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FitFu (YC W11): Stay active anywhere

118 points| JofArnold | 15 years ago |blog.fitfu.com | reply

82 comments

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[+] ErrantX|15 years ago|reply
Right.

I really want you to sell me this product because this solves (I think?) a problem I often face. The product page (and the blog) makes a big thing about the social aspect and so on. Which is fine; but I still have no idea what exactly it does.

It tracks my movement. When? How?

What exactly does it do?

Clearly your are hip and cool, which is great. But I've clicked every link and I am still none the wiser as to the product... sorry.

EDIT: Right, I noted the TC link (http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/17/fitfu-wants-to-get-you-exer...) posted elsewhere. That was much more explanatory, now I understand a lot more. In fact (and, man, I never thought I would say this!) the TechCrunch copy is pretty solid explanatory text, you should take careful note of it and consider at least a page that says something similar about what the product is.

[+] tobtoh|15 years ago|reply
Absolutely agree with ErrantX. As it is a fitness app, I went looking to find out what exercises they would be encouraging me to do - nada.

The best I could work out from the screenshots was crunches. And from the TC article it mentions 8 exercises and hints that PushupFu, CrunchFu, SquatFu and PullupFu are combined into Fitfu ... but I still am no clearer as to what exercises are supported.

And for me, knowing what exercises it supports is important. If FitFu is supposed to encourage me to 'move more' throughout the day, well crunches aren't much use at work - I'm not lying down on the grubby work carpet in my shirt and slacks and do crunches. If it's pull-ups, well I can't do those at work either.

Sounds great for weekends/days off though (and I love the concept overall) - but again, would love to know what movements you are encouraging.

[+] kmfrk|15 years ago|reply
I also had no idea what it basically did, but, as I often do, I bought it from a developer and designer standpoint to learn what they had done.

To be honest, I still find it a bit weird after purchasing it. The sound in the app is particularly annoying.

I can't wrap my head around it, but the fact that they've received funding from YC suggests that there's more to it.

[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
-------------

MINI "ASK HN":

-------------

For those of your who've got it and get how it works, is there a simpler way of explaining the features that matter most to you?

We thought "personal trainer in your pocket that gets you doing little bits of activity throughout the day" was an ok start, but I think we were wrong; people (at least on HN) are really interested in getting to the specifics.

Suggestions?

[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
Definitely; the TC post does a really good job of explaining it.

We included our post here more as a way of introducing ourselves to HN. I'll link to the TC post from the top of ours. Thx! :)

[+] steveklabnik|15 years ago|reply
Looks awesome guys, congrats! One small bit of feedback: I had a really, really hard time parsing this sentence:

> Activate some you time, fit in some fu time

By the time I got to the comma, my brain was totally halted.

[+] JoeCortopassi|15 years ago|reply
Apostrophes around 'you' and 'fu' would do alot for clarity
[+] zach|15 years ago|reply
Activate some you time for great good!
[+] superjared|15 years ago|reply
"Ever get the feeling there's more to life than sitting around: sitting at work, sitting in the car, sitting in front of the TV? Do you want to get active but haven't time for the gym?"

Stop watching so much TV.

[+] kmfrk|15 years ago|reply
Or get a desk you can change the height of so you can stand up when you're near it.

This app does not save you time - quite the contrary. It's a motivational, social tool - not a productivity tool. The marketing is off.

[+] kmfrk|15 years ago|reply
That mascot is really scary.

Amazing design, though. Really sets you apart from the competition.

[+] jon914|15 years ago|reply
The mascot is cool, but am I the only one to think it looks a little close to Toucan Sam (Fruit Loops)?
[+] alex_c|15 years ago|reply
It's the teeth, I think... I can't trust anything that's showing so many teeth at once... :p
[+] LargeWu|15 years ago|reply
The one thing I found missing from the pitch: Is it effective? Of course that's implied in any marketing, but I thought the specifics were a bit fuzzy; just some vague statements about moving around and tracking using the accelerometer.
[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
Thanks for the input. Yeah, we became aware this was missing relative late in the design process. Also, as you'll hopefully see on the blog we did pivot partway through from a more heavy workout schedule to something relatively modest.

There's a lot of evidence to back up the APPROACH (WHO, Surgeon General, etc etc) but what we need is more solid evidence related to our actual users. Other than the fact that BenjieGillam now has pecs :P

One of the interesting things we discovered fairly late in the game was how effective the old apps were at helping weightloss. But the problem with the fitness industry is it's too full of these sorts of claims. We thing there's some much more credible ways of presenting this stuff, and we plan to... just as soon as we have the data.

[+] jonmc12|15 years ago|reply
I have a fitbit and an Android phone. Personally, I'm in the segment of this market that would like my workout activity tracked in the background. I'm not likely to change my routine based on an app, but if I had an app that could automatically track the details of my exercises at the gym, I'd use it endlessly. Fitbit does this for running / walking, but not for individual exercises yet.
[+] ry0ohki|15 years ago|reply
Who does your design? It looks absolutely stunning.
[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
Yeah it's Despark. Can't wait to give HN the lowdown on how we did it... Is a fun story :)
[+] datawalke|15 years ago|reply
Congrats on shipping! The application looks great. I am going to give it a try out later on tonight.
[+] cracell|15 years ago|reply
Just tried this out. Very cool start, looking forward to seeing how it evolves.

I would love to see either an API to pull one's own data to graph it. Or built in graphing of some sort. Also more activities overall. Looks like there are only 8.

[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
Thanks! Lots planned for 1.1 and beyond. Feel free to email us any other thoughts you have - hard keeping up with the comments on HN.
[+] ig1|15 years ago|reply
Has something changed with the YC process, I don't recall ever seeing as many announcements postfixed with the YC season (i.e YC W11) before that season actually happened as we do now.
[+] colinyoung|15 years ago|reply
There are way more companies per class now, from about 10 up to 30 or so. They also didn't used to have a Winter class.
[+] MJR|15 years ago|reply
"The more you and your friends are active, the higher your level and the higher your points. And points mean prizes; unlock new content as you progress."

What prizes? I don't see any further explanation of this anywhere on the site. What are the point values for these prizes? What kind of content am I unlocking? Advanced exercises, tips, what?

It's really not clear what happens after I do the exercise, tell my friends and get some points, but apparently something will happen.

[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
How'd best to clarify that. Should we clarify the prizes inline e.g.

"Unlock prizes such as content x,y,x"

Or would it be better to have another page that delves into those features in more detail.

We don't have much experience of doing that whole user-journey bit on a website so all input welcome!

[+] judegomila|15 years ago|reply
This is cool. Now my iphone has a built in gym as well...
[+] kyenneti|15 years ago|reply
My respect for the YC increasing with each passing batch. I was under the impression that its only possible to come with some software apps for such small investments (in terms of money) - But YC is showing the world that there are no boundaries and no limits on what one could come up with . I only wish if someone can replicate YC to our Healthcare industry.
[+] zende|15 years ago|reply
I love the the whistle character! I also like applying game dynamics and competition to exercise and losing weight
[+] crad|15 years ago|reply
Is this targeted specifically to women? All the screenshots and avatar photos are female. Doesn't seem like it is functionally but I wouldn't want to make the faux pas of installing it like I did when I tried Nike Training Club instead of Nike BOOM.
[+] crad|15 years ago|reply
I must have been distracted, I did find a photo of a guy in one screenshot so I'm thinking it's safe for male consumption.
[+] holdenk|15 years ago|reply
Any plans for an Android port?
[+] cullenking|15 years ago|reply
Nice work! Let us know if you ever want to explore integration with GPS/mapping at some point, we are working with several other mobile fitness app developers to provide integration with our service.
[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
Consider yourself emailed! Thx!
[+] nwmcsween|15 years ago|reply
Damn I was going to do this, I had the plan on paper around 2 years ago but with a few more features to engage users. Such as competitions worth $ and speed runs using the camera for live competitions
[+] JofArnold|15 years ago|reply
Do it! We're not really first-mover... we're just moving a little differently to others before us.

And the health and fitness industry is huge - ripe for hackers to disrupt!

[+] Sukotto|15 years ago|reply
It seems like a great idea.

What stopped you from doing it?

[+] jlees|15 years ago|reply
Great idea - I'd love to help you guys out with copywriting, especially as it seems to be a big problem for HN-ers. Sadly, I don't have an iPhone so I can't even try the app. Meh.