LARION was tasked with developing a web-based application that allows users to track data from their fitness activities and compete with their friends or teammates.

Executive Summary

Customer R’s platform was conceived as a way to encourage people to work out through competition. The main idea is that the competitive nature would motivate users to keep doing exercise and improving their fitness. This application utilized wearable tracking device technology as well as social network features. It was developed under tight schedule and budget but finished and fully prepared for business a full month before the deadline.

About Customer R

Customer R is an activity and fitness based network where people can track, compare, and encourage/motivate themselves and each other to greater levels of health and exercise.

Challenges

• The most challenging aspect of working out is to keep yourself always motivated. Human instinct tends to avoid doing too much physical exercises. Therefore, people may give up their fitness effort quite easily.
• Customer R also aims to create motivation through activities and challenges among members of a team or group. Moreover, it maximizes dollars spent on corporate wellness programs by using transparent, actionable, verifiable metrics for users and administrators.
• In order to achieve such goals, Customer R needs to be able to record, track and manage data from individuals’ fitness activities, and then compare it with data from others within the same group or team.
• This was a rush application development as requested by the customer.

The Solution

• It is a web-based application utilizing wearable tracking devices. The system can connect with these devices to get aggregated data, manage and rank users on the leaderboard.
• It is compatible with popular tracking devices including FitBit, Garmin, Jawbone, Misfit and Withings.
• Especially, it also supports Move Apps, a free mobile app that turns any iOS and Android device into an activity tracker.
• This web app has built-in social network features, allowing users to share their records to their friends.
• A Content Management System (CMS) was built using Ruby on Rails’ Refinery CMS for the blogging feature.
• Payment is implemented using Stripe technology for simplification and seamless integration.

Results

• LARION successfully developed Customer R under a tight schedule as an outstanding platform for runners to play together and challenge each other. Users can create teams and groups, make incentives & rewards and join contests.
• The process to connect the tracking devices to this system is simple and easy, using nothing but a log-in webpage. Leaderboard’s records are updated in real time.
• This web app can be used for both individual users as well as corporate clients. Companies can use this platform for their wellness programs to encourage employees to work out. A more active employee is also a more productive one.
• Customer R’s users can keep track of individuals’ or groups’ exercise data such as the number of steps, the distance walked or ridden, and the calories burnt over time. You can also set weekly goals and see how much you have achieved so far.

Quotes

“Good work, I will use your service again for other projects.”