Background
I wouldn’t consider myself a gym rat, but I do go the Nelson (Brown University’s gym) pretty often. I’ll do the minimal amount of cardio to start out, maybe work some machines if I’m in the mood, but I always allot time for a core workout.
That means I happen to spend quite a bit of time on a mat, so when the Nelson changed mat station over the summer, I obviously took notice.
Last year, there were two hooks on the wall. In order to clean the mats, a majority would hang their mat up on the hooks, spray the side they used, and then clean it with a towel—the process itself was simple and intuitive. The problem was in the mats themselves. They were low quality and not that durable, so they would tear at the holes making them un-hangable.
As a solution, the Nelson decided to redesign the mat rack as sketched out below—
Goal
The new rack is just two steel rods hung up side-by-side. It is designed such that users must hang their mat up like a towel.
With the “upgrade,” my group mates (Greyson Gerhard-Young and Tanushri Sundar) and I felt that the cleaning made less simple and intuitive. We wanted to test our “hypothesis” to see how much gym-goers’ mat-hanging behavior had changed and if it resulted in a less-hygienic Nelson and longer process.
Approach
To test our hypothesis, we recorded observations on how gym-goers now put away the mats. We found that people use mats for varying amounts of time, ranging from five minutes to an hour on average. There were several ways people returned their mats. For example, some people would place their mat on the stack or the rack without cleaning it; place their mat on the stack and clean it there; or bring cleaning supplies to their workout area and clean their mat there. If the user did not clean their mat, they would return it quickly. However, if they did clean their mat, they would often pause at the cleaning station before beginning the process.
We also decided to conduct a few user interviews. Most interviewees were frequent gym-goers who have noticed the Nelson’s new mat rack. All users reported seeing others put mats on the floor, and one admitted to putting mats on the floor herself. They were mixed about whether it was acceptable to leave mats on the floor, and most interviewees reported that the best way to clean/return maps is to wipe their mat in their workout area. One reported that they would clean the mat before and after their workout. Interviewees said that they would not clean their mats if there were no towels left. They reported that the system was easy to learn by watching others. Many interviewees noticed the Nelson’s guiding posters for the mat return system for the first time during our interview.
Diverging
From here, we built personas to model behaviors we picked up from our observations and enhanced certain qualities to create a well-rounded user—
Ben the Bro
Ben the Bro is athletic and played sports in high school. He finds the mat rack confusing, so he usually picks up mats from the stack and returns them there. Dirty mats do not bother him, as he showers afterward — unless he is rushing to the Sci Li. He will occasionally clean mats after use if he’s in the mood. He represents users who only focus on their workout and believe that the gym’s staff thoroughly and regularly cleans equipment.
Clean Cara
Clean Cara is a Brown University student who is involved in many activities on campus. She enjoys scheduling her days and exercising regularly. She is frustrated by others’ lack of cleanliness and consideration in the gym, and she takes extra time to properly clean her mats. With her heightened awareness of others’ gym habits, Clean Cara represents a group of users who care about the environment they exercise in.
Our group then went ahead and built a storyboard for one of our personas, Clean Cara—
Cara wants to have a clean and comfortable space to exercise. She is patient and observant, as she takes the time to thoroughly wipe down her mat and only works out if there are clean mats on the rack (mats on the floor are dirty to her). She wants to make the gym a more clean place and hopes to lead by example. However, she is content with just taking care of herself if she can’t inspire change in the Nelson.
Converging
We looked at the personas we built for ourselves and found that the process became much shorter for some like Ben the Bro and much longer for some like Clean Cara. Given that Cara wouldn’t be able to clean all of the mats Ben the Bro didn’t clean, we could say that Nelson mats are less clean than they were last year. The process is less intuitive based on our observations and interviews. To improve conditions for the Nelson mats, we would suggest for the Nelson to go back to last year’s two-hook rack and invest in sturdier mats that have metal rings around the holes.