YaoYao is a Chinese Jump Rope/Skipping app where it tracks your jumps through your phone, watch or headphones. You can then choose to upload your jumps and statistics on a leaderboard competing with other jumpers. This app is extremely competitive encouraging you to bring your A-game as much as possible. There is a level progression system and the only way to level up is by jumping more. You can create an account and work to achieve all jump medals like 10k jumps, 7-day streak, 10,000 calories burned, 10 victories and more. This app oozes positive energy and great for someone who wants to improve their life!
YaoYao is special to me because it completely changed my relationship with cardio training. What makes this app unique is how it transforms simple cardio exercises into a fun experience through gamification, featuring level progression, leaderboards, live minigames, and more.
I have multiple friends who use this app, and had noticed their activity dropped. When checking up on them naturally, their experience on the app came up. They had complaints, so I decided to investigate this further. I decided to ask the community on Reddit.
Reddit Post: Calling All YaoYao Users (Jump Rope App)
By asking the community directly, I had quickly realised my friends were not the exception, and common issues were ruining the experience of a jumper.
YaoYao has invested in features - detailed jump analytics, social challenges and multiple workout modes but unfortunately, poor organisation and scattered navigation prevent users from discovering and using them. Essential tools buried in unintuitive places, leading many users to only engage with the basic jump tracking system, overlooking the deep value YaoYao has to offer.
The lack of visibility and communication reduces feature adoption, caps user satisfaction, as well as undermine the competitive and gamified experience that was intended. To seriously unlock it’s full potential, the app needs a more coherent structure, better hierarchy, and navigation patterns that guide users naturally toward its most engaging features.
The experience is split up into two apps: a full featured main app and a limited companion app that only counts jumps. Combining watch functionality into the main app would simplify onboarding, creating a more unified experience.
*Redefined after additional research and testing
To precisely identify pain points, I visited both the App Store and Google Play Store reviews to explore all perspectives.
