Responsibilities
UX Research, UI Design, Wireframing, Prototyping
Duration
7 weeks
Year
2026
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Impulse Leisure is a non-profit trust in Essex offering gyms, pools, classes, and wellbeing programmes across multiple sites, with members booking and managing sessions through its app. As a member myself, I felt the experience had room to improve so I redesigned the app to explore a more user-centred, modern approach to booking.
CHALLENGE
The app is functional but dated, cluttered and unintuitive.
Research revealed recurring frustrations around navigation, booking across locations and accessing swimming lessons. These pain points highlighted clear opportunities to improve both usability and the overall member experience.
OBJECTIVE/SOLUTION
Create a simpler, more intuitive member experience
The redesign focused on creating a cleaner, more intuitive experience for members. Navigation was simplified, the booking journey became more flexible and key features were easier to access. Members could compare class availability across different leisure centres, manage family bookings and find important information more quickly.
Research
The project began by testing the current app experience, I then conducted a survey with eight members at the leisure centre and analysed Google Reviews to help create a proto persona which helped to focus the redesign on the booking journey.
No cross-centre booking
Members couldn’t search for classes across different leisure centres.
Separate swimming login
Swimming lessons and progress required a separate iSwim account.
Difficult navigation
Finding information required extra effort or was difficult.
Dated interface
Members described the app as outdated and difficult to navigate.
I created a user flow diagram to map the swimming lesson booking journey to visualise the and identify opportunities to simplify the experience before designing the interface.
I created low fidelity wireframes to explore different page layouts and user journeys before moving into high-fidelity designs.
Wireframes helped to define the overall journey, but exploring the designs in high fidelity revealed opportunities to improve the homepage interface and other flexibility.
Added local context
Used centre imagery to create a more personalised experience.
Clearer visual hierarchy
Made the most important actions easier to find.
Upcoming bookings
Made upcoming activities visible from the homepage.
Refined typography and colour
Improved hierarchy and readability.
Alongside redesigning the booking journey, I refreshed the Impulse Leisure logo to create a cleaner, more modern identity that better reflected the updated digital experience.
Modernised logo
The logo was simplified to provide better flexibility, improve legibility and better reflect the modern digital experience
I'm happy with the current solution. Booking across centres is simpler, the separate swimming login issue is gone, and the whole thing feels less clunky to actually book something.
What I haven't done yet is put it in front of members and ask if they can "book a swimming lesson for their child," so I can see where they hesitated, how long it took, and whether they got there without help. But I would need to test it properly rather than just assuming this was successful. If people still struggled with those same things, that'd tell me something important too.
© 2026 Andre Horton