Physical to Digital Motivation
Reward + Gamification
Achievement Transformation
Physical to Digital Motivation
When rising costs forced iFIT to sunset its beloved physical rewards program, we faced a challenge: how to remove a fan-favorite feature without alienating the most engaged users. The answer wasn't just to replace — it was to reimagine. This is how we turned a cost-cutting necessity into a meaningful, digital-first experience.
Client
iFIT
Timeframe
2020
Project Type
Reward + Gamification
Role
Product Design Lead
Achievement Transformation
Overview
With financial pressures mounting, leadership decided to retire physical rewards. Our team was tasked with transforming that legacy into something users would still love: a digital achievements ecosystem. The stakes were high — we needed to maintain engagement, create a future-ready experience, and avoid backlash from our most loyal users.
iFIT’s physical rewards system had become a strong motivator for many users. Completing Challenges, Live Events, and Milestones meant earning tangible rewards like medals and magnets — small gestures that sparked big motivation. But the program was expensive, hard to scale, and disconnected from the app experience.
Achievement Transformation
The Challenge
Users saw the physical rewards as a core feature. Losing them felt personal. These rewards were earned through hard work, and the sense of accomplishment was deeply tied to receiving something real. The migration risked a significant hit to user trust and Challenge engagement.
We also had limited tools. There was no analytics infrastructure around the existing rewards system. We had to gauge success using indirect data and make design decisions with incomplete information. Additionally, the timeline was tight, and stakeholder appetite favored a lean MVP approach.
Achievement Transformation
The Solution
We began with a thorough audit, identifying what existed, what users loved, and what was missing. We then explored over 10 competitor ecosystems, gaining valuable insights into scalable design patterns and effective engagement strategies. With this, we developed an architecture for a digital rewards system that could scale over time.
Design System Research + Insight Product Design UX/UI Digital
We designed a modular, in-app “Trophy Case” experience — a dedicated space for users to view, track, and celebrate achievements. By decoupling achievements from content until key interaction moments, we kept workouts front and center while still reinforcing progress. A tabbed interface supported multiple achievement types with flexibility for future expansion.
Achievement Transformation
Achievement Transformation
Performance Results
Compared to April 2021, the April 2022 Challenge saw a 10% drop in completions. But adjusted for a 3.5% DAU decrease across the platform, the actual impact of removing physical rewards was closer to a 6.5% drop, far less than anticipated.
Active users in first season
Reduction in off-piste incidents
Active groups formed
Users engaged with the new Trophy Case more frequently than they ever had with physical rewards. Immediate feedback from friends and family testing led to quick UX wins like improved navigational hooks, milestone tracking, and content linkage. Most importantly, we laid a scalable foundation for ongoing growth and iteration.
