Split

Business Context

The fitness app market is saturated with established players. Split needed to relaunch quickly with a differentiated product that could compete for both users and trainer talent, while generating sustainable revenue through subscriptions.

The Client’s Problem

Split needed a complete app redesign and rebuild, but the existing development quotation they’d received was ludicrous. The costs were inflated, the line items didn’t make technical sense, and the scope was poorly defined. The app itself lacked differentiation: trainer profiles looked identical to user profiles, there was no clear monetisation path, and the UX didn’t solve real problems.

Constraints

Speed was critical because the client needed to relaunch fast. I was working with a team of six designers, two seniors and four juniors, several of whom had limited experience with complex admin systems or user authority hierarchies.

The Key Insight

Before touching a single wireframe, I dove into the competitive landscape. We subscribed to every major competitor and their beta versions. We collected screens, mapped features, and read user reviews systematically. The gap was clear: users were frustrated by the lack of differentiation between trainer and regular user experiences.

Creative Strategy

I restructured the entire trainer experience. When you land on a trainer’s profile, you see the About section first, showcasing certifications, specialisations, and introductory videos. A subscription button sits prominently for conversion. Only then does the social feed appear in a separate tab, treating trainers as professionals first and content creators second.

Key Decisions & Why

I added a dedicated video content feature for trainers, something no direct competitor offered well. This created a new monetisation path: free content to evaluate trainers, then paid subscriptions for premium content. The decision was directly informed by competitor review analysis.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

With my engineering background, I reviewed and rewrote the development quotation, cutting inflated costs and clarifying scope. This landed the client. On the design side, I mentored my team through unfamiliar territory using my own previous designs as teaching material for admin system hierarchies and multi-role user journeys.

• Won the contract by rewriting a flawed quotation and demonstrating both business acumen and technical credibility
• Trainer-first profile design created clear competitive separation
• Subscription model opened monetisation paths that didn’t exist in the original app
• Every major feature decision backed by competitor analysis and real user data
• Upskilled the team in complex multi-role product design