Les Mills Release App – UX/UI Enhancements

Client: Les Mills International
Role: UX Lead
Project Phases: 2021 & 2023
Platforms: iOS & Android

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Overview

The Les Mills Release App is used by over 130,000 fitness instructors worldwide to learn, prep, and teach new workouts each quarter. Every three months, new music, videos, and notes are released. Problem was downloads were clunky, support tickets were piling up, and the overall experience felt stuck in the past.

Les Mills needed help to sort the core download flows, reduce the noise from frustrated users, and start shaping a better, more intuitive experience. I led the UX direction across two major phases, helping them reshape the product without losing its purpose.

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Phase One: Fixing the Frustrations

I was brought in as the Lead product designer to understand the Les Mills challenge their assumptions, and propose and build something grounded in real-world feedback.

They have already collected some data from user feedback from their facebook group and also rating on the app store and found these 3 points needed to be addressed.

1. Instructors had to tap through 4 to 5 screens just to start a download

2. The buttons for downloads weren’t labelled clearly, so users didn’t know what would happen

3. Music downloads weren’t syncing with the playlist feature, so instructors had to jump between sections

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The Challenges & How We Solved Them

The 1st phase only had 160 hours, so I had to prioritised only key user journeys
Ideas from the client like dark mode or  bonus features was pushed to a “Phase 2”

There were moments from Stakeholders around how we approach this, which we did discovery session to hear everyone out before focusing on the 3 points, I would refer to best practice in the market to make sure we aligned to the north star.

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The Why Behind My Direction

Instructors are usually multitasking they’re planning their class on the way to the gym, not sitting calmly on a couch. So the goal was, Less taps, More obvious actions, Cleaner layout

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What I Contributed

Reduce missing/deleted downloads, I added clear download status indicators and offline status banners so users could see if something failed,  no more guessing.

Increase download usage, Made the download button one tap from the playlist view, instead of tucked behind a dropdown.

I slowly created reusable components while building the app  progress over perfection.

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a: Discovery sessions to prioritise must-fix vs nice-to-have issues

b: Created new user flows reducing taps from 5+ to 3 for downloading

c: Figma prototypes, tested 2 in Maze, then ran in-person testing at Les Mills HQ

d: Worked daily with iOS/Android devs and got on-site sign-off faster with the client

e: Built a mini design system on the fly

f: Supported devs through design handovers and ticket clarifications

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Results:

User testing feedback was on the right path when kept getting similar answers like this one instructor said during testing, “Oh yeah, this makes way more sense, I can find my music straight away.”
That’s when I knew we were on the money.

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1. Reduced user confusion around downloads

2. Laid the groundwork for better scalability

3. Aligned key product behaviours with UX patterns users already knew

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Phase Two – Scaling and Evolving (2023)

By 2023, the app was still doing its job but the home page was outdated, playlists were inconsistent, and the design felt like two different apps stitched together this time I had a Jr designer to help with buidling out the design system with me to keep momentum.

I was brought back in to lead a full product refresh, this time focusing on:

- Homepage redesign: making it feel alive, relevant, and engaging

- Playlist experience: bringing consistency to how content was discovered and consumed

- User flows and testing: continuing the test-and-learn approach with Maze and hands-on feedback

- Full design system build: aligning iOS and Android, making future updates easier and faster

This phase also included A/B testing recommendations, improved accessibility, and helping the team think modularly, like designing with Lego blocks so they could reuse and scale elements properly.

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The Challenges & How We Solved Them

This project had a few different stakeholders involved, including a Design Director from Les Mills who jumped in at one point. My role was to manage expectations around quality and look and feel, while also coming up with new feature ideas. I worked closely with the project manager to re-prioritise those ideas based on what was realistic for the current phase and what could be pushed to later.

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What I contrubted to this phase

a: Led UX strategy and product direction across both phases

b: Ran workshops, user testing, prototyping, and flows

c: Created design flows and working with a jr design at same time.

d: Created a component-based design system across platforms

e: Partnered with the Les Mills team to align design with product and business goals

f: Supported dev handoff and QA to make sure what we designed actually shipped

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The Impact

The Les Mills Release App now delivers a cleaner, more confident experience for instructors globally. It’s easier to use, works harder behind the scenes, and sets the foundation for smarter updates going forward.More importantly, it helped reduce support load, improve download behaviour, and solidify Les Mills' trust in me as their go-to for UX. They came back for more because the work delivered more than expected and because I kept it sharp, practical, and focused on what actually matters.

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We measured success through:

1. Facebook Feedback: Fewer complaints in the Les Mills Instructor group

2. App Ratings: More 4+ star reviews on App Store & Google Play

3. User Time on App: Less time spent stuck in the download process = more time actually learning content

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And I had some great feedback from the Product Owner at Les Mills about my efforts and Impact “His innovation and strategic thinking made the whole process a breeze and his communication through out the process was top notch. He pushed the whole teams thinking on possible solutions and was a key figure in the success of the App redesign.” Les Mills Product Owner

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