Under Armour
Taking Under Armour into the world of Connected Fitness
My role: Design/UX VP, team leadership for UA and MapMy products.
Under Armour had huge digital aspirations, but needed a lever to move the industry. Nike and Adidas had strong digital products delivering great experiences to millions, casting a halo on their merchandise.
With only prototype-level digital fitness products, they needed an experienced software company with millions of registered users to move it all forward. MapMyFitness became the Connected Fitness division of UA, located as a satellite in Austin.
The work was two-fold – maintain and grow MapMyFitness while integrating the Under Armour brand into it, plus create new experiences – fitness and marketing – to steer MMF’s 25+ million users toward Under Armour product.
Problem: A performance apparel giant needed a real digital product hub, not a logo on a fitness tracker.
Solution: Get fluent in the Under Armour brand and lead the design of UA’s first digital product UA Record, plus much more.
Benefit: A social fitness hub tied to UA’s athlete roster and campaigns, with MapMyFitness craft underneath.
Accomplishments during my tenure:
Shipped UA Armour Record as the app/web hub for all UA connected fitness experiences.
Named primary contributor on a design patent for Record’s activity tracking visualization.
I Will What I Want, the Misty Copeland campaign was unprecedented female athlete support.
Never done before Jumbotron film from real MMF activity data, at the NYC SoHo flagship.
‘I Will What I Want’ – the campaign that transformed a company
Our first launch was the UA Women’s I Will What I Want campaign platform experience. The campaign featured Gisele Bündchen, Lindsey Vonn, and Misty Copeland, telling their stories about willing their way to their goals. We created a platform to ask women to share their own story of ‘will’ – their will to win, do, achieve. With lessons learned, we expanded to other UA groups and athletes and transformed this experience as UA Record.
Per digital agency Droga5: “Under Armour’s uber-masculine image had become a polarizing barrier to women. I WILL WHAT I WANT changed that image by celebrating women who defy expectations and ignore the noise of outside judgments.”
A modern, beautiful and usable mobile design.
Web and mobile united under a cohesive branded style
Our flagship product: UA Record
UA Record cemented UA’s claim on social fitness and activity tracking: challenges among friends, an enhanced activity feed, and continuing to support Under Armour athletes (Andy Murray, Lindsey Vonn, Misty Copeland, and more), integrating their stories into the audience at large.
After a congratulatory accomplishments page, I braced the team and began. Competitors had stronger points of view, and did less, far better.
The theme was relatable to a team of athletes. Our product was flabby, out of shape, not close to what it could be. We were too pleased with user count – we had to rededicate.
Our NYC SoHo store Jumbotron video was like nothing seen before
The UA Manhattan flagship store had the largest Jumbotron of any store in the world. We made a video story and statement about the scope of MapMyFitness using real, anonymized user data to create views of people working out in New York City.
Mobile for constant monitoring throughout the day.
Dashboard views for deep dives and cross reference.