48-hour challenge: Unlocking New Levels of Engagement For Move
How our solution increased user retention and engagement for Move?
Morphing Minds Hackathon x Aalto Startup Center
48hours
Move
Jihae Kim, Alyssa Chen
Research 50%
Strategy 70%
UX/UI 100%
Main Winner
Challenge
Increase user engagement and return rates
Solution
Social-driven engagement strategies (Find Your Move Crew, Pre-Event Chat, Post-Event)
Projected Business Impact
Our proposed solution is expected to enhance user engagement, leading to a projected 5-15% increase in returning users, 30% higher event attendance, and influencing 70% of sales through active participation.
About the Challenge
Move Challenge: Low User Retention & Engagement
Hackathon Challenge
Move App: Move is a fitness app designed to help users find and book local training events without complicated subscriptions
Current Challenge: Users were not returning regularly.
The Goal: Find a way to boost engagement and encourage users to return consistently.
Research Process
Why Do Users Drop Off? Understanding Retention Challenges
To understand how to increase user retention, we conducted desk research, analyzed competitor apps, and gathered insights from key stakeholders. Given the 48-hour time constraint, we couldn’t conduct an in-depth user research study, but we maximized our resources to explore the problem effectively.
Desk Research – Studied retention strategies and competitor benchmarks.
Short Interviews – Gathered insights from participants.
Move Team Discussions – Aligned with the team on current challenges.
Tutor Advisory – Received expert feedback and strategic guidance.
Following our research, we identified two key pain points and a core insight.
Painpoint 1
The Fear of Going Alone: A Barrier to Fitness Engagement
How unfamiliar faces, new locations, and social anxiety lead to hesitation and drop-offs.
Although Move offers many fitness classes, some users feel overwhelmed by choices and hesitant to try new events. Constantly facing unfamiliar tutors, locations, and people can create discomfort, making solo participation discouraging. This often leads to last-minute cancellations due to social anxiety, impacting engagement and retention.
Painpoint 2
Prefer Sticking to One Class, no need to explore new activities with Move
Figure 1. Move App User Archetypes: Understanding Fitness Engagement Behaviors
Users Tend to Stick to Familiar Routines, Reducing the Need to Revisit Move
To encourage users to return regularly, Move needs to motivate them to explore new classes, rather than settling into one routine and subscribing elsewhere. Routine Loyalists and Cautious Beginners in Figure 1 are especially at risk of not returning, as they tend to stick to familiar workouts. These users need extra motivation and incentives to try new activities within the Move app.
Community is Key to Elevating the Fitness Experience
How Social Connections Drive Engagement and Long-Term Retention in Fitness Apps
Research (Figure 2) shows that social connections are crucial for long-term participation in fitness communities.
Apps like Strava successfully increased user retention by 10% after integrating social features.
43% of users believe community is essential for fitness experiences (ClassPass, 2023).
Top 3 fitness apps worldwide (Figure 3) incorporate social features (Business of Apps, 2024).
Ideation
Designing a Solution That Aligns with Move’s Core Identity
Narrowing Ideas to Find the Core Solution for Move’s User Retention Challenge
To generate solutions, we began by brainstorming a wide range of ideas focused on increasing user retention. However, we wanted to ensure that our solution stayed true to Move’s core values—community, fun, and exploration.
Through this process, we identified social features as the key element that could enhance engagement while reinforcing Move’s identity.
Solution & Prototype
Building Connections Before and After Workout Classes
Connecting with Move Crews before classes to boost engagement and comfort, and after classes to maintain connections.
To enhance social engagement, users can join or create temporary groups before attending a fitness class, allowing them to connect with Move Crews in advance. This pre-class interaction helps users feel more comfortable and reduces the anxiety of going alone.
After the class, the connection doesn’t end—users can continue engaging with their group, share experiences, and plan future sessions together. By fostering long-term social ties, Move encourages users to return—not just to explore new classes, but to maintain and strengthen their social connections.
Swipe-to-Find Move Crews Frist
Discover fitness buddies first & get inspired by crew-recommended classes.
✔ Match with fitness partners before booking a class.
✔ Swipe-to-Find feature helps users discover like-minded workout buddies.
✔ Encourages users to explore new workouts recommended by their partners.
Finding the right workout crew should be fun and effortless. With Swipe-to-Find Move Crews, users can swipe through potential fitness buddies before signing up for a class. This feature not only helps users find like-minded workout partners but also inspires them to explore new classes they might not have considered.
By seeing which classes others are excited about, users can join based on crew recommendations, making the experience more social and engaging. This encourages interactive participation and promotes exploration of new events, keeping users active and connected.
Pre-Event Chat: Connect, Ask Questions, and Feel Prepared
Join a pre-event chat to connect with classmates before the session
✔ Get answers instantly – Ask questions about the class, location, or equipment.
✔ Boost confidence – Feel more comfortable and excited before attending.
Users can find a class they want to join and enter an existing temporary group for that event. If no crew is available, they can tag the class and share it on the Discover Crew page to invite others. Whether joining an existing group or matching with new members, the pre-event chat fosters connections, reduces social anxiety, and boosts attendance, making workouts more engaging and motivating.
Stay Connected & Keep the Momentum Going
See Who Attended, Stay Motivated, and Keep the Momentum Going with Move
✔ Stay accountable Get reminders when your workout buddies join new classes.
✔ Reconnect & plan your next session – Keep the motivation alive with post-event group chats
✔ Turn FOMO into action See what your friends are signing up for next.
See what your friends are signing up for next.Get reminders when your workout buddies join new classes.The connection doesn’t end when the class is over! Users can see which friends attended an new Move fitness event, making it easier to stay motivated and plan their next session together.
By leveraging FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and peer accountability, this feature encourages users to return, strengthening social ties and making fitness a consistent habit.
Impact
The Estimated Impact of Social Features: Driving Engagement & Retention
Integrating social features into fitness apps leads to measurable business growth by increasing engagement, retention, and user activity (Althoff, Jindal, & Leskovec, 2017).
+30%
Increased In-App Activity
Users who built social connections within a fitness app saw a 30% rise in activity over five years (6M users studied)
+17%
Higher Retention Rates
Social networking features improved user retention by 17%, keeping users active longer.
+30%
Elevated Physical Activity
Users with social connections took 7% more steps daily (~400 extra steps), reinforcing healthier habits.
Feedback & Reflection
Winning the Dash Morphing Minds Hackathon!
💡 Lessons Learned:
Stay Problem-Focused – Instead of rushing to solutions, we took time to truly understand our target users, assumptions, and core problem. This made our final idea sharper and more insightful.
Feasibility Matters – The best ideas aren’t just innovative; they’re realistic and actionable within a company’s current resources.
Align with Core Values – With so many ideas, we prioritized the one that best reflected Move’s mission and direction.
Leverage Mentorship – When stuck, we actively sought feedback from mentors, which gave us fresh perspectives and breakthroughs.
Engage the Audience – A great idea needs a great pitch! We kept our presentation clear, interactive, and memorable, making it easy for the audience to connect with us—which ultimately led to winning the vote!
“ Team Kim Chi presented simplified solutions with a sense of belonging or community, that works for a training enthusiast with a busy schedule. Thank you for your creative thoughts and ideas, while staying true to our core values - You don't have to be a pro to start training. And also, it's more fun together!”
Co-founder and Marketing Lead | Move