Design a Fitness App for Users with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Product Design · intermediate

FitTrack, a popular fitness app, is exploring opportunities to expand into new user segments. Recently, user research revealed an interest among individuals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in using the app, but these users have unique needs that the current app does not address. FitTrack wants to design features to serve this niche effectively. As the Product Manager, you must decide how to prioritize additions to the app that address this edge case. You have a constraint of one engineer for two weeks to develop an MVP feature that will better engage and support CFS users. Focus on defining the specific user needs, and propose a single feature that balances their requirements with development constraints.

Community approaches

Yuvraj’s approach

Identify key user needs for people with CFS: Energy management: users must be cautious about their pace to avoid post exertion fatigue. Activity intensity: Low intensity and flexible exercises Symptom awareness: Ability to log fatigue levels, sleep quality. Personalisation: Recommendations based on daily energy levels.

Propose one MVP feature: Energy checkin + adaptive recommendations- a simple daily prompt asking users to rate their energy levels from a scale of 1-5. Based on input the app suggests gently activities like stretching, breathing, short walks or other recommendations. One engineer can build a checkin flow and rule based activity suggestions in 2 weeks.

Justify your choice considering the constraint: High impact: Directly address energy levels= the most critical need for CFS users. Low complexity: Simple UI- daily checkin cards + rule engine ( if energy low-> rest suggestions, etc) Scalable: Can later expand into richer symptom tracking or AI driven personalisation. Engagement driver: Keeps user returning daily without overwhelming them.

Explain metrics to evaluate success: Daily checkin completion rate, % of activity completed, MAU among CFS segment, CSAT