Down Dog

While the Down Dog yoga app is known for its extensive customization, it fails to create an inclusive environment for users with physical limitations, from physical disability to temporary injury. To develop experiences mimicking an in-person class with suggested modifications, this project introduces injury-aware design, including an automated pose filtering system, an in-depth pose library, and physical assessment onboarding.

Timeline –
01.2025-05.2025

Role –
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer

Team –
Solo Project

Problem –
While in-person yoga instructors often suggest alternative postures for practitioners with physical limitations, most at-home yoga apps lack personalized modification options.

Outcome – I redesigned the app with an automated pose filtering system that enables users to customize their yoga flows according to their physical constraints.

Final Design –

Assessment Onboarding

Start with a guided assessment to shape your flow. Just share your goals, current condition, and any limitations—your practice adjusts from there.

Injury-aware Filter

Add an injury filter to leave out discomfort-inducing poses—bringing clarity and ease to every session.

In-depth Pose library

Follow up the pose library with a supplemental screen—offering clear context, visual cues, and easy-to-understand guidance for every posture you explore.

Market Research –

1 in 6 U.S. adults practiced yoga in 2024.

Yoga has gained significant popularity in recent years. With an increasing emphasis on mental well-being and physical fitness, people from all walks of life recognize the benefits of yoga.

Empathy Interview –

Lack of in-app guidance led to unsafe adaptations

I conducted a semi-structured interview with 7 yogis with injuries. Due to a lack of modification, unlike in-person studios, I discovered that users often modify poses intuitively or skip, which can often lead to unsafe or inefficient practice.

Competitive Evaluation –

What’s missing across platforms?

I compared Down Dog, Pocket Yoga, and Yoga Studio against the core user needs to understand how users with injuries build customized practice and discover friction points in the process.

This analysis revealed shared gaps across all three platforms—the absence of injury-based modification.

Problem Identification –

Digital yoga experiences fail to support users’ real-life conditions

From in-depth interviews, competitive evaluation, and gap analysis, I was able to find common findings across yoga practitioners–centered around lack of personalization, unclear pose guidance, and inaccessible interfaces.

Ideation –

Improvement opportunities uncovered

Based on key challenges identified from the research phase, I ideated opportunities for each to improve the user experience of the Down Dog app.

Concept Exploration –

Divergent concepts were explored with Crazy Eights

To address the challenge, I brainstormed distinct concepts that can satisfy users’ needs. I focused on an injury-based filter after understanding the technical limitations and challenges based on users’ mental models.

Concept Refinement –

From sketch to systematic solution

I refined the concept around an injury filter system that allows users to input sensitive areas. This input dynamically filters out unsafe poses or suggests modifications.

I also visualized the improved backend logic, ensuring the experience is both adaptable and scalable - balancing personalization with simplicity.

Usability Testing –

Rapid prototyping revealed usability challenges

To validate the effectiveness of the redesigned experience, I conducted a series of usability tests, including A/B testing and multivariate testing.

❌ Light information was not preferred by users as it doesn’t add much value to the pose library.

✅ Medium-length text was preferred by most participants as it was in-depth enough to assist visual demonstration.

❌ Too detailed information was not needed for users with visual demonstration.

❌ Participants expected to see any kind of visual demonstration to better understand.

❌ Participants wanted to know how to get to the posture with better context and motion.

✅ Proceeded with the design with a short video clip providing better context and understanding.

❌ Participants barely used a search bar as they were expected to already know about the name of the pose.

✅ Added filters that are easily categorized for beginners and intermediates without knowing the exact term.

Solution –

Yoga flow made just for you and your body

Injury-based filter is implemented to solve the main challenge of users with various physical conditions. An in-depth pose library and assessment onboarding were added to support the challenge.

This solution not only aligns with the existing back-end system but also emphasizes the importance of taking care of users’ bodies before they realize it.

Validation –

Did the new experience actually feel safer and personal to users?

To validate the effectiveness of the redesigned experience by measuring cognitive load, I conducted eye tracking heatmaps, NASA-TLX, and preference testing with a follow-up interview.

Outcome & Impact –

Where It Landed

I successfully presented the project to key leadership and spectators during the Thesis Show. Some of the feedback I got from mentors and faculty includes:

Reflections –

What did I learn from this project?

Validate assumptions early and often.

User testing isn’t just a final step—it’s an ongoing process that grounded our decisions in reality. By validating ideas early, I uncovered usability issues we hadn’t anticipated and ensured that our designs aligned with actual user needs, not just internal opinions.

Work in layers, not lines.

Working on the Down Dog project taught me that research, design, and testing rarely happen in neat phases. Often, I had to juggle refining wireframes, revisiting research insights, and gathering feedback simultaneously—progress wasn’t linear, but layered.

©Woohee2025

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