SMART IOT APP FOR FITNESS CENTERS
Powerful Solution for Real-time Monitoring & Gym Management
Challenge
A fitness center chain in Eastern Europe faced difficulties in efficiently collecting and managing physical data from their increasing number of visitors.
Solution
A smart IoT app developed to streamline training processes by integrating with a CRM system and enabling real-time monitoring of visitor activities by coaches.
Tech stack
NodeJS , NestJS, AWS (S3, CloudFront, SNS, SQS, RDS, API Gateway, Lambda, CloudWatch, DynamoDB, Cognito, Step Functions, Redshift), BLE.
Client
The client is a well-established fitness center chain with a strong presence in Eastern Europe. They operate over 30 gyms and have gained a reputation for providing high-quality sports and healthy-lifestyle services. Their commitment to delivering exceptional fitness experiences has earned them a loyal customer base.
Challenge
With the client’s business expansion and the growing number of fitness center visitors, effectively managing the influx of visitor information posed a challenge. In response, the client sought a comprehensive fitness tracking system development solution that would empower coaches to seamlessly oversee the training process in real-time, ensuring optimal outcomes for each visitor.
The client also planned to:
- Gain access to the app on multiple devices, making its use as convenient as possible.
- Monitor visitor activity and presence in the gym online.
- Check gym machine usage frequency and workload.
- Analyze visitors’ typical routes based on general statistics.
- Obtain all required information about every visitor quickly.
Team
1
Project Manager
1
Business Analyst
1
Team lead
5
Software Developers
3
QA Engineers
Process
Initiation
Initiation
The project was initiated with a focus on IoT app development for fitness centers. A dedicated team, including a project manager, business analyst, and team lead, was appointed to secure effective project management and seamless coordination throughout the development process. From the very beginning, clear communication channels were established, fostering efficient collaboration and knowledge sharing among team members. Meticulous attention was given to defining project timelines, budgets, and other essential parameters, enabling a structured approach to project execution.
Discovery
Discovery
An in-depth analysis of the market and target audience was conducted in the discovery phase. The process aimed to gain a deep understanding of the project scope and identify any potential limitations or challenges. Documentation preparation, including design and technical solution mapping, was carried out to ensure a clear roadmap for developing an efficient gym optimization solution. In order to foster collaboration and enhance understanding, a business trip to the client’s location was undertaken, facilitating face-to-face interactions and strengthening the client-developer relationship.
Planning
Planning
The project plan embraced an Agile development approach for the fitness tracking app, incorporating the principles of flexibility, adaptability, and iterative development. The use of 2-week sprints accelerated flawless project management and timely delivery of results. By dividing the project into shorter development cycles, the team could regularly assess progress, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments. This iterative planning approach guaranteed that the project remained aligned with the client’s evolving needs and allowed for a more collaborative and responsive development process.
Development
Infrastructure
To ensure the operation and scalability of the fitness tracking app, Modsen focused on developing a robust infrastructure, which leveraged the power of AWS services, specifically Amazon EC2 instances, to provide secure and reliable hosting for the application. Load balancers were implemented to efficiently distribute incoming traffic, while auto-scaling configurations allowed for seamless scalability based on demand. Moreover, the team incorporated network security measures, including firewalls and access control policies, to protect the app and its data from unauthorized access.
Architecture
For smooth integration between visitors’ devices, coaches’ smartwatches, and gym receivers, a sophisticated system architecture was designed. The architecture followed a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach, utilizing microservices for modular and scalable development. Each component of the fitness tracking system was designed as an independent service, communicating through well-defined APIs. The chosen architecture offered great flexibility, as each service could be updated and scaled individually without impacting the entire system. To facilitate real-time data exchange, a publish-subscribe messaging pattern was implemented, leveraging technologies like AWS SNS to enable efficient communication between system components. The smart IoT app architecture was built with fault tolerance and high availability in mind, utilizing load balancers and auto-scaling groups to handle varying workloads and ensure consistent performance.
Coding—testing—deployment
The development team utilized the NodeJS and NestJS frameworks to implement the fitness app’s functionalities, securing efficient and reliable code execution. Industry best practices, such as modular and clean coding techniques, were followed to promote maintainability and extensibility. Rigorous quality assurance testing was conducted, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end testing so that the app met the highest standards of quality and functionality. Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines were established, leveraging technologies like AWS CodePipeline and AWS CodeDeploy for automated build, testing, and deployment processes. This allowed for synchronized and rapid deployment of new features and updates, providing a smooth user experience and minimizing downtime.
Regular demos
Frequent demonstrations were conducted by the development team to keep the client informed and gather feedback for iterative improvements. Such a collaborative approach ensured alignment with the client’s vision and allowed for timely adjustments throughout the development process.
Third-party audit
An external audit was conducted to verify the fitness center chain’s app’s security and compliance with industry standards. Robust security measures, including data encryption and access controls, were implemented to safeguard user information. The audit encompassed vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and code reviews to identify and address any potential data breach risks or vulnerabilities. Compliance with applicable regulations, such as GDPR and local data protection laws, was also validated. Thorough external audit provided an objective evaluation of the app’s security posture, instilling confidence in the client and assuring end-users that their data is handled securely.
Acceptance testing
The solution’s functionality was extensively tested to confirm that it met the requirements of the client. A comprehensive test suite was developed, covering various use cases and scenarios identified during the requirements-gathering phase. The testing process included both manual and automated testing approaches.
Automation framework Cypress was employed to streamline and accelerate the testing process, allowing for the execution of repetitive test cases and regression testing. The solution’s features, user interface, and data integrity were rigorously evaluated during the acceptance testing phase.
A comprehensive testing methodology aimed to identify any deviations from the client’s specifications and verify that the solution operated seamlessly across different devices and platforms. Defects and issues identified during the testing process were carefully documented, prioritized, and addressed by the development team to ensure a robust and reliable end product that aligned with the client’s expectations.
Closing
Upon project completion, the app was successfully deployed into production. The development team provided the client with full code transfer, technical documentation, and business analyst reports. A comprehensive user guide was also delivered to facilitate the client’s use of the solution.
Solution
The developed smart IoT app, created after promptly studying the entire fitness center member database, thoroughly discussing, and analyzing the client’s requirements, enabled the fitness center chain to effectively collect and manage physical data from their visitors:
- The app provided real-time access to visitor information, facilitating online training process control and enhancing monitoring capabilities for coaches.
- Strategically placed receivers throughout the gym collected data and connected coaches’ smartwatches and visitors’ fitness trackers via Bluetooth.
- All information was available online and stored in a shared database, allowing coaches to retrieve online details about fitness center members, determine visitors’ locations in the gym, and monitor gym machine workload using a heat map and analyzing queue frequency.
- The system efficiently navigated and placed sports equipment based on visitors’ typical routes for optimal gym experience.
- Coaches could access general information about each visitor, including their name, training plan, injuries, age, weight, and more, to personalize their guidance and support.
Result
By now, the client has successfully integrated the new IoT system into all their fitness center gyms, resulting in improved service quality. The client achieved the following benefits:
- Optimized gym machine allocation: The client increased the number of frequently used equipment while reducing less popular equipment, ensuring better availability and utilization.
- Enhanced monitoring of visitor activity, progress, and goal achievement: The IoT system enabled comprehensive tracking and monitoring of each visitor, empowering effective supervision and progress assessment.
- Improved navigation and training plan adjustment: The system facilitated better coach mobility, convenient sports equipment placement, and the ability to adjust training plans based on gym capacity, enhancing overall navigation within the fitness centers.
49%
Increase in gym machine optimization
97%
Enhancement in monitoring visitor activity
31%
Improvement in navigation and training efficiency
43%
Increase in visitor engagement and progress