Dating back to last summer, Swim.com, a San Jose-based startup privately financed by a company known for its e-commerce in Spiraledge, has been making the initial strides to cultivate its own community dedicated to swimmers everywhere. They’ve been running in beta throughout this time, with opening up its platform to everyone from its invite-first stage since August.
During beta, the software had to go through numerous iterations, with swimming-specific obstacles surfacing up. The crux of this development rested on balancing the UX for casual users as well as offering nuanced, analytical tools for power users. It involved determining how to best represent abstract concepts in logical model, especially given the unique case of swimming.
Davis Wuolle, Swim.com’s Vice President of Product and former Canadian national swim champion, informs SportTechie that they tried to have an open-minded approach about how people would use Swim.com and the features that they would be most interested in. Launching in beta provided them an avenue to not immediately delve into a lot of the features they desired, with some just in the very early stages of development. The invariable learning point being that simple is better for users across the board.
“Swim-tracking is very new to most people; and they are interested in getting a good handle on the basics before moving onto more advanced features,” says Wuolle.
The data points, accordingly, have been translated into graph form, where users can visually see intel of pace, speed, efficiency, stroke type and distance–all within a workout and over time. Workout-editing as a feature, though, was purposely left off from the beta phase. These users want to be able to correct inaccuracies in their data; a web enabled of such feature will be rolled out in the coming weeks.
The way in which features should be offered and presented to users definitely should be something to be cognizant about, especially considering the nascent nature of devices in the marketplace and its ability to deliver as intended for swimmers.
Data errors and lack of precise reporting on some metrics can become evident on certain swimming wearables. This kind of malfunction derives from the extraction of the data from external hardware and the subsequent representation inside the software. Some users would happen to receive more features than others just via the data provided by the gadget that they own.
Still, the current ecosystem of fitness wearables pervades the friction between manufacturers wanting to subsists as sole-proprietors independent of competitors versus a software company preferring to being open to the host of the devices out there.
Any manufacturer in this space would have a hard time trying to justify complete integration for their competition–regardless of their respective technical skills.
Wuolle, thus, points to the changing trends: “The market is shifting heavily towards the use of the smartphone in almost every niche, including activity-tracking. We know that many users expect the same when they track their swimming workouts.”
In light of this climate and its state post-beta, Swim.com has just launched their iOS and Android apps to allow users to get feedback instantly. As soon as the person is out of the pool, they’ll have access to this information, provided that they have a device that syncs with their smartphone like a Pebble.
For this venture, Swim.com wanted to take what they have managed to execute well on the web and bring that to the smartphone environment, where they maintain the integrity of the online presence while offering a great app user experience. Their graphic design team did a fine job of laying out the app insofar as making the product easy to read and navigate. Developing the app required adjusting it to ensure functionality correctly across hundreds of different devices with varying screen sizes, both for iOS and Android platforms.
Of course, swimming happens to be an acquired skill that necessitates repetition and constructive feedback to advance proficiency and initiate improvement. Regardless of having all of the pertinent information or not, swimmers tend to give themselves feedback on their performance upon completion. Once a judgment has been made, it’s rather difficult to change perspective, be it positive or negative. Therefore, the intel received at the earliest moment is likely to weigh more heavily, in terms of assessing performance. Not having correct intel right away conflicts with a swimmer’s ability to form a fair picture of their respective session, where they can define areas for improvement for the next time.
Accordingly, power users of Swim.com typically have a strong idea of the data points they are looking for within their workouts, which they internalize and put the practice.
“For example, if such a user has been working their catch (the portion of the stroke where the hands enter the water) to increase efficiency, they’re probably going to want to look at their stroke count on the laps where they practice this technique versus those after, where they are training to see if the technique sticks and is actually improving their stroke count. The user can then make a decision to adjust again, practice more, or continue on their next piece of technique work,” states Wuolle.
While the computer makes it much easier to view a high-level of detail for Swim.com users, it removes a lot of the convenience a mobile device brings, with respects to usage of the software during swimming activity. The mobile app, thus, should increase engagement, particularly among those who are just looking for basic services.
Considering, though, that it’s been reported that Pebble has sold over a million units recently, Swim.com has been able to capture that hardware community. The vast majority of Swim.com users are currently using Pebble as their swimming device, presenting the highest growth area as well. A lot of users purchase a Pebble specifically to swim with, while others use Swim.com as a part of a bigger wearable experience with Pebble.
Wuolle is very excited about the Pebble Time, Pebble’s latest product offering, since it has more memory, allowing them to pack some more features into their app. The biggest limitations in the original Pebble–as mentioned earlier about hardware manufacturers as whole–have been the data transfer issue on the hardware-side as well as extremely limited memory for its app’s capabilities.
“More smartwatch manufacturers are recognizing that users want their devices to be waterproof and functional when disconnected from their phones, which is exactly what Swim.com needs,” says Wuolle; even though waterproof smartphones would be great as well for its efforts, just not something that’s likely.
The next aspect Swim.com is looking to evaluate from its service now being on iOS and Android is the number of workouts uploaded. They want to see users getting out to their local pool and swimming over the summer, with Swim.com as a part of that routine. They would also like to see more users joining clubs and connecting with one another. It’s much easier for them to get motivated and support from others who have a shared experience.
Swim.com’s users can expect a more “hands-off” approach to tracking their workouts, with more automation being added down the line. The platform will be integrated with third-party APIs from hardware manufacturers, too, so users possess an even greater selection of devices to choose from coupled with Swim.com’s social fitness platform.