Fox Fitness BJJ Website Redesign

Research & Discovery

User Research Methodology

I conducted 10 semi-structured interviews (15 minutes each) to understand pain points and validate assumptions. Participants included 6 current members, 2 parents of youth students, and 2 prospective members who hadn't yet joined. Interview topics covered website usage patterns, decision-making factors for joining a gym, and mobile vs. desktop behavior.

Participant Demographics: Ages 22 to 68, BJJ experience ranging from complete beginners to 15-year practitioners, tech-savviness low to moderate (most comfortable with social media but not power users).

Top 3 Pain Points (Ranked by Frequency)

Additional Insights

• Communication preferences: All 10 participants preferred text-based updates over email or social media (immediacy and convenience)
• Trust signals: Prospective members wanted to see coach credentials and beginner-friendly program info before committing
• Mobile-first behavior: 8/10 users primarily browsed gym websites on phones while at work or between errands
• Decision timeline: Most prospects visited site 3 to 5 times over 2 to 3 weeks before signing up for trial

Competitive Analysis

I analyzed 5 local BJJ gym websites to identify industry best practices and differentiation opportunities: Wichita Jiujitsu Club, 316 Martial Arts, Genesis Health Clubs (Martial Arts program), Valor BJJ, and Burns Martial Arts.

Analytics Baseline (Pre-Redesign)

Reviewed Wix analytics to establish performance baseline:

• Bounce rate: 72.5% (industry avg for fitness: 55 to 65%)
• Avg pages per session: 1.5 (indicating minimal exploration)
• Avg session duration: Homepage 17 seconds, Schedule 45 seconds
• Phone click-through rate: 0.27% (extremely low conversion)
• Trial signups: Approximately 10 per month (owner tracking, not web analytics)
• Traffic sources: 65% direct (existing members), 25% organic search, 10% social

Design & Prioritization Process

Feature Prioritization: RICE Framework

I used RICE scoring (Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort) to prioritize features. This ensured focus on high-impact changes that could be completed within project constraints.

Why Each Feature Was Cut (Strategic Trade-offs)

Online Class Booking

• Low user demand: Only 2/10 interview participants mentioned wanting this
• Technical complexity: Would require custom development beyond template capabilities
• Current process works: Owner uses paper sign-in sheet; members prefer flexibility of drop-in model
• Cost: Third-party integration would cost $50/month, not ROI-positive for 200-member gym

Member Portal / Login Area

• Minimal user demand: 1/10 users mentioned wanting to "check billing history online"
• System duplication: Owner already manages billing through Zen Planner; building portal would create sync issues and dual maintenance
• High effort: Would require substantial custom development time

SMS Reminder System

• Owner already has solution: Manually sends weekly schedule updates via group text (takes 5 min/week)
• Cost vs. value: $49/month for integration equals $588/year vs. minimal time savings
• Decision: Not worth cost for small gym; could revisit if membership grows to 500+

Community Forum

• Competing platform: Gym already has active Facebook group (180 members) for community discussions
• Maintenance burden: Forum requires moderation, content seeding, ongoing engagement
• User behavior: Adding forum would fragment existing Facebook community with no clear benefit

Stakeholder Management: Schedule Architecture Debate

The most significant stakeholder disagreement centered on schedule presentation. This case demonstrates how I navigated conflicting perspectives using user research and rapid prototyping.

The Disagreement:

Owner's position: Wanted separate schedule pages for each program (Kids BJJ, Adult BJJ, No-Gi, Competition Team). Reasoning: "New visitors get overwhelmed by too much information. If someone's interested in kids' classes, they don't care about the competition schedule." Concerned unified schedule would look "too busy" and hurt conversions.

My position (based on user research): Advocated for unified master schedule with filtering capability. Reasoning: 8/10 interview participants explicitly mentioned wanting to "see everything at once," especially parents with kids in multiple programs (3 users), members who cross-train between gi/no-gi (4 users), and prospective students researching class frequency (2 users). Single-page approach would also reduce maintenance burden.

How I Built Consensus:

The Compromise:

Final solution: Master schedule view with dynamic program filtering

• Default view shows full week schedule with all programs (Kids programs, Adult BJJ, Adult Kickboxing, Kettlebell, each color-coded by type)
• Filter buttons at top: "All Kids Programs" | "Adult BJJ" | "Adult Kickboxing" | "Kettlebell"
• Mobile behavior: Defaults to full view but filters persist as user navigates
• Owner satisfied: New visitors could still filter to just what they want
• Users satisfied: Members could see full schedule without extra clicks

Outcome validation: Post-launch analytics showed 73% of schedule page visitors used the full view, confirming user research. Average time on schedule page increased from 45 seconds to 1:44 (131% improvement).

Design Iteration & Feedback

I created high-fidelity Figma prototypes and gathered feedback from 3 gym members before implementation. These informal sessions helped validate design decisions and identify usability issues.

Key Design Changes from Feedback:

• Trial CTA prominence: Initial design had signup button blending with other content. Made button larger with high-contrast orange color and added sticky "Start Free Trial" button in mobile nav
• Pricing page navigation: Participants expected to find pricing under main navigation, not buried in "About" section. Added "Pricing" as top-level nav item
• Schedule filter clarity: Filter buttons initially looked like labels rather than interactive elements. Added hover states and clearer active state styling

Results & Impact

Launch Date: October 15, 2025 | Tracking Period: 6 weeks post-launch (through November 30, 2025)

Business Impact: Revenue Calculation

Trial Signup Lift:

• Baseline: 10 trials/month to Post-launch: 14 trials/month equals +40% increase
• +4 additional trials per month × 60% trial-to-paid conversion rate equals +2.4 new paying members/month
• 2.4 members × $150/month membership equals +$360 monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
• Annual impact: +$4,320 additional revenue

ROI Analysis: Project cost was $300 (Wix annual subscription) + $0 labor (volunteer). First-year revenue lift of $4,320 represents a 14.4× return on platform investment. If valuing design labor at $50/hour (30 hours equals $1,500 equivalent), ROI is still 2.4× in year one.

Engagement & Behavior Shifts

Post-launch analytics reveal fundamental changes in how users interact with the site, shifting from low-value browsing to high-intent conversion actions.

Bounce Rate & Traffic Quality

• Bounce rate decreased 25% (72.5% to 54.4%), indicating users finding relevant information faster
• Monthly traffic increased 52% (486 to 740 avg sessions/month), suggesting improved mobile UX removed friction for mobile users
• Pages per session: Remained at 1.5, but time on key pages increased dramatically (quality over quantity)

Phone Click-Through Rate: 5× Increase

Phone CTR jumped from 0.27% to 1.44%, a +433% increase, signaling that users engaging with the site are far more likely to take the next step and contact the gym. This validates the pricing transparency strategy: users who engage with transparent pricing are qualified, high-intent leads.

Time on Page: Quality Engagement

The old homepage averaged just 17 seconds of engagement. Post-redesign, users spend meaningful time on high-value pages:

• Homepage: 17 sec to 1:08 (+300% increase). Users reading value proposition instead of bouncing
• Contact page: 2:15. Users engaging deeply with signup options
• Schedule page: 45 sec to 1:44 (+131% increase). Prospective members exploring class times
• Pricing page: 1:22. Qualified leads evaluating membership options
• About page: 1:40. Building trust through gym story and coach bios

These 2 to 5× increases in time on page demonstrate genuine engagement rather than confused users struggling with poor navigation.

User Behavior Funnel

Analytics show users moving more purposefully through conversion funnel:

1. Homepage (entry point). Users read value proposition (1:08 avg time)
2. Schedule page (exploration). Prospective members check class availability (1:44 avg time)
3. Pricing page (qualification). Serious leads evaluate cost (1:22 avg time)
4. Contact/Trial signup (conversion). High-intent users take action (2:15 avg time)

Drop-offs decreased at every navigation stage, validating the improved information architecture and transparent pricing strategy.

Key Learnings & Strategic Insights

1. Mobile-First Is Non-Negotiable for Local Businesses

With 9/10 interview participants mentioning mobile frustration, and post-launch traffic increasing 52%, this project reinforced that mobile optimization isn't just a nice-to-have for local businesses. It's the primary channel. Many users are literally on-the-go when researching gyms (between work, errands, picking up kids). The dramatic improvements in time on page and reduced bounce rate validate prioritizing mobile experience above all else.

2. Pricing Transparency Improves Lead Quality, Not Just Quantity

While potentially "scary" for businesses, transparent pricing actually improves conversion efficiency by filtering out users who aren't a good fit. The 5× increase in phone click-through rate (0.27% to 1.44%) demonstrates that users who engage with pricing are far more likely to convert. They've already qualified themselves as serious prospects. This reduces wasted time on low-intent inquiries.

3. Balancing Design Idealism with Business Sustainability

I initially envisioned a custom-coded solution with more sophisticated interactions and animations. However, selecting a platform the owner could maintain independently ensured the project's long-term success. The owner can now update the site without ongoing developer costs. This pragmatic decision prioritized sustainable business value over personal portfolio aesthetics.

Limitations & Future Opportunities

Trial-to-Paid Conversion Assumption

Revenue calculation assumes 60% trial-to-paid conversion based on owner's historical tracking (not web analytics). More rigorous tracking would validate this assumption.

No A/B Testing

Before/after comparison methodology doesn't isolate individual feature impact. A/B testing pricing visibility, CTA placement, or form length could optimize further, but required more sophisticated analytics setup and traffic volume.

Platform Constraints Remain

Template limitations prevented some advanced interactions (e.g., animated schedule transitions, custom booking workflows). Future migration to custom platform could unlock additional optimization opportunities if budget allows.

Future Optimization Roadmap

With a validated foundation in place, future enhancements could further improve conversions:

• Member login portal (deferred MVP feature). Once membership grows to 300+, justify investment in custom portal
• SMS notification system. At 400+ members, $49/month cost becomes ROI-positive for automated reminders
• A/B testing framework. Implement testing to optimize CTA placement, form length, pricing presentation variations
• SEO optimization. Content strategy to capture "BJJ near me" and beginner-focused search queries