The above screens show the first time user experience of Strava, a fitness tracking app for iPhone.
The good bits:
- Strava provides a limited-functionality trial, allowing people to use the timers and browse challenges. Runners/cyclers are prompted to sign up if they want to join a challenge, build a profile, or more.
- The app defers its intro tour until after a person selects “Try Strava”; it is not forced so that returning users can log in unencumbered. Strava also provides “Skip” action prominently throughout the tour.
- The app has a very simple setup. It simply asks if the user is primarily tracking runs or cycling. This ensures the interface upon entering the app displays personalized metrics.
- Instead of overdoing hints or coachmarks, Strava chooses only to show one tooltip upon entry to the trial version of the app, pointing to the place where users can go to change their primary activity.
To be improved:
- Although the intro tour is deferred and skip-able, it is extremely high level and repetitive (the word “Prove” is the verb used on every screen). The more repetitive the content, the more likely a person will skip through the cards without reading them because they don’t perceive a change in content. This tour might be better put aside in lieu of more effective methods of teaching users about the features of the product.
- If the user taps “Welcome” in the upper right of the home screen, they are forced to go through the full start experience again (including choosing between cycling and running). A user should never be forced to go through an entire FTUE a second time, so the app should find a way to surface that content without repeating this loop.
- The user agreement that pops up when the user first taps the record button is intimidating and potentially unnecessary, as there are a fair number of fitness apps that avoid this full takeover.
- Although the app does provide some limited functionality and data for a non-signed-in user, it should consider providing a sample challenge as well. This seems to be the most social aspect of the app and an important feature (according to the intro tour), so finding a way to sell people on these without the overhead of account creation would be beneficial.