Discovery and Research

Contextual Inquiry

Why people don't use the body composition device?

Team and I had visited 5 fitness centers in SoCal during peak hours (6pm-8pm) for 3 months, and Interviewed 3 employees and 6 gym members who didn't use the device at all.

1. Barrier to Entry: Low Brand Awareness and Data Illiteracy
   Unlike in Korea, InBody lacks brand recognition in the U.S. Trainers and gym members were often unfamiliar with how to interpret or utilize the device’s data effectively.
   
   

2. Unprocessed data created a poor user experience
   A primary reason for user churn was that the data, even when transcribed, was presented without context or interpretation. Users found the raw numbers confusing and unactionable, leading to frustration and the perception that the device was "too complicated."

User Interviews

What factors prevent trainers utilizing the health data from the device?

Many trainers used the device mainly for “fitness challenges”, a program designed to track members’ progress toward specific goals.

However, several issues emerged due to workflow friction

Because the system relied heavily on manual data entry, trainers had to record members’ results in Excel sheets or notebooks, which increased their administrative workload by about 30%. This extra effort discouraged them from actively using or promoting the device.

“Recording each user’s progress in Excel or a notebook is too much work. There’s no real benefit that makes it worth the hassle.”