Tanuja Bodas

Core Crush is a motivational fitness app designed to help gym beginners build lasting habits. It combines structured workouts with gamification to reduce anxiety, improve consistency, and make fitness feel rewarding.

Product Strategy

HealthTech

MY ROLE

Product Designer (research, strategy, and UI design)

DURATION

8 weeks

TEAM

Solo Designer

Peer feedback at milestones

CHALLENGE

Making the Gym Less Scary for Beginners

Many beginners feel nervous or lost when they go to the gym. They’re unsure about what workouts to do, often skip days, and end up losing motivation. I wanted to design an app that gives them a clear plan, helps them stay on track, and makes the process enjoyable

THE PROCESS

BACKGROUND

When I talked to people who had just started working out, I kept hearing the same thing

“I don’t know where to start.”

Most fitness apps are built for people who already have experience, but beginners need extra guidance and a system that feels supportive instead of overwhelming

PAIN POINTS

“I don’t know which workouts are right for me.”

“These ‘gymrats’ are going to judge me if I do something wrong”

“I stopped going to the gym since I didn’t see any results”

MY LEARNINGS

Having a clear plan reduces stress.

Tracking progress keeps people motivated.

Feeling part of a community helps them stay consistent.

BUSINESS THINKING & STRATEGY

Business Model

OBJECTIVES AND KEY RESULTS

SWOT ANALYSIS

TESTING ASSUMPTIONS

Corecrush will help beginner gym goers structure their workout efficiently

10% of the users are expected to provide their email addresses and have some skin in the game

page views

email sign-ups

Page Views

Fake Front Door

A structured workout plan will reduce anxiety, improve consistency and make them feel better

3 out of 5 gym beginners who feel anxious and unsure of the workout will do a structured workout if it reduces their anxiety, improves consistency and makes them feel better

ONE NIGHT STAND

4/5

found the plan to reduce anxiety and confusion

A structured workout plan will reduce anxiety, improve consistency and make them feel better

3 out of 5 gym beginners who feel anxious and unsure of the workout will do a structured workout if it reduces their anxiety, improves consistency and makes them feel better

ONE NIGHT STAND

4/5

found the plan to reduce anxiety and confusion

Gamification elements like progress tracking, badges, and streaks help boost user retention.

Adding features like progress tracking, badges, and streaks, will make at least 40% of users use the app 5 times a week, which will show that these features help in user retention

Mechanical Turk

20%

found the plan to reduce anxiety and confusion

Hypothesis was disproven - One reason could be that sharing photos daily felt tedious or intrusive, rather than fun and rewarding.
Creating a better experiment having daily check-ins and sending photos of the gym while working out would have made it easier and more motivating for users to engage consistently without extra effort.

BUILDING THE PRODUCT

MoSCoW

WIREFRAMES

PROTOTYPE

REFLECTIONS

Looking Back

Working on Core Crush taught me how design, psychology, and business all connect when creating something that actually helps people. I learned that running quick, simple tests can give real proof before spending months building a full app. Beginners just need structure to feel more confident, and features like streaks or badges work best when they celebrate small wins instead of perfection. I’d love to take this further by building a basic version of the app with a streak tracker, progress badges, and a small community feature to keep users motivated and accountable.

Let’s create together

Open to collaborations and ☕!

Say Hi!

Let’s create together

Open to collaborations and ☕!

Say Hi!