About

Physical exercises such as running or jogging are highly beneficial to strengthen muscles, build strong bones, and maintain body weight. Jayanagar Jaguars started four years back with the drive to encourage healthy living and are still going strong on motivation with support from all over the country. Being one of the oldest and largest running academies in India, it has more than 10, 000 users. With each passing year, its structured, affordable, and scientific training attracts many enthusiasts across the country. A consolidated 3 to 6 months' training program can energize new enthusiasts to consider running as part of their healthy being. These structured training programs are developed basis capability levels demarcating three clear competency ranks – the beginners, experienced marathoners, and ultra-runners. Jayanagar Jaguars flourished under the skillful guidance of coach Pramod and a handful of dedicated captains. Every runner is part of a group that is managed by a captain and each captain takes direct instruction from the coach to maintain symmetry. Jayanagar Jaguars established their presence in cities such as; Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Delhi. It also is popular in Hosur and South Kodagu. Initially what started as a WhatsApp group soon became a hurdle to manage the growing number of participants across the country. It became difficult to maintain the group and ensure that all participants receive training or running related information on time.

Overview

With a focus to maintain a healthy body and a healthy mind, Jayanagar Jaguars help an individual build their running pace under skilled and efficient guidance. The mileage challenge is a 3 months training program that the Jayanagar Jaguars team arranges with the hope to motivate a runner and to build his/ her stamina and fitness. With the growing passion for running across the country, Jayanagar Jaguars organizes marathon events for group members to participate. The communications of such events are made through the official website as well as the Onca run app. It is a one-stop app that not only shares news on running events or corporate training programs but also informs participants about a healthy diet and nutritious food intake to boost immunity and energy level to meet fitness goals.

Challenge

When an academy or an established body plans and arranges organized activities, its primary objective remains to reach out to the maximum number of participants who are interested and willing to be a part of the academy in the long run. Now, with such a broad scope, the practical implication is not that simple especially if the event is a national one. To help arrange running events, the Jayanagar Jaguars initially depended upon the WhatsApp messenger to inform the participants as well as non-participating enthusiasts about the date, time, and venue of such events. However, with the surge in the number of participants in different parts of India, it became difficult for a handful of individuals to manage, maintain, and monitor the WhatsApp group. Again, as Jayanagar Jaguars grew in number, their identity became prominent with their unique logo. Hence, started to appear demands for products with the Jayanagar Jaguars logo. This is where we, the team of Exarcplus played a crucial part in understanding the requirement and designing the best possible solution with a simple yet pragmatic tool and technology.

Solution

To cater to the growing demands and to enhance the managing capability of the Jayanagar Jaguars running association, not only a website was launched but it was also empowered with an efficient app. Since technology and innovation have transformed our very existence, each one of us has started to rely on our mobile device. Hence, an app is far more effective and efficient than a website since an app can be accessed from anywhere, anytime with just a click. The Onca run app we designed is simple and user-friendly. It features all the necessary action items to improve app utility. Our team of skilled and professional designers ensured a thorough requirement gathering to create a strategic plan to address the problem at hand. Basis the plan, we designed and developed the app using the user interface before testing and deploying the same. The app features separate login options for different stakeholders. The coach, captain, runners, retail vendors, and product delivery SPOCs can now access their specific areas of interest and responsibility without the burden to read through all the messages dedicated to a particular group of people. Hence, it is a time-saving alternate solution to WhatsApp messaging groups. The Onca run app also represents a chat option that helps to discuss upcoming events, healthy diets, fitness tips, and anything related to Jayanagar Jaguars running association. The app also helps the retail vendors and potential customers. Just like any other e-commerce apps, Jayanagar Jaguars members can now log in with their credentials and request the products of their choice with Jayanagar Jaguars logo from the vendors. The product can then be shipped to the delivery address of the customer. As mentioned earlier, the app also hosts product delivery SPOC who tracks each order and delivery to ensure a defect-free smooth shopping experience. Finally, with the mindset to create a robust solution, we ensured that the users can connect to the Onca run app with their Bluetooth-enabled watch. This made the solution even more comprehensible with regular automated notification of the running events or well-thought-out training programs.

Benefit

The team of Jayanagar Jaguars benefits immensely from the Onca run app. The following are the benefits that became prominent and proved this app to be of great value. - Improving network and connections nationwide - Increasing efficiency of communication - Continuously improving and managing group activities - Reducing the chances of slip of important information - User-friendly app is always easy to navigate - Increase in engagement levels - Timely notification and pop-ups is a great support - Constant enhancement in functional and marketing ability - Increase in brand recognition - Increase in sponsorship opportunity

Technology

When we at Exarcplus started to design the app for Jayanagar Jaguars, we focused on two aspects. Primarily to solve the issue the Jayanagar Jaguars team members were facing in managing the communication of the events. Secondly, to create an engaging app that will help to create a unique digital experience for the Onca run app users. The technology we used along with the customization made the app unique. The following are the steps we followed. - We chose a unique app layout that can represent a running association - We then customized the user interface with visual appeal that can signify Jayanagar Jaguars as identity and brand - Then we added features such as; structured programs, event details, related news, chat support, and products (sports good) - Then we created a link with social media to help Jayanagar Jaguars capture a broader audience - Finally launched the app to create a digital impact for the running academy

Impact

Hence, after understanding the basic requirement, our team of designers planned and developed the app with customization to meet the end-users expectations. This helped us to transform user experience into user engagement. We could successfully give a solution to the problem the Jayanagar Jaguars were facing. It helped the team members to become more organized and responsive to turn each event into a grand one.

Outcome

Hence the outcome of the Onca run app is – synchronization of event participation where the organizers can prepare with a confirmed attendance. It increases convenience for both the participants and the organizers due to the simple and user-friendly interface with well-designed icons.