Case Study: Bent Barbell Lifting Club
Helping gym members stay consistent by removing daily workout planning friction
Designer - Dylan Fenton | Role - UX/UI Designer | Platform: iOS | Tools Used - Figma | Timeline - Nov. 2025 (3 weeks)
Project at a glance:
Problem: Members struggled to stay consistent without guidance
Solution: A friction-light, mobile-first gym companion
Focus: Habit formation, clarity, fast access
Outcome: Clear daily actions without decision fatigue
Problem & Opportunity
Understanding friction in performance-focused training environments
Bent Barbell Lifting Club members are highly motivated, performance-driven athletes, yet their digital experience did not reflect how they actually train.
Key challenges included:
Fragmented access to workouts, classes, and programs that forced users to remember where things lived
Friction during high-energy moments such as checking in, navigating options, or finding today’s workout
Weak visual hierarchy that made it difficult to scan between sessions quickly
Inconsistent flows that slowed down routines meant to be fast and repeatable
In an environment built around consistency and momentum, even small points of friction added up.
The Problem
This presented an opportunity to design a performance-focused gym app centered on speed, clarity, and repeatability.
The goal was to:
Reduce cognitive load so members could focus on training, not navigation
Create predictable patterns that support daily and weekly gym routines
Surface the most important actions immediately without clutter
Design an interface that felt strong, intentional, and aligned with gym culture
Rather than adding features, the focus was on removing friction and supporting members during their most focused moments.
The Opportunity
Why This Matters
Small points of friction disrupt focus and momentum during training
A streamlined interface supports faster decisions and greater consistency over time
Goals & Design Principles (Part 1)
A framework for reducing friction during high-focus strength training.
Section 1: Project Goals
Enable fast, repeatable actions during workouts and check-ins
Enable decisive actions with minimal cognitive load
Surface essential information without overwhelming the user
Support consistency across daily and weekly gym routines
Primary Goals
These goals were defined early to minimize friction during training and support focused, repeatable actions under physical load.
Secondary Goals
Minimize the number of taps required for common actions such as check-in, class access, and workout selection
Allow users to resume workouts or programs without re-navigation
Make progress indicators visible at a glance to reinforce consistency
Reduce visual noise during active training and in-workout states
Support one-handed use during workouts
Goals & Design Principles (Part 2)
Translating goals into actionable design decisions
Section 2: Design Principles
With the project goals established, I defined a small set of design principles to guide every layout, interaction, and visual choice. These principles acted as guardrails to ensure the interface stayed focused, efficient, and consistent during high-effort strength training moments.
Speed Over Customization
During workouts, speed matters more than flexibility. The interface prioritizes fast access to common actions like check-ins, workouts, and program selection rather than deep customization options that slow users down in high-focus moments.
Glanceability Over Density
Information is surfaced in a way that can be understood at a glance. Progress indicators, check-ins, and key actions are visually separated to prevent cognitive overload, especially when users are fatigued or mid-workout.
Consistency Over Novelty
Interaction patterns, button placement, and navigation behaviors remain consistent across screens. This reduces relearning and supports habit formation, allowing
users to move through the app with minimal thought over time.
Large Targets for Fatigued Interaction
Buttons and primary actions are intentionally large and spaced to support one-handed use and reduced precision during workouts. This minimizes friction when users are sweaty, tired, or moving quickly between sets.
Visual Restraint During Active States
High-contrast accents are reserved for primary actions and important feedback. Secondary content is visually subdued to reduce noise and keep attention focused on the task at hand.
These principles ensured that every screen supported the same core objective: helping members stay consistent and focused during training without unnecessary friction.
User Flow Diagram
User Flow & Core Experience
App Launch
Entry Screen
Create Account
Login
Check-In
Classes
Training Programs
Welcome
Set Goals (Skippable)
Home / Dashboard
Trainers
The user flow prioritizes speed, clarity, and repeatable actions, allowing members to move from entry to training with minimal friction.
Core Dashboard Actions
Profile
Information Architecture (Part 1)
This intersection shaped an information architecture optimized for speed, clarity, and repeatable training actions.
High-energy strength training
Limited attention during workouts
Physical fatigue and time pressure
One-handed, mid-set interaction
Frequent, repeatable sessions
Returning gym members
Habit-driven usage patterns
Goal-oriented
Familiar with gym routines
Prioritize speed over exploration
Check-ins and attendance
Class schedules
Training programs
Trainer access
Progress visibility
Low Cognitive
Load
High-Frequency
Actions
Glanceable
Information
Core IA
Decisions
Users
Content
Context
Balancing context, users, and content
Information Architecture (Part 2)
Top-Down Structure & Content Hierarchy
This top-down structure ensures the most critical actions are always one step away, while secondary tasks remain accessible without disrupting training flow.
Home / Dashboard
Core Training Actions
Supporting & Account Management
These actions are surfaced immediately
to support speed, habit formation, and
repeatable workouts.
Lower-frequency actions are intentionally separated to reduce cognitive load during active training states.
Check-In
Classes
Trainers
Training Programs
Profile
Membership Details
Preferences
Settings
Notifications
Progress & Achievements
Account
Management
Check-In History
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
These low-fidelity wireframes were used to explore layout, hierarchy, and user flow before introducing visual styling. The goal was to validate structure, reduce cognitive load, and ensure core tasks could be completed intuitively without relying on visual polish.
Visual styling and branding were intentionally excluded at this stage to prevent premature design decisions from influencing usability outcomes.
Primary actions are consistently positioned to reduce learning time across screens.
Single-task focus per screen helps reduce cognitive load during onboarding.
Progressive disclosure is used to prevent overwhelming first-time users.
Mobile-first hierarchy prioritizes thumb-reachable actions.
Repeated structural patterns reinforce user familiarity.
Login / Entry Page
Account Creation
Goals
Class Types
Home
Profile
High-Fidelity Screens
These high-fidelity screens translate validated low-fidelity structures into detailed, interactive layouts. Visual hierarchy, spacing, and component behavior were refined to ensure clarity, consistency, and usability across core user flows before final visual polish.
Clear visual hierarchy applied to primary and secondary actions
Component spacing and alignment refined for readability and accessibility
Navigation patterns standardized across primary screens
Content density adjusted to balance efficiency and scannability
These high-fidelity screens validated layout, structure, and interaction behavior across key user flows, enabling confident exploration of visual design
and branding in the final UI phase.
Login / Entry Page
Account Creation
Goals
Class Types
Home
Profile
Primary actions are consistently placed within thumb-reachable zones to reinforce muscle memory and reduce interaction cost during frequent use.
Visual Direction & UI System
Cards provide clear content grouping while maintaining generous spacing to improve readability on smaller screens.
Orange is used sparingly for primary actions to create strong call-to-action contrast, while dark neutral surfaces reduce visual fatigue in prolonged use scenarios.
Text hierarchy was designed to support quick scanning and glanceability, particularly during short interaction moments between sets. Headings are bold and condensed for emphasis, while body text prioritizes legibility at small sizes.
Primary typeface: Big Shoulders Display
Color System
Typography
Components & Interaction Style
212223
FE7F2D
191919
FFFFFF
000000
D9D9D9
Sign In
**********
Password:
M4071530
1,250 Pound Club Badge
1,000 Pound Club Badge
120 Day Streak Badge
Achievements
LOCKED
BADGE
The UI system was designed to reinforce consistency, usability, and brand identity across all core screens. Components, color usage, and typography were standardized
to reduce cognitive load, support accessibility, and ensure scalable reuse as the product grows.
Results & Impact
This project demonstrates my approach to UX design: validating structure first, refining interaction through iteration, and applying visual design intentionally to
support real user behavior.
Reduced onboarding friction through step-by-step account and goal setup
Faster repeat interactions using thumb-reachable primary actions
Clear information hierarchy via card-based layouts
Predictable navigation patterns across core screens
Key UX Outcomes
Cognitive load reduction
Progressive disclosure
Mobile-first interaction design
Consistent, reusable component system
Design Principles Applied
Scalable addition of trainers, classes, and programs
Expansion of achievements and progress tracking
Component reuse without redesigning core flows
Flexible support for multiple user goals
What This Design Enables
The final design emphasizes clarity, consistency, and ease of use in a high-focus gym environment. Design decisions were guided by principles of cognitive load reduction, progressive disclosure, and repeat-use efficiency. While the product is conceptual, outcomes reflect real-world UX patterns observed in fitness and habit-driven applications.
Reflection & Next Steps
This project reinforced the value of validating structure and user intent before investing in visual detail. Prioritizing task flow, hierarchy, and repeat-use efficiency led to clearer primary actions, reduced decision fatigue, and predictable navigation suited for short, interrupted gym interactions.
Key Learnings
Structure drives usability
Validating layout, hierarchy, and task flow in lo-fi reduced rework and improved confidence in hi-fi decisions
Context shapes interaction design
Designing for the gym environment emphasized glanceable interactions, clear primary actions, and predictable navigation mid-workout
Consistency builds muscle memory
Repeated layout patterns improved learnability and supported high-frequency actions like check-ins
Early goals enable personalization
Capturing goals during onboarding allowed the experience to adapt without added complexity later
Opportunities for Future Iteration
Usability testing
Validate onboarding clarity, goal selection flow, and task completion time through moderated tests
Progress & feedback loops
Expand achievements, streaks, and micro-feedback to reinforce motivation and habit formation
Accessibility refinements
Evaluate contrast, tap targets, and motion sensitivity for low-attention or physically active use
Scalability
Explore additional roles and larger content sets to confirm the system scales without fragmenting the experience