My Core Ownership
Hands-on competitive research & synthesis
Voice interaction model for AI coaching
Assessment & goal-setting logic (collaborative lead)
End-to-end journey mapping (hardware + app)
Prototyping to validate interactions
Duration
6 months
Team
Steve Meadows (Principal Interaction Designer)
Marcus Mustafa (UX Director)
Chris Cannon (Principal UI Designer)
Louis Block (UI/Motion Design)
OVERVIEW
Quick Context
xFit set out to enter the connected strength training market—not by shipping another smart cable machine, but by building a system intelligent enough to understand users’ goals, constraints, and real-life disruptions.
I worked on UX research and strategy for Volt, an AI-powered connected strength system designed to adapt to users’ goals, constraints, and real-life disruptions.
Over six months, I conducted hands-on competitive testing, designed end-to-end system architecture across hardware and app, and developed the assessment and voice interaction models.
The strategy, frameworks, and interactions I designed were approved by stakeholders and formed the foundation for future work.
MARKET INSIGHT
Where existing platforms
fall short
Connected strength market was crowded. Real challenge wasn't adding another cable machine—it was creating genuinely intelligent experience.
What competitors consistently missed
Form tracking was superficial
Competitors flagged errors but didn't explain why or how to fix. Users wanted coaching, not correction.
Personalization stopped at onboarding
Platforms asked questions upfront but rarely adapted based on actual behavior, progress, or changing circumstances over time.
Goals were oversimplified
Fitness reduced to "build muscle" or "lose weight." Real users had complex goals encompassing mental well-being, recovery, and lifestyle integration.
Motivation faded quickly
Pre-recorded workouts felt impersonal. No platform made returning after breaks easy with personalized re-entry plans.
Mapping 100+ features across 6 platforms
Hands-on
competitive research
I led comprehensive competitive research, physically interacting with competitor machines to understand not just features but the actual user experience.
This hands-on approach revealed nuances that feature lists couldn't capture—like how Tonal's form corrections felt robotic, or how Tempo's camera positioning created awkward workout angles.
Testing Speediance firsthand to evaluate how form feedback, physical interaction design, and workout flow feel under real training conditions.
Evaluating form feedback and interaction flows on an internal prototype to surface feasibility and usability issues before production decisions.
DESIGN DECISIONS & CORE WORK
Rethinking assessment
Most connected strength platforms rely on “lift till failure” tests that measure strength in isolation. I designed a holistic assessment framework that evaluated the whole person—not just how much weight they could move in a single session.
A multi-dimensional assessment model
Physical capability
Strength baseline, range of motion, muscle imbalances, and movement quality.
Lifestyle context (captured via voice)
Injury history, current activity level, schedule constraints, and goals beyond physical appearance.
Continuous monitoring
Every workout contributes assessment data, supported by monthly “check-in” workouts that surface deeper insights without feeling like tests.
Assessment reimagined as an ongoing system, not a one-time test
Designing conversational AI
One of my primary contributions was developing the voice interaction model—defining how conversational AI should behave during workouts.
I mapped comprehensive scenarios across six categories: core workout commands, guidance & feedback, personalization, error handling, user fatigue & safety, and weight adjustments.
Balancing structured coaching with fast command execution
Command mode
