasks such as booking classes, reserving courts, or managing services require far too many steps and lack a cohesive structure. This makes the app feel slow, unintuitive, and frustrating to use. For example, booking a court requires 7 separate steps, turning what should be a simple action into an unnecessarily complex process.
Required steps to book a court in the current LA Fitness app
Missing Essential Features for Modern Gym-Goers
The app falls short of providing the tools members expect from a modern fitness companion. Users often express frustration in App Store reviews about the app not meeting their day-to-day needs, which forces them to rely on external tools or staff for support. Competitive analysis confirmed this gap, showing that most leading gym apps deliver a more complete and supportive experience.
Two reviews of the LA Fitness app from the App Store
Inconsistent Visual Design Reduces Trust
The app’s visuals and interface elements feel outdated and inconsistent, which makes it harder for users to quickly understand information and diminishes confidence in the overall experience. A UI inventory of the current app revealed multiple button styles and typography variations used without clear logic.
Three screens from the current LA Fitness app, showcasing the inconsistent visual design.
Design Question
How might I redesign the LA Fitness app to be consistent, intuitive, and equipped with the features members expect from a modern gym experience?
Proposed Solutions
Simplified Navigation and Efficient Flows
I restructured the app’s information architecture and redesigned key flows with an emphasis on simplicity and clarity. Tasks like booking a court, which previously required seven steps, are now streamlined into just a few intuitive interactions.
Restructured Information Architecture for the app
New and Improved Features
I introduced a crowd meter to show real-time gym capacity, workout tracking to help members monitor progress, and membership management tools directly within the app. These features create a more complete fitness companion and reduce reliance on external tools or staff.
"Crowd Meter" featured on the app's home screen
"Track" section of the app features a robust workout tracker
Users can easily manage their membership within the "Account" section
Unified and Scalable Design System
I created Spotter, a scalable design system built to bring consistency and clarity across the app. Spotter defines typography, color, and component patterns, ensuring a cohesive look and feel while supporting future growth.
Spotter design system and its patterns
Final Designs
Feature Packed Home Screen
The redesigned home screen of the app provides quick access to membership QR code, a view of how busy the gym currently is, today's classes, and the user's bookings.
Redesigned home screen of the app
Simple Membership Management
The Billing & Payments screen within the Account section of the app allows users to easily view, change, or cancel their membership.
Billing & Payments screen of the app
Redesigned Booking Flow
Booking courts, trainers, and classes now take 4 steps at most, as compared to the 7 steps in the current app.
Required steps to book a personal trainer in the redesigned app
New Workout Tracker
The new workout tracker section of the app allows users to log their exercises and track their consistency.
Screens from the workout tracker section of the app
Next Steps
This redesign addressed major usability challenges, introduced essential features, and established Spotter, a scalable design system. Looking ahead, the next priorities are to:
Conduct usability testing with members to validate and refine key flows.
Expand Spotter to support LA Fitness's website and other platforms.
Explore additional features such as personalized workout recommendations, class reminders, and social engagement to deepen member connection.
These steps would help strengthen consistency across platforms and continue evolving the app into a modern, trusted fitness companion.
Inconsistent Visual Design Reduces Trust