Nymbl is a digital balance training app designed to help older adults improve their balance and prevent falls. It combines simple physical movements with cognitive exercises, like brain games, in personalized 10-minute sessions. By improving balance, it helps reduce fall-related healthcare costs and improves quality of life for users.
The app had remained relatively unchanged for five years, retaining strong functionality but falling behind in UI. As the sole designer, I led a full redesign of its core program, Balance, increasing enrollment, improving usability, modernizing the UI, and aligning it with the refreshed brand while adhering to accessibility standards.
I identified key pain points by conducting user research, and implemented high-impact changes that improved sign-up conversion by 14% and reminder enablement by 35%.
Lead Product Designer
Product strategy, User Research, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Hi-Fidelity Design, Development Support
6 months
The Nymbl app’s business model relied on key engagement metrics, such as completed registrations and the completion of at least four training sessions. Historically, specific points in the user journey were closely monitored to track performance. Data revealed significant user drop-off during the registration process and after completing the first training session, highlighting critical areas for improvement.
Our quantitative research revealed that the registration process was a significant barrier, causing major drop-off and preventing many users from accessing the app. To dig deeper, we aimed to understand user experiences during their first and subsequent balance training sessions. We conducted interviews with both new and existing older adult users to uncover pain points and gather insights. These efforts included individual interviews and continuous engagement with a dedicated older-adult group session. From these sessions, we identified a key issue: the lack of clear program structure and communication discouraged users from continuing their balance training journey.
We felt we had a lot of good information from analytics and users to understand some major themes for improvement in the journey. Now, we wanted to get down to the nitty gritty of each page, each interaction, each pattern to make sure this redesign was as clean as possible.
We conducted a thorough evaluation of the existing registration process, identifying opportunities to streamline and improve entry into the app. The main problem we identified was entire screens dedicated to only one input field, rather than consolidating fields onto one screen.
This was actually an interesting challenge because we needed to collect certain data points at certain times in order to determine whether this user was registered with a health plan partner, and each partner had different identifiers needed. As much as we wanted to consolidate even further, we needed users to input specific data before we knew what to ask them next.
In the original onboarding flow, users were guided through a 12+ assessment to gauge their current balance health and place them at the right level immediately after completing registration. Then, once they were done with that long process, they were placed in a “practice session” to show them how dual-task training worked.
Though we knew those steps were long and tiresome for a new user to complete, they were necessary to understand the user’s balance and place them at the right level to complete training. We didn’t remove the assessment or practice session, but we pulled it out of the blind flow of step-by-step-by-step, and created a clear communication of each step and why it was important for the user to complete them.
We outlined the exact steps of the onboarding process to make it clear and easy to follow, starting with learning about the user, introducing dual-task training, and allowing them to try it themselves. As part of this process, we also explored structuring training sessions into specific levels rather than having users train indefinitely without a clear plan, providing a more guided and intentional training experience.
Early testing revealed that users struggled to navigate the onboarding process by only tapping cards. To improve clarity, we updated the card UI with a primary button to guide them to the next step. Additionally, the presence of future programs like Fundamentals and Maintenance caused confusion about what came next. To streamline the experience, we displayed only the intro flow until it was complete.
With a clear onboarding flow in place, we shifted focus to presenting the full training program. Initially, we planned to group sessions into programs like “Fundamentals”, “Mastery”, “Maintenance”, etc. However, after consulting our clinical experts, we learned that balance training prioritizes consistency over completing a set number of sessions. This led us to adopt a model focused on weekly goals and achievements.
Users could choose a commitment of 1, 3, or 5 training sessions per week, with the flexibility to adjust it anytime. To keep the experience encouraging, their completed session count only increased, never decreased, ensuring no penalties for missed sessions.
This model also provided the flexibility users valued in Nymbl. Unlike a rigid physical therapy program, they could train anytime, anywhere, on their own terms.
User interviews revealed that many users were unaware of their progress beyond self-measurements. Due to the current navigation, many didn’t even realize there was a progress section tracking their improvements. To address this, we first clarified the navigation and then redesigned the data visualization to clearly explain the purpose of measuring progress, user's current status, and what an ideal progress milestone looks like.
Pain Points:
Ideas:
Final Solution:
The major area of improvement for the entire app was getting more users through the long registration process and back into the app after leaving. Two key indicators for success were registration completions and reminder enablements, and we were able to increase both.
Prioritize
As designers, we often want to build the “silver bullet” for an experience. That one thing that’s going to take your app to the top in adoption, usage, and enjoyment. However, sometimes it’s just as important to fix the pieces that you already have. Make everything fit together seamlessly, then start to ideate on how to make your experience unique. Basically, make it usable, then make it exciting.
Know your user
This goes without saying, but when designing a healthcare app for older adults, it is essential to engage with the user community as much as possible. Standard accessibility guidelines may not always be enough for a specific audience. It’s important to understand the culture around technology engagement, habit-building, and physical healthcare engagement.
