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TOOLS
ULTRA APP
Helping people learn how to run ultra marathons
Figma
SCOPE
CATEGORY
CASE STUDY
Native app for ultra runners
Solo UI/UX/Visual - Design Project
Product Design
01 PROJECT BRIEF
Running Far Made Easy
Ultra marathon running is an increasingly popular way for people to set goals, push themselves, and live a healthier life. Participating in these races is much more than just building up stamina and endurance. It’s vital for proper nutritional intake while pushing the body to its limits. The goal of this app is to educate people on how to train, run and compete in ultramarathons through safe and effective means.
02 PERSONAS
What do They Want?
The target user ranges from casual runners who want to push themselves to start runner longer distances to seasoned ultrarunners who want to perfect their fuel intake so they can compete at their peak. The app is designed to provide vital data to the user, while emphasizing simplicity so they can easily get the most out of the information quickly.
03 DISCOVERY
Hearing From Them
I interviewed multiple ultra marathon runners of different experience levels. We discussed their thoughts on the importance of proper fuel intake, what they learned from their experiences during ultra marathons and how they’ve changed their approach.
More Digging
Using affinity mapping, competitive analysis and deep dive research, data was collected and synthesized to understand the essence of what it means to run ultramarathons from a health and safety perspective.
ULTRAMARATHON RACES...
range in distances from
31mi - 150mi
on average take
24hrs
cause runners to burn upwards of
10,000cal
ULTRAMARATHON RACERS...
run at an average pace of
13:16min/mi
burns energy at a rate of
100kcal/mi
absord energy at a rate of
240kcal/hr
USEFUL INSIGHTS...
No matter the experience and training all runners are susceptible to bonking.
The amount of fuel consumed by the body must be strategically replenished throughout the race.
Due to the constraints on the body for fuel intake, a runner must prepare themselves for an ultra marathon up to 48 hours prior to the race.
On average the body consumes roughly 450-600 kcals/hr of energy, but can only absorb about 240kcals/hr.
This means every hour a runner is losing 200-300 kcals of energy they cannot replenish.
04 EXPLORATION
05 INSPIRATION + IDENTITY
Influenced Individuality
The challenge of creating an aesthetic that felt comforting yet aggressive. The uniting of an extreme activity, such as ultrarunning, and the process of teaching creates an interesting contrast that I wanted to capture visually. After conducting competitive analysis against existing running apps, I felt this app should stand out differenciate itselt as a running app designed to help more than track.
Design Language
To maximize the usbility and simplicity of this app while running, I wanted to use high contrasting colors and large bold fonts where CTAs would be found. Intuativeness was another important factor, so the hierarchy of the information was paramount.
07 FUTURE
Whats Next?
Some important features I will be creating as the app grows are a social aspect and integrated hardware. I'd like to build a community of runners who can share, help and interact with one another. I can also see a line of hardware specifically designed for ultrarunners and the unique challenges they face.
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