Trenara's Evolution

The app as you know it was designed in 2018 and went live in 2019. That's a long time in the digital world. Trenara in 2018 was by far not the app it is today. The more we grew, the more we developed. And so the app started to resemble a typical Flemish house: a house with 'secret' doors to not-so-uniform outbuildings.

Technological Advancements

Technology has also made significant leaps over the years. Simply put, we now essentially have two apps, one for iOS and one for Android. They are both developed separately. However, there are now frameworks (a fancy word for development code) that allow for a single hybrid app to be developed for both iOS and Android. Economically, this is a better choice in the long run.

The Process: From Demolition to Reconstruction

The problem: that house with outbuildings (front-end) has to be completely torn down to the foundations (back-end). And the foundations also need to be adjusted in some places. This is what we've been doing over the past months. The entire process actually started in January '23.

Improving User Experience (UX)

Over the years, we've received a lot of feedback from our users – the great advantage of the community. We were pointed out mistakes, conveniences, and the lack of logic in some actions within the app. Mapping out this user experience (UX) was crucial for thinking about a new design within a possible new framework.

The biggest point of criticism: the goal flow. For a relatively small adjustment, you had to go through the entire flow. For you, that was just too much work. We shouldn't bother you with the fact that we have to recalculate everything. The lack of a real menu and an informative dashboard was also frequently mentioned.

All these stories were mapped out in 'user story maps'. In short: when I am on this page, I want to be able to perform this action in that way. A pertinent example: logging a manual activity cannot currently be done via the training calendar. Yet by far the most logical place, where you see which training is planned and which has been completed.

Some actions you also want to perform much faster, such as moving your next training. That will soon be possible via the dashboard; you no longer need to go through the calendar.

From User Story Map to Designs

If you know what you want to have where and how the process should go, you're already far. But you're also far from done. We broke our heads more than once over the designs. Sometimes you feel that something isn't right yet, but you can't pinpoint the problem.

So we drew and redrew. Essentially, you're constantly looking for screens that provide enough information without being too busy and, if possible, are also aesthetically pleasing. In the current app, we hid a lot behind tabs, so as a user, you had to do a lot of tapping. The further away information is, the harder it is to find – we see that daily in the helpdesk. Rearranging the screens is therefore also crucial for us as employees, as it ultimately also eases our tasks.

The new designs solve many of these UX issues. Although there are few new developments, it will feel like it.

Thanks to the new 'bottom menu', we can also bring more logic into the app. We are now making menu items of the main screens:

• Dashboard: A quick overview of (comments on) the last training, a preview of the next one, and your progress towards your goal. But there is also room for news, Troops, and challenges.

• Calendar: Easier than ever, with a clearer visual representation of the trainings for subscribers.

• Your Goal: An easy overview of your main and sub-goals, our prognosis, and your stats. From here, you can now make adjustments faster, addressing the number one frustration of our community. To give an example: currently, your training days are assigned to priorities (which change depending on the training phase), we are now making the switch from priorities to training types (recovery, interval, LSD, endurance, etc.).

• Trainers: With myself as a running coach, Maarten as a strength coach, and soon also a food coach, this will be the place where feedback is shown and where you can ask questions via FAQ or helpdesk.

• Profile: As we will now and in the future work even more on your parameters, the profile page will also become more prominent. Other functions are behind a typical 'hamburger' menu (yes, that's what they call a menu with three stripes).

Conclusion

All of this is a process of months and months, which is now being transformed into a new app. We hope to launch this new app in September. This is also very exciting for us. It is a 'total makeover' that we can only execute because we have a future as a company thanks to you. It's a significant investment, of course. One that we hope you will appreciate.