I designed a digital solution to motivate young urban audiences to reconnect with outdoor physical activity—through a gamified app featuring geolocated micro-challenges. The concept aims to turn urban spaces into active playgrounds. The goal: to boost brand loyalty and promote healthy habits with real-world impact.
2025
1. Elevator Pitch
A social and gamified app that transforms your city into a playground for movement, challenge, and connection.
Designed for urban youth who want to get moving again—without giving up their lifestyle.
Through geolocated micro-challenges, symbolic rewards, and local community dynamics, this app makes physical activity feel like a shared, spontaneous experience—light, playful, and deeply human.
2. Overview
This case study explores a digital solution to address the growing lack of physical activity among young urban professionals. It proposes a socially-driven gamified mobile platform that blends outdoor micro-challenges with emotional connection and brand loyalty.
Instead of traditional performance-based rewards, users unlock symbolic badges, collective experiences, and feel part of something bigger. The goal: turn movement into a joyful habit and reconnect with the city in a way that feels fun, real, and socially relevant.
3. The Problem
Young professionals in urban environments are spending more and more time indoors. With remote work, demanding routines, and a digital-first lifestyle, motivation to engage in regular outdoor activity is fading.
Traditional fitness models—structured, repetitive, often solitary—feel disconnected from their social and visual world.
According to the WHO, 23% of adults and 81% of adolescents don’t meet the recommended physical activity levels.
4. Value Proposition & Hypothesis
If Decathlon launches a gamified mobile platform with social features, where users complete outdoor micro-challenges, celebrate and share achievements, and unlock symbolic or exclusive rewards,
then both physical activity and emotional connection to the brand will grow significantly among urban youth.
5. Context Analysis — External & Internal Perspectives
External View | Internal View |
Market Trends
Urban lifestyles are increasingly sedentary. Physical inactivity is now one of the biggest global health concerns—especially among digital-native generations. This creates a clear opportunity for inclusive, social, and motivating digital experiences that integrate movement into everyday life. | Competitive Vision
Decathlon is a trusted, accessible brand with a deep emotional connection to sport and wellness. Adding a gamified, socially-driven mobile layer can expand its impact and relevance among digitally active younger audiences. |
Competitive Landscape
Apps like Strava and Nike Run Club dominate technical tracking and athletic community building—but none offer casual, playful urban challenges powered by social interaction and symbolic rewards. There's white space for a platform that’s more emotionally inclusive and visually rewarding. | Product Perspective
Current Decathlon apps don’t tap into the emotional, visual, and social layers of everyday movement. This new product offers a light, accessible and motivating experience that reframes the city as a space for active play—no gym needed. |
Tech Outlook
Decathlon has already taken first steps into digital territory with apps like Decathlon Outdoor, focused on natural routes. However, there's no product yet built for urban gamification, GPS-validated challenges, or a community loop that drives retention. | Team Capabilities
While the team has strong retail and physical product expertise, success here will require new talent: UX/UI designers, gamification strategists, and mobile developers who can craft seamless, delightful user experiences. |
Partnership Potential
There’s room for collaboration with city councils, sports groups, local brands, and nonprofits—opening up co-branded challenges, real-life events, and a sense of local belonging. | Operational Resources
Decathlon’s store network, loyal community, and digital infrastructure offer a solid base for scaling: physical spaces become hubs for challenge activation, events, and local engagement. |
Environmental Lens
The platform encourages walking, outdoor exploration, and the use of green urban spaces—helping reduce carbon footprint and strengthen Decathlon’s sustainability commitments. | Partner Network
To activate urban challenges and community events, external alliances will be essential. But Decathlon has the brand equity to lead a connected ecosystem with high social value. |
6. Matriz DAFO
Strengths | Weaknesses |
Strong, trusted brand with emotional equity in accessibility and sport | Limited internal experience in gamified or social product design |
Store network can serve as offline touchpoints and event hubs | Needs specialized talent in UX, mobile, and gamification to scale fast |
Loyal user base aligned with values like sustainability and active living | Reliant on third parties to activate physical urban spaces at scale |
Solid financial resources and a forward-thinking innovation culture | |
Opportunities | Threats |
Increasing interest in sustainability, urban wellbeing, and active mobility | Highly saturated fitness app market with overlapping features |
Potential for alliances with public institutions, local brands, and sports collectives | Limited attention span and high friction in changing behavioral habits |
Untapped niche: casual, visual, shareable urban challenges with community focus | Resistance to trying new platforms in a space dominated by big players |
Potential to become the go-to social outdoor platform in local and regional markets | Quality control and experience consistency could be challenging without moderation or curation |
7. Blue Ocean Canvas
Value Factor | Strava | Nike Run Club | GoJoe | Decathlon Outdoor Community |
Performance tracking | 🔵 High | 🔵 High | 🔵 Medium | 🟡 Low |
Structured training plans | 🔵 Medium | 🔵 High | 🔵 Low | 🟡 Low |
Accessibility for non-athletes | 🔴 Low | 🔴 Low | 🟠 Medium | 🟢 Very High |
Gamification (levels, medals, points) | 🔴 Low | 🔴 Low | 🟢 High | 🟢 High |
Urban exploration & casual local challenges | 🔴 None | 🔴 None | 🔴 None | 🟢 Very High |
Visual feed (achievements, photos, likes) | 🟢 Medium | 🔴 None | 🟠 Low | 🟢 High |
Symbolic rewards & experiences | 🔴 None | 🔴 None | 🟠 Medium | 🟢 High |
Neighborhood/city-based communities | 🟢 Medium | 🔴 None | 🟢 Medium | 🟢 Very High |
Outdoor events + social gatherings | 🔴 None | 🔴 None | 🟢 Medium | 🟢 High |
Sense of belonging & visual motivation | 🟠 Medium | 🔴 Low | 🟢 Medium | 🟢 High |
Insight:
Where other platforms focus on structured training, competition, and metrics, Decathlon Outdoor Community fills the gap with social play, visual exploration, and everyday movement that’s meaningful, inclusive, and emotionally rewarding.
8. Buyer Personas
🎨 Laura — The Creative Professional Seeking Balance
🔹 Profile
- Age: 29
- Location: Barcelona
- Profession: Freelance Graphic Designer
- Monthly income: €1,700–2,200
- Living situation: Shared apartment
- Tech: iPhone, Apple Watch
- Social: Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn
🔹 Personality & Values
Creative and design-sensitive, Laura seeks harmony between work and wellbeing—though her routine makes it difficult. She values aesthetics, functionality, and brand purpose. She's drawn to anything natural, authentic, and quietly inspiring.
🔹 Blo (Behavior, Lifestyle, Online habits):
Spends long hours working from home, glued to a screen. Gym culture bores her.
She loves photography, sunset walks, and being outdoors. She downloads beautifully designed apps and enjoys visual, creative challenges. She likes to share her progress, but only if it feels genuine and personal.
🔹 Goals
- Improve her physical health in a realistic, non-intimidating way
- Move more without formal workouts or pressure
- Connect with like-minded people: creative, calm, nature-lovers
- Feel inspired, not measured
- Use digital tools that feel light, motivating, and emotionally rewarding
🔹 Frustrations
- Feels too sedentary, which affects her mood and energy
- Can’t connect with traditional fitness apps
- Gets bored with structured workouts
- Can’t find an app that feels fun, visual, and authentic
🧑💻 Dani — The Competitive Tech Enthusiast
🔹 Profile
- Age: 33
- Location: Madrid
- Profession: Full-Stack Developer at a startup
- Monthly income: €2,500–3,000
- Living situation: With partner
- Tech: Android, Strava, GitHub, Reddit, Discord
- Social: Twitter (X), YouTube, Telegram
🔹 Personality & Values
Curious, competitive, and highly analytical. Dani is addicted to learning and numbers. He likes challenges, but only if they feel purposeful or rewarding. He thrives on gamified progress and casual competition with friends—without pressure.
🔹 Blo (Behavior, Lifestyle, Online habits):
Spends most weekdays programming or exploring new tools.
He’s not consistent with the gym but enjoys walks or hikes with his partner when time allows. He loves stats, progress bars, and community-based achievement systems.
🔹 Goals
- Compete casually with friends
- Make exercise feel like a game
- Track progress through visual feedback
- Get local rankings and badges—just for fun
- Be part of a low-pressure digital community
🔹 Frustrations
- No time for complex training
- Hates commuting just to exercise
- Doesn’t relate to hyper-competitive fitness apps
- Wants a solution that’s casual, clear, and engaging
9. Segmentación de Clientes
Segment | Impact | Urgency | Market Size | Total Score |
Sedentary urban young adults | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
Tech-savvy professionals seeking gamified experiences | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
Priority Segment:
Urban young adults with sedentary lifestyles
→ Highest score across urgency and societal impact.
10. Pain Point Analysis
We mapped out the core barriers preventing these users from becoming more active and motivated.
Pain Point | Impact | Urgency | Market Size | Total Score |
Lack of motivation to be active | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
Boredom with traditional fitness routines | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
Not knowing how or where to start | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
Lack of social community or peer support | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
Top Pain Point:
Lack of motivation
is the strongest common barrier—and the one we aim to tackle first.
11. Solution Prioritization
To directly address the most critical barriers, we prioritized solutions using feasibility and effectiveness as criteria:
Pain Point | Proposed Solution | Feasibility (1–5) | Tech Effort (1–5) | Effectiveness (1–5) | Total |
Lack of motivation | Visual progression system with badges & levels | 5 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
Daily & weekly challenges with personalized feedback | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 | |
Social feed of shared achievements | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
Top Prioritized Solution:
A gamified badge + level system with strong visual feedback to make progress feel rewarding and motivating from day one.
12. MVP – Key Features
The MVP is designed as a native mobile app for iOS and Android, built with real-time geolocation tools (Google Maps API / Apple MapKit).
Challenge validation is based on location, time, and distance data, with optional social sharing.
Future integrations include Apple Health and Google Fit, plus Decathlon’s CRM and loyalty systems to connect users with physical stores and brand touchpoints.
The backend will store progress, badge history, and social connections securely and at scale.
12.1. MoSCoW – Feature Prioritization
12.2. MVP Core Flow
- Onboarding & Profile Setup
- Challenge Map
- Challenge Tracking
- Gamified System
- Achievement Feed
- Local Rankings
- Profile Dashboard
Quick sign-up flow with user type selection and GPS permission request.
Interactive map with micro-challenges nearby. Filters by category, length, and difficulty.
GPS-based validation + optional selfie or photo to complete challenge socially.
Each completed challenge earns points, unlocks symbolic badges, and levels up the user.
A basic feed to share progress, like others’ posts, and get inspired.
A public leaderboard showing the top 10 by city/neighborhood. Users see their own ranking too.
Shows completed challenges, earned badges, total points, and visual progress path.
12.3. User Stories & Acceptance Criteria
EPIC:
As a sedentary urban professional, I want a platform that motivates me to move outdoors, so I can improve my wellbeing without disrupting my lifestyle.
Functionality: The app must allow users to discover, accept, and complete geolocated physical challenges, track their progress, unlock visual achievements, and engage in gamified social dynamics—encouraging regular physical activity in a fun, accessible, and community-connected way.
User Story | Acceptance Criteria |
As a user, I want to find nearby outdoor challenges on a map so I can easily choose one that fits my time and energy level. | - The map must display at least 5 available challenges within a 2km radius. - The user must be able to filter by challenge type, duration, or difficulty. - Each challenge must include: name, location, “How to get there” button, points, duration, difficulty, and an “Accept Challenge” button. |
As a user, I want to earn points when I complete challenges so I can level up, unlock achievements, and stay motivated. | - Each challenge must have a defined point value (e.g., +30). - The system must update the user profile with points after completing a challenge. - There must be a section displaying total points, unlocked achievements, and level progression. |
As a user, I want to see a weekly leaderboard with the top participants in my city so I feel motivated and can compete with others. | - The leaderboard must show the top 10 users with the highest points in the city. - Users must see their own position even if not in the top 10. - The leaderboard must update automatically every week. |
As a user, I want to receive badges for completing milestones so I feel recognized for my achievements. | - The system must award badges for achievements like “first challenge,” “5 challenges completed,” or “group challenge.” - Users must be able to view their badges in their profile. - Badges must include a name, icon, and date earned. |
As a user, I want to receive challenge suggestions if I’ve been inactive so I stay engaged without having to search on my own. | - If a user has not completed any challenges in 3 days, they must receive a notification with a suggested challenge. - Suggestions must be personalized based on location and user type (casual, competitive, social). |
As a user, I want to share my achievements and view others’ progress in a feed so I feel part of a community. | - Users must be able to post completed challenges with a photo, points, and optional comment. - The feed must display recent achievements by other users, with options to like or comment. - Posts must be sorted by relevance or proximity. |
13. Product Roadmap (MVP + Go-to-Market)
General Objective:
To develop a social and gamified mobile app that motivates young urban users to engage in outdoor physical activity through geolocated micro-challenges, visible progress, symbolic badges, and connection with an active local community.
14. Go-to-Market Strategy – GTM Funnel
Phase 3: Development & Testing (Months 4–6)
Awareness (setup), Consideration (setup)
Objective: Prepare the groundwork for user acquisition and initial usage validation.
Key actions:
- Design and test onboarding and first-challenge flow (conversion entry point)
- Create campaign assets: videos, images, and real-context challenges
- A/B test gamification mechanics (points, badges, visual feedback)
- Define influencer profiles and campaign strategy
Success KPI:
50% of testers complete more than one challenge and share at least one achievement.
Phase 4: Pilot Launch – Barcelona (Months 7–8)
Awareness → Consideration → Acquisition
Objective: Acquire real users, validate messaging, and gain traction.
🔹 Awareness
- Launch with local influencers (TikTok, Reels)
- Urban activations at Decathlon stores and public spaces
- Paid ads focused on lifestyle, visuals, and emotional tone
🔹 Consideration
- User stories and challenges shared on feed and social media
- Landing page with app screenshots and user flow
- Highlighted stories based on user types (casual, social, competitive)
🔹 Acquisition
- Welcome challenge + unlock first badge
- Guided onboarding with visual logic
- Visible leaderboard from the start to encourage participation
Key KPIs:
- 5,000 active users
- Week 1 retention: >35%
- 20% of users post in the feed in their first week
Phase 5: Regional Scaling & Optimization (Months 9–12)
Acquisition → Retention → Referral (tactical)
Objective: Retain active users and expand to new regions through local engagement.
🔹 Acquisition
- New challenge types by city: sustainable, creative, team-based
- Location-specific campaigns (Madrid, Valencia, Bilbao)
🔹 Retention
- Neighborhood leaderboards, themed challenges, special badges
- Segmented feed and personalized notifications
- Profile customization and progression visual tracking
🔹 Referral (as a tactic)
- Collaborative challenge with shared rewards
- Exclusive badge for inviting a friend
- Easy sharing of achievements on social and in-app feed
Complementary KPIs:
- 20,000 total active users
- 60% of users engaged in group challenges
- 40% post or react weekly
- 20% of new users come through referrals
15. Lean Canvas
16. MVP Validation – Simulated Testing
While no real user testing has been conducted yet, a simulated internal validation exercise was designed to showcase an understanding of the MVP testing process.
Goal: Evaluate whether the concept is intuitive, the onboarding works, and users feel motivated to complete their first challenge.
Simulated methodology:
- A clickable Figma prototype is presented to 5 target users (friends or informal feedback)
- We track:
- Time to complete onboarding
- User comprehension after 2 minutes
- Reactions to badge system and social feed
Expected outcomes (success metrics):
- +80% of users understand the concept without further explanation
- +60% feel motivated to try at least one challenge
- All users complete the first challenge flow successfully
This simulation would be used to validate the core hypothesis before beta launch and guide iteration.
17. Conclusion & Key Learnings
This case study demonstrates the potential to design a product rooted in real-life behaviors, emotional motivation, and a sense of shared belonging—beyond structured workouts or performance metrics.
Throughout the process, I applied tools and mindsets from product strategy, UX design, gamification, and agile prioritization to turn an idea into a tangible, testable solution.
This project reflects an end-to-end Product Management vision:
from problem identification to hypothesis building, segmentation, MVP design, feature prioritization, GTM planning, and success metrics definition.
Key takeaways include:
- Start with the user’s real context and emotional friction, not assumptions
- Visual and social engagement drive motivation more than strict tracking
- Gamification works best when it’s meaningful, not superficial
- Community and belonging can be more powerful than competition
- You can build momentum by testing early, listening fast, and iterating with purpose
18. Fuentes y Referencias
- Organización Mundial de la Salud. (2018). Plan de acción mundial sobre actividad física 2018-2030: Más personas activas para un mundo más saludable. Recuperado de https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/50904
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). (2022). Módulo de Práctica Deportiva y Ejercicio Físico 2022. Recuperado de https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/saladeprensa/boletines/2023/mopradef/mopradef2022.pdf
- Decathlon. (2024). Decathlon Sustainability: Movilidad de compañeros y clientes. Recuperado de https://sustainability.decathlon.com/movilidad-de-companeros-y-clientes
- Decathlon. (2024). Decathlon Outdoor - Rutas de senderismo y running. Google Play Store. Recuperado de https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.decathlon.quechuafinder
- Statista. (2024). Millennials españoles y redes sociales. Recuperado de https://www.statista.com/statistics/1265414/social-media-usage-millennials-spain/