FitFu (YC W11): Stay active anywhere
blog.fitfu.com
blog.fitfu.com
I really want you to sell me this product because this solves (I think?) a problem I often face. The product page (and the blog) makes a big thing about the social aspect and so on. Which is fine; but I still have no idea what exactly it does.
It tracks my movement. When? How?
What exactly does it do?
Clearly your are hip and cool, which is great. But I've clicked every link and I am still none the wiser as to the product... sorry.
EDIT: Right, I noted the TC link (http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/17/fitfu-wants-to-get-you-exer...) posted elsewhere. That was much more explanatory, now I understand a lot more. In fact (and, man, I never thought I would say this!) the TechCrunch copy is pretty solid explanatory text, you should take careful note of it and consider at least a page that says something similar about what the product is.
We included our post here more as a way of introducing ourselves to HN. I'll link to the TC post from the top of ours. Thx! :)
The main reason I make this point, and I want to make it stronger, is that I have to pay to try your app. There is nothing wrong with that, usually I'm pretty accepting of vague product descriptions because I can try it for free (or for a short time) and then pay if it is useful.
But right now I have to pay just to find out exactly what this is...
I actually bought it because the TC post interested me enough to see this as a possible solution to the problem I face. And, of course, I never really begrudge a small cost to give something I understand a shot. But if I had come to your site without the TC explanation I would be to confused to consider paying.
I strongly recommend a plain english explanation of the app somewhere. It really won't hurt you in this case I think :)
(I have more detailed comments & advice that I would be happy to give, drop me a line [email in profile] if you are interested)
To be honest, I still find it a bit weird after purchasing it. The sound in the app is particularly annoying.
I can't wrap my head around it, but the fact that they've received funding from YC suggests that there's more to it.
Yes, there are parts that could improve. And, yes, I don't think it is marketed right.
But there is a wealth of opportunity and information in the app and the social aspect has potential. I'm not a big iPhone app user but I could actually see myself using this given the right motivation :)
I think there was one later on, when I chose to start an exercise, but it wasn't as loud, so I guess that one's fine.
I feel with sound in apps like I do on websites: it shouldn't start automatically when you visit something for the first time. There should be a clear contract about when you'll hear music.
MINI "ASK HN":
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For those of your who've got it and get how it works, is there a simpler way of explaining the features that matter most to you?
We thought "personal trainer in your pocket that gets you doing little bits of activity throughout the day" was an ok start, but I think we were wrong; people (at least on HN) are really interested in getting to the specifics.
Suggestions?
I was thinking about this as I was going to sleep last night, and it dawned on me that what we could do is maybe have simple two-frame animations of people doing the exercises (perhaps in various locations) with the app counting in the graphics somehow.
The pelvic thrusting exercise is definitely one that people feel awkward doing in public. Hadn't thought about that angle before - one of the reasons users cited they liked CrunchFu was that they feel awkward/self-concious in gyms. That's a really good angel.
It's surprisingly effective at behaviour change, but having these other angles could be a much better hook.
/me adds to todo list
The best I could work out from the screenshots was crunches. And from the TC article it mentions 8 exercises and hints that PushupFu, CrunchFu, SquatFu and PullupFu are combined into Fitfu ... but I still am no clearer as to what exercises are supported.
And for me, knowing what exercises it supports is important. If FitFu is supposed to encourage me to 'move more' throughout the day, well crunches aren't much use at work - I'm not lying down on the grubby work carpet in my shirt and slacks and do crunches. If it's pull-ups, well I can't do those at work either.
Sounds great for weekends/days off though (and I love the concept overall) - but again, would love to know what movements you are encouraging.
> Activate some you time, fit in some fu time
By the time I got to the comma, my brain was totally halted.
Activate some you-time, fit in some fu-time.
Stop watching so much TV.
This app does not save you time - quite the contrary. It's a motivational, social tool - not a productivity tool. The marketing is off.
Of course if you do squats with your Macbook then it's alright.
But yeah, we need to hone the marketing. Any particular areas that are fixable with copy changes or are the required changes bigger than that?
I wouldn't equate doing the FitFu exercises with working out in the gym. Sure, if you do the same exercises there, but I assume that working out in the gym is more intense. The exercises don't strike me as cardio- nor weight/strength-heavy.
You could promote it as a Wii Fit for iOS or a mobile version at that. Break down what makes Wii Fit entertaining and popular (to those who do) and try to apply it to your product.
What happens in practice (if the testers are anything to go by) is that they start pushing themselves further and further so actually this break time kinda becomes productive in its own right.
Something like that!
Hopefully we'll get better with the marketing with time as we receive feedback from a wider audience
That was just one point that came out of the TC chat, but arguably it makes sense when you think about it. Those little bits of exercise now and then really do refresh you and help with stress... There's a lot of discussion in general on HN about the benefits of exercise.
Amazing design, though. Really sets you apart from the competition.
We'll post about the evolution of the mascot at some point. He once looked somewhat different.
I'd love to see a posting about the evolution of the mascot and overall design of the app. It's pretty slick.
There's a lot of evidence to back up the APPROACH (WHO, Surgeon General, etc etc) but what we need is more solid evidence related to our actual users. Other than the fact that BenjieGillam now has pecs :P
One of the interesting things we discovered fairly late in the game was how effective the old apps were at helping weightloss. But the problem with the fitness industry is it's too full of these sorts of claims. We thing there's some much more credible ways of presenting this stuff, and we plan to... just as soon as we have the data.
A remarkably nice flash site, and pretty quick to load at that, but I would love to see it w/o flash.
I would love to see either an API to pull one's own data to graph it. Or built in graphing of some sort. Also more activities overall. Looks like there are only 8.
AFAIK there's always been a winter class (the second class I believe took place in Winter 06)
What prizes? I don't see any further explanation of this anywhere on the site. What are the point values for these prizes? What kind of content am I unlocking? Advanced exercises, tips, what?
It's really not clear what happens after I do the exercise, tell my friends and get some points, but apparently something will happen.
"Unlock prizes such as content x,y,x"
Or would it be better to have another page that delves into those features in more detail.
We don't have much experience of doing that whole user-journey bit on a website so all input welcome!
What stopped you from doing it?
The early bird gets the worm; the second mouse gets the cheese.[1]
Edit: Guess I agree with Sukotto. :)
[1]: http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2009/05/first-mover-advant...
And the health and fitness industry is huge - ripe for hackers to disrupt!
Is this like a combination of those two and more?