Business By Design - Hugo

The Problem

We are facing a growing healthcare crisis. Today, 45 million middle-aged Americans are totally physically inactive and lack the knowledge and motivation to start exercising. They will live 16 years less on average than their active counterparts, and are at double the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, as well as more susceptible to mental health challenges including anxiety and depression. All of this adds up to be a huge burden on individuals, families, communities, and our healthcare system.

In addition to a healthy diet, the best way to achieve and maintain mental and physical fitness it through regular exercise. But in today’s distracted and busy world, how to you help people who do not know where to begin start exercising?

The Solution

Say Hi to Hugo

Hugo is an AI-powered health and fitness app that creates and delivers personalized body-appropriate guidance in the form of weekly exercise plans based on an algorithmic understanding of each users' historical health data, expert validated advice, and ongoing interactions. It offers guidance, motivation, and community to effectively change users' behavior and help people start moving and keep moving.

Hugo began as a personal quest to create a better, more affordable alternative for our middle-aged parents to stay active and healthy in longevity. We collectively realized that as young adults, we are inundated with convenient and affordable fitness options. However, when we encouraged our parents to make use of the same services, there was a disconnect with their exercise abilities, needs, and preferences. We immediately recognized an opportunity. 

We asked ourselves, how might we help inactive adults find the appropriate fitness solutions to enjoy physical and mental longevity? 

The Process

Our team followed a design strategy approach to business design, alongside traditional market and financial analysis to establish viability. This included:

• Identifying and validating a real user need through ethnographic and market research

• Establishing desirability and willingness to pay for the solution

• Prototyping and validating the technical feasibility of our digital solution, including developing a working machine-learning algorithm

• Forecasting the financial viability of the business model and go-to-market strategy

• Delivering an effective roadmap to launch and planning for rapid scaling of the business for the first 3 years of operation

• Pitching the venture concept to diverse audiences and proving investor interest

Using human-centered design methodologies, including empathy mapping, persona creation, context mapping, the business model canvas, strategic foresight-driven innovation roadmapping via the three horizons framework, we created more than ten business models and took an iterative approach to testing and learning what worked. Backed by our insights from secondary market and trend research, industry and competitive landscape analysis, in addition to primary research through surveys and one-on-one interviews with our target audience, we selected the final business model and solution space.

The result is a digital-first business model supporting an AI-powered, customized fitness app helping inactive adults regain and maintain mobility.

Showcasing Hugo - 2019 MBA in Design Strategy Venture Show

My contribution to this project included ideation, research, business strategy, marketing, UX, and creative direction.