Experience Optimisation System for Commercial Gyms

The problems aimed to be solved:
A) People that use commercial gyms at rush hour (5-8pm) are typically older, with full time jobs, potentially with children too, and therefore cannot spend long exercising.
B) The gym is statistically predominantly a space populated by men. This intimidates other groups from entering certain parts of the gym, or sometimes the gym altogether.

How I aimed to reduce/fix these problems:
A) By minimising wait times for users, and streamlining their experience as much as possible, reducing instances of walking around the gym endlessly searching for a free machine, while wondering if the water bottle a metre away from it indicates its unavailability.
B) By reducing unnecessary conversations with strangers when they're unwanted, regarding equipment availability etc. as this is a common entrance point for those pursuing conversation.

The Solution:
A system of physical devices that are attached to each piece of standing equipment in the gym. They have a traffic light system to show users in-person exactly what is and isn't free, no second-guessing needed. They connect together to each other via Internet of Things so the live status of each piece of equipment can be viewed in app too. From the app users can claim free equipment to use (assuming they aren't using something else at the time), and can enter queues for equipment being used. The system can also produce the most efficient workout possible for each user based on what they aim to work out, using the equipment that is most free at that given time.

The primary stakeholders involved were: gym users, personal trainers, and gym owners. I was in communication with all three groups throughout the process, and all were pleased with the goals and execution. Not to say there was no room for improvement, as there was plenty. The Loughborough Enterprise group approached me to take the idea forward to market, however I had too much going on at the time unfortunately.

This project was a pleasure to go through. It focussed on issues I had observed over years in a particular setting, and it was amazing to produce something that most agreed would be of benefit to their workouts/busy days.