Digital Personal Trainers for Virgin Active

We are so proud about the results the students of the Master in Service Design could share with their new client Virgin Active. They worked together with Chiara Diana and Stefano Cardini to envision a new service offering for Virgin Active costumers. They have been three hard working weeks. During the first week students had the chance to live the VA clubs atmosphere and to understand its characteristics while doing Field and Desk Research. In the next two weeks they moved to Concept Generation, finally consolidating the service solutions.
While developing their solutions students exploited the potential of the personal trainer figure within the digital world, working both inside and outside the gym. They also investigated which are the real needs and attitudes of the VA members, to better fit them through their new services. Students worked in two macro groups, developing four ideas. One acted as if it was designing for Virgin, leveraging their specific characteristics; the other, the Challengers team, acted as if it was hired by a competitor, so to envision more disruptive solutions.
Two days ago students had the opportunity to be hosted in Virgin Active Academy to present their final works and to win a special prize!
 

 
The Challengers ideas:

• Match.fit is a digital platform that enables a remote relationship with a fitness trainer for people who need to keep up with their routine, by adapting it to the user’s lifestyle. Match.fit engages and motivates VA members using specific devices to track sport performances and get feedbacks from the PT, and through AR to train in any place. Match.fit finds the personal trainer that matches the member’s personality and lifestyles to start a new routine together through gamification.
• Wellbee is giving an answer to a common gap in the gym’s system. It is a service for members affected by body pain that are looking for a physio-personal trainer that can help them developing a personalized fitness program. Wellbee guides wellbeing seekers who want to balance their health & fitness through adaptable fitness programs that integrate all aspects of personal wellness and are supported by medically certified personal trainers that help to motivate and ensure continual self-growth.

 
The Virgin Active team’s ideas:

• Virgin Active TRIBE is an extension of Virgin Active. It builds communities based on interests, attitudes and goals around fitness, the Tribes. After a first consultancy with the PT, people join a Tribe. Each member of the Tribe co-designs a custom training program with his/her PT, also connecting via video to later receive consistent feedbacks on at home training session. The power of the Tribe is to engage and motivate people to train, creating a network of VA members. 
• Small Steps is a digital service for urban excuse seekers who want to be physically active and stop blaming their tight schedule. The service gives them real time coaching and suggestions for exercising on a go exploiting their misused time. For example while you’re waiting for a bus the app will suggest you to walk to the next stop or join a community that is exercising nearby. Small Steps will be the first step to join the gym club and start with a customized fitness plan.

 

 
And congratulations to the developers of Small Steps service, the prizewinners that will have the chance to join Virgin Active clubs. Good job!