TriDot
TriDot
TriDot
Auditing a Complex Platform to Empower Real Athletes
Auditing a Complex Platform to Empower Real Athletes
Auditing a Complex Platform to Empower Real Athletes
My Role
My Role
My Role
Lead UX Researcher & UX/UI QA
Lead UX Researcher & UX/UI QA
Lead UX Researcher & UX/UI QA
Impact
Impact
Impact
Created a roadmap of improvements to enhance platform clarity, consistency, and usability for all athletes
Created a roadmap of improvements to enhance platform clarity, consistency, and usability for all athletes
Created a roadmap of improvements to enhance platform clarity, consistency, and usability for all athletes
Timeline
Timeline
Timeline
Q4 2024 - Q1 2025
Q4 2024 - Q1 2025
Q4 2024 - Q1 2025
Struggling with the Basics
A Platform Built for Precision, but not for People
A Platform Built for Precision, but not for People
A Platform Built for Precision, but not for People
TriDot is a data-driven powerhouse, but the interface left athletes confused and disconnected. From overloaded dashboard to cryptic labels, the experience catered to elite-level logic, not everyday humans trying to train smarter.
We needed to uncover where that disconnect was happening and how to bridge the gap between technical power and emotional usability.
TriDot is a data-driven powerhouse, but the interface left athletes confused and disconnected. From overloaded dashboard to cryptic labels, the experience catered to elite-level logic, not everyday humans trying to train smarter.
We needed to uncover where that disconnect was happening and how to bridge the gap between technical power and emotional usability.
TriDot is a data-driven powerhouse, but the interface left athletes confused and disconnected. From overloaded dashboard to cryptic labels, the experience catered to elite-level logic, not everyday humans trying to train smarter.
We needed to uncover where that disconnect was happening and how to bridge the gap between technical power and emotional usability.
Following the Friction
Where Athletes Struggled (and Why It Mattered)
Where Athletes Struggled (and Why It Mattered)
Where Athletes Struggled (and Why It Mattered)
Through heuristic audits, QA sweeps, and internal interviews, we mapped the experience end-to-end. The patterns became clear:
Cognitive overload in the dashboard — no hierarchy or clear calls to action
Confusing terms like “Optimize,” “Threshold,” or “Dot Score” with no context
Desktop and mobile felt like two different platforms
Insular design made users feel like outsiders in their own plan
Through heuristic audits, QA sweeps, and internal interviews, we mapped the experience end-to-end. The patterns became clear:
Cognitive overload in the dashboard — no hierarchy or clear calls to action
Confusing terms like “Optimize,” “Threshold,” or “Dot Score” with no context
Desktop and mobile felt like two different platforms
Insular design made users feel like outsiders in their own plan
Through heuristic audits, QA sweeps, and internal interviews, we mapped the experience end-to-end. The patterns became clear:
Cognitive overload in the dashboard — no hierarchy or clear calls to action
Confusing terms like “Optimize,” “Threshold,” or “Dot Score” with no context
Desktop and mobile felt like two different platforms
Insular design made users feel like outsiders in their own plan
An Audit with Athlete Empathy
Deep Dive Across Features, Feedback, and Flows
What Was Audited
UI Consistency
Interactions & Navigation
Product Feature Intentions
Information Hierarchy & Copy
How It Was Done
Heuristic Audit & QA Passes
Live Device Testing
Internal/External Interviews
Language Audit
Why It Mattered
Identified 117+ Friction Points
Flagged Bugs & Inconsistencies
Exposed UX Misalignment
Rewrote Unclear/Generic Terms
Fixing the Gaps that Broke Trust
What Seemed Minor was Eroding Trust at Every Step
The audit revealed that users weren’t just “confused,” they were constantly second-guessing themselves due to small, but significant, usability failures. These weren’t bugs; they were UX integrity issues that chipped away at trust in the platform.
Instead of building intuitive, learnable systems, the interface asked users to adapt to it and punished them for assuming universal design rules would apply.
Here’s what was uncovered:
The audit revealed that users weren’t just “confused,” they were constantly second-guessing themselves due to small, but significant, usability failures. These weren’t bugs; they were UX integrity issues that chipped away at trust in the platform.
Instead of building intuitive, learnable systems, the interface asked users to adapt to it and punished them for assuming universal design rules would apply.
Here’s what was uncovered:
The audit revealed that users weren’t just “confused,” they were constantly second-guessing themselves due to small, but significant, usability failures. These weren’t bugs; they were UX integrity issues that chipped away at trust in the platform.
Instead of building intuitive, learnable systems, the interface asked users to adapt to it and punished them for assuming universal design rules would apply.
Here’s what was uncovered:
Inconsistent UI Patterns
Toggles, buttons, and dropdowns lacked consistent styling and behavior, causing hesitation and forcing users to relearn interactions on each screen.
Inconsistent UI Patterns
Toggles, buttons, and dropdowns lacked consistent styling and behavior, causing hesitation and forcing users to relearn interactions on each screen.
Inconsistent UI Patterns
Toggles, buttons, and dropdowns lacked consistent styling and behavior, causing hesitation and forcing users to relearn interactions on each screen.
Some dropdowns closed on outside click, others didn’t. Button styles changed across modals and pages without logic.
Some dropdowns closed on outside click, others didn’t. Button styles changed across modals and pages without logic.
Some dropdowns closed on outside click, others didn’t. Button styles changed across modals and pages without logic.
Broken & Overwhelming Modals
Modals were often unresponsive — cutting off content or taking over the entire screen with no clear close or confirmation path.
Broken & Overwhelming Modals
Modals were often unresponsive — cutting off content or taking over the entire screen with no clear close or confirmation path.
Broken & Overwhelming Modals
Modals were often unresponsive — cutting off content or taking over the entire screen with no clear close or confirmation path.
Users who couldn’t start a workout didn’t know why. Buttons grayed out with no tooltip or message. Input validation was silent or absent.
Users who couldn’t start a workout didn’t know why. Buttons grayed out with no tooltip or message. Input validation was silent or absent.
Users who couldn’t start a workout didn’t know why. Buttons grayed out with no tooltip or message. Input validation was silent or absent.
Unintuitive Navigation That Violated Expectations
Navigation patterns didn’t follow established UX norms. Users couldn’t predict what actions would do — making exploration feel risky.
Unintuitive Navigation That Violated Expectations
Navigation patterns didn’t follow established UX norms. Users couldn’t predict what actions would do — making exploration feel risky.
Unintuitive Navigation That Violated Expectations
Navigation patterns didn’t follow established UX norms. Users couldn’t predict what actions would do — making exploration feel risky.
Example: In “Weekly View,” clicking the right arrow didn’t advance to the next week (as expected), but opened a single-day view instead.
Example: In “Weekly View,” clicking the right arrow didn’t advance to the next week (as expected), but opened a single-day view instead.
Example: In “Weekly View,” clicking the right arrow didn’t advance to the next week (as expected), but opened a single-day view instead.
Lack of Feedback and Recovery Paths
Errors or blocked actions often had no accompanying message, guidance, or alternate paths.
Lack of Feedback and Recovery Paths
Errors or blocked actions often had no accompanying message, guidance, or alternate paths.
Lack of Feedback and Recovery Paths
Errors or blocked actions often had no accompanying message, guidance, or alternate paths.
Users who couldn’t push a workout to their device didn’t know why. Buttons grayed out with no tooltip or message. Input validation was silent or absent.
Users who couldn’t push a workout to their device didn’t know why. Buttons grayed out with no tooltip or message. Input validation was silent or absent.
Users who couldn’t push a workout to their device didn’t know why. Buttons grayed out with no tooltip or message. Input validation was silent or absent.
Broken Information Hierarchy
Important actions were often hidden, mislabeled, or visually deprioritized. Even destructive actions felt unprotected.
Broken Information Hierarchy
Important actions were often hidden, mislabeled, or visually deprioritized. Even destructive actions felt unprotected.
Broken Information Hierarchy
Important actions were often hidden, mislabeled, or visually deprioritized. Even destructive actions felt unprotected.
In confirmation modals, the Cancel button was often shown above the primary action. CTAs weren’t styled to reflect importance or intent.
In confirmation modals, the Cancel button was often shown above the primary action. CTAs weren’t styled to reflect importance or intent.
In confirmation modals, the Cancel button was often shown above the primary action. CTAs weren’t styled to reflect importance or intent.
The Bottom Line
These design breakdowns weren’t isolated — they compounded. Users felt unsure, unsupported, and increasingly hesitant to explore or trust the system.
Reducing Friction — Prioritizing What Matters Most
How We Chose Which Problems to Solve First
With dozens of UX issues uncovered — from broken modals to misleading navigation — we needed a clear, defensible way to prioritize fixes.
Rather than relying solely on severity or visual cleanup, I crafted a user-centered impact matrix grounded in product outcomes.
With dozens of UX issues uncovered — from broken modals to misleading navigation — we needed a clear, defensible way to prioritize fixes.
Rather than relying solely on severity or visual cleanup, I crafted a user-centered impact matrix grounded in product outcomes.
With dozens of UX issues uncovered — from broken modals to misleading navigation — we needed a clear, defensible way to prioritize fixes.
Rather than relying solely on severity or visual cleanup, I crafted a user-centered impact matrix grounded in product outcomes.
Focus On the Friction That Erodes Trust
We first tackled issues that made the product feel unreliable or confusing, especially those that:
Unexpected navigation behavior (e.g., clicking the right arrow in Weekly View led to the Daily View instead of advancing the week)
Buttons that offered no feedback or guidance when disabled (e.g., checkout ‘confirm’ button, ‘manually complete’ session, and ‘save’ buttons)
Unresponsive modals that blocked the user from progressing
Modals often overflowed or cut off entirely on mobile — with no scroll, no close button, and no indication of what was missing. Users couldn't act, and often assumed the system was broken
Mismatched button hierarchy during critical decisions ((e.g., Cancel button placed above Confirm, causing hesitation and error)
These weren’t just annoyances — they were moments where the system failed to support the user when it mattered most. Fixing them restored confidence and flow.
We first tackled issues that made the product feel unreliable or confusing, especially those that:
Unexpected navigation behavior (e.g., clicking the right arrow in Weekly View led to the Daily View instead of advancing the week)
Buttons that offered no feedback or guidance when disabled (e.g., checkout ‘confirm’ button, ‘manually complete’ session, and ‘save’ buttons)
Unresponsive modals that blocked the user from progressing
Modals often overflowed or cut off entirely on mobile — with no scroll, no close button, and no indication of what was missing. Users couldn't act, and often assumed the system was broken
Mismatched button hierarchy during critical decisions ((e.g., Cancel button placed above Confirm, causing hesitation and error)
These weren’t just annoyances — they were moments where the system failed to support the user when it mattered most. Fixing them restored confidence and flow.
We first tackled issues that made the product feel unreliable or confusing, especially those that:
Unexpected navigation behavior (e.g., clicking the right arrow in Weekly View led to the Daily View instead of advancing the week)
Buttons that offered no feedback or guidance when disabled (e.g., checkout ‘confirm’ button, ‘manually complete’ session, and ‘save’ buttons)
Unresponsive modals that blocked the user from progressing
Modals often overflowed or cut off entirely on mobile — with no scroll, no close button, and no indication of what was missing. Users couldn't act, and often assumed the system was broken
Mismatched button hierarchy during critical decisions ((e.g., Cancel button placed above Confirm, causing hesitation and error)
These weren’t just annoyances — they were moments where the system failed to support the user when it mattered most. Fixing them restored confidence and flow.
Recommended Systemic Design Fixes
To prevent recurrence, we proposed scalable solutions:
A shared design system for major components (toggles, dropdowns, CTAs, modals etc.)
Modal size standards and responsive behavior
A clear visual hierarchy guide for action placement and confirmation patterns
To prevent recurrence, we proposed scalable solutions:
A shared design system for major components (toggles, dropdowns, CTAs, modals etc.)
Modal size standards and responsive behavior
A clear visual hierarchy guide for action placement and confirmation patterns
To prevent recurrence, we proposed scalable solutions:
A shared design system for major components (toggles, dropdowns, CTAs, modals etc.)
Modal size standards and responsive behavior
A clear visual hierarchy guide for action placement and confirmation patterns
From Audit to Action
Turning UX Insights Into Roadmap Alignment and Top-Level OKRs
Turning UX Insights Into Roadmap Alignment and Top-Level OKRs
Turning UX Insights Into Roadmap Alignment and Top-Level OKRs
This wasn’t just a UX audit — it became the foundation for how TriDot prioritized product improvements across 2025-2026.
To ensure recommendations were executed with clarity and accountability, I created a detailed Implementation Plan Document that outlined:
All issues identified from the audit and free trial user sentiment study
JIRA-linked backlog items by priority, platform area, and sprint planning window
Proposed fixes grouped by theme: Navigation, Feature Clarity, In-App Education, Mobile Bugs, and Data Syncing
UX-aligned roadmap that helped product, design, and development stay in sync across sprints
This wasn’t just a UX audit — it became the foundation for how TriDot prioritized product improvements across 2025-2026.
To ensure recommendations were executed with clarity and accountability, I created a detailed Implementation Plan Document that outlined:
All issues identified from the audit and free trial user sentiment study
JIRA-linked backlog items by priority, platform area, and sprint planning window
Proposed fixes grouped by theme: Navigation, Feature Clarity, In-App Education, Mobile Bugs, and Data Syncing
UX-aligned roadmap that helped product, design, and development stay in sync across sprints
This wasn’t just a UX audit — it became the foundation for how TriDot prioritized product improvements across 2025-2026.
To ensure recommendations were executed with clarity and accountability, I created a detailed Implementation Plan Document that outlined:
All issues identified from the audit and free trial user sentiment study
JIRA-linked backlog items by priority, platform area, and sprint planning window
Proposed fixes grouped by theme: Navigation, Feature Clarity, In-App Education, Mobile Bugs, and Data Syncing
UX-aligned roadmap that helped product, design, and development stay in sync across sprints
