Wheel House: A Positive Experience for Exercise Enthusiasts

The Challenge

When the San Francisco-based yoga, core strength, and indoor cycling studio Wheel House approached us, they already had a live website. However, it was facing some major UX issues and customers were complaining. They found the scheduling tool cumbersome, had difficulty finding information on the types of classes, and onboarding for first-time users was nonexistent. Potential customers were getting lost on the website, or worse, abandoning the site altogether.

In addition, the site lacked a cohesive branding style and was dull compared to the competition. Our challenge was to provide an engaging experience by identifying a clear branding style, simplifying the transactional process, and guiding customers through onboarding. All of the moving parts also needed to integrate with ZingFit, a third party scheduling platform.

The Process

While Wheel House had a rough wireframe to explain their vision, we wanted to understand the goals they had for themselves and their users. Our discussions began with a discovery meeting to identify the who’s, what’s, and why’s. This allowed us to use their ideas not only as a starting point but as a reference throughout the redesign. Following the kickoff, we launched into design strategy to reassess the workflow and information provided to customers.

Since brand and mood were missing from their current site, we created mood boards to envision their brand on the web and used these throughout the redesign. As part of our strategy, we also needed to make sure our designs were feasible on ZingFit’s scheduling platform. Check-ins, documentation, and a working prototype guided the ZingFit development team to ensure they understood our requirements. Our team had to craft creative solutions using Javascript to ensure requirements worked within ZingFit’s structure.

The Results

The sky was the limit in terms of bringing this site to life, but the reality of integrating with ZingFit meant we had to face limitations or find creative workarounds. Using Javascript, we were able to provide an even better customer experience and eliminate some of the awkward and difficult workflows customers had complained about.

We created custom headers that showed upcoming classes. Customer accounts now display their remaining balance and even pull in discounted prices on the buy page if a group discount is available — both of which were not possible on ZingFit’s platform alone. Along with this upgraded functionality, we created a new, one-stop onboarding section that organized the FAQ, class information, and sign-up process for new customers. All of this was done within a more vibrant, visual, and impactful design that embodied the in-person experience at Wheel House's San Francisco studio.