SoulCycle prides itself on a tech-free mind-body workout, but riders were begging for stats. So how do you show riders insightful metrics and music from their workout without distracting them in class? We created SoulBeat: A post-ride recap that celebrates their hard work on the bike, and progress made over time.
I was the Lead Product Designer, responsible for initial concepting, research, architecture, and design of SoulBeat in the SoulCycle iOS App.
John Kresse, Product Manager
Benjamin Grohe, Product Manager
Anthony Loven, Design Manager
Jordan McQuade, Product Designer
Bren Cavallo, Data Scientist
In the early stages of the project, the data team had built a proof of concept called Soul Stat. The goal primarily was to see if data could be reliably captured from the bikes in the studio. As a container for the data, a report card-style PDF was generated for each rider in the class. From early testing, we saw that riders would compare their “Soul Stat number” but really didn’t have any sense of how it was achieved or even what it actually meant.
A workout at SoulCycle is more than just a spin class, it has soul. We knew we needed to give riders something that went beyond the basic metrics they could get from their Apple Watch. The stats needed to be unique to the rhythm-based, music-pumping format of the class. Most importantly, they should feel like a celebration after every class.
We devised four signature stats that use a combination of sensors on the bike and microphones in the ceiling to measure how each rider was performing in class. No two SoulBeats are alike.
After each class, the rider’s SoulBeat is crunched in the cloud and delivered to their phone as a quick swipe-able story. Who wouldn’t want to brag share this on social?