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Case study · FitConnect · our own mobile app Our own app, built our way.

FitConnect is a booking app for personal trainers, the way salons and barbers already have one: clients find a trainer, book a session and pay, and the trainer runs the diary from a phone. We designed and built it in house. It is on iOS and Android, we have not started marketing it yet, and we are showing it here because it is proof of something: when the software a business needs does not exist, we can build it.

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FitConnect
Builtour own booking app for personal trainers, designed and built in house, on iOS and Android
iOS + AndroidLive in both app stores
In houseDesigned and built by our own team
Product
FitConnect, a booking and client app for personal trainers
What we did
Product design, user experience and interface, the build, the app store releases
Measured
Not yet; the app is built and released, and marketing has not started
Status
Ours, in house, and honest about the stage it is at
01 · Why we built it

Barbers have an app. Trainers have WhatsApp.

A salon or a barbershop takes bookings through an app the client already has on their phone. A personal trainer, running a diary of one to one sessions across gyms and parks, usually runs it through messages and a spreadsheet. FitConnect is the app that fixes that: a client finds a trainer, books a slot, pays; the trainer sees the diary, the clients and the money in one place.

We built it because we wanted to, and because building software is part of what we do for clients.

1Problem: trainers run on WhatsApp
BooksyThe kind of app it is, for a different trade
OursIdea, design, build, release
02 · Product design

Decide what it does not do first

Most app projects fail by trying to launch with everything. FitConnect launched with the daily actions a trainer and a client actually need: find, book, pay, confirm, reschedule, and the diary. Everything else was written down and deliberately left out of the first version.

6Actions: find, book, pay, confirm, reschedule, diary
0Features added for the sake of it
1Screen to reach any of them
03 · The build

Designed on real phones, built in house

Screens designed and tested on real phones, with the daily actions reachable in one or two taps. Built by our in house developers, the same team that builds websites, CRMs and MyContentLab for clients. Released on iOS and Android.

2Platforms: iOS and Android
In houseDesign and development
RealPhones it was tested on
04 · Not marketed yet, on purpose

The honest stage

The app is built and in the stores. We have not started marketing it, and we are not going to pretend otherwise on a page about honest measurement. When we do, it will be marketed the way we market clients: content, ads, a CRM and a scoreboard, and this page will show the numbers.

0Campaigns run so far
NextContent, ads, CRM, scoreboard
HereWhere the numbers will appear
05 · What it proves

If the software does not exist, we build it

FitConnect sits alongside MyContentLab, our reporting platform, as proof that when a client needs a tool that does not exist, we scope it, design it and build it, and the client owns what we build for them. That is a capability we offer to every client, and this is the app that shows it.

2Products of our own, built in house
ScopeDesign, build, release, the same for clients
YoursWhat we build for a client is the client's

How it unfolded

From an idea to two app stores.

  1. The ideaBookings for trainers

    Like salons and barbers already have, for a trade that runs on messages.

  2. Product designWhat it does not do

    Six actions in the first version; everything else written down and left out.

  3. DesignOn real phones

    Every daily action one or two taps away.

  4. The buildIn house

    Our own developers, the same team that builds for clients.

  5. ReleaseiOS and Android

    Live in both stores.

  6. NextMarketing

    Content, ads, CRM and a scoreboard, reported here.

2App stores FitConnect is live in.
0Marketing campaigns so far, and we say so.
1More product of our own: MyContentLab.
What we did

The work, in the open

Software and app developmentScoped, designed, built and released by our own team. Product and interface designDesigned and tested on real phones, one or two taps to anything.
honest about the stage

Why there are no download figures

Because we have not marketed it yet, and a download count for an unmarketed app would be a vanity number. FitConnect is on this page as proof of a capability, not as a results page. When the marketing starts, the results will be reported here the same way we report for clients.

Our own work

Built in house, released in both stores

FitConnect is ours: the idea, the product design, the build and the releases. It sits next to MyContentLab as the second product we have built for ourselves.

If the software your business needs does not exist, this is what it looks like when we build it.

See more projects
Questions

Questions

How long does it take to design and build a mobile app?
A focused first version typically takes three to five months from discovery to app store, depending on scope and how quickly decisions are made. Adding everything at once takes far longer, which is why we scope hard.
How much does it cost to build a fitness app in the UK?
It depends entirely on scope: features, platforms, integrations and design. We give a written estimate after a scoping call rather than publishing a price that would be wrong for your project.
Should a fitness app be native or cross platform?
For most start ups, cross platform: one codebase for iPhone and Android, faster to build and cheaper to maintain. Native only when the app needs hardware features cross platform tools cannot reach.
Do we actually need an app, or would a website do?
Most businesses that ask for an app need a fast mobile website and a booking system, and we will say so rather than quote you for the app. An app earns its cost when people use it repeatedly, when it needs to work offline, or when push notifications change behaviour. Fitness is one of the few consumer categories where that case holds up.
Who owns the app and the code?
You do. The code, the accounts and the store listings are in your name, and the specification is written before anything is built so you are not paying for scope discovered halfway through.

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What we did for them
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