App Showcase: Seven

What it does

Seven is a fitness app designed around the concept of high-intensity 7-minute workouts. It provides users with personalized daily exercise plans tailored to their goals, such as losing weight or getting fit. The app heavily incorporates gamification and social competition to motivate users and help them build a consistent workout habit.

Where it shines

Seven excels at creating an engaging and personalized user journey from the very beginning. The onboarding quiz (00:11) is a great example, particularly the interactive fitness level selector at 00:23, where an animated character demonstrates exercises as the user adjusts a slider. This small detail makes the process feel dynamic and informative. The app's commitment to motivation is clear in its 'Progress' tab (09:48), which acts as a comprehensive gamification hub, combining a visual activity timeline, achievements, and a competitive league system. This transforms the solitary act of working out at home into a more connected and rewarding experience.

UX highlights

• Interactive Onboarding: The fitness level selector uses a slider tied to a character animation, making a simple choice feel interactive and polished (00:23).
• Gamification Hub: The 'Progress' tab centralizes all motivational elements like streaks, achievements, leagues, and duels into one cohesive dashboard (09:48).
• Personalized Plan Generation: After the quiz, an animated 'Creating your workout plan' screen (01:07) provides a satisfying payoff, reinforcing the value of the information the user provided.
• Clear Workout Player: The in-workout UI is clean, with a large circular progress bar, a clear animation of the exercise, and a countdown timer (01:25).
• Holistic Activity Logging: Users can manually add external activities like biking or badminton to their timeline, making Seven a more complete fitness log (09:51).
• Avatar Customization: A dedicated section in settings allows users to customize their 3D trainer's appearance, fostering a deeper personal connection (12:01).

Monetization & growth

Seven presents its subscription paywall early in the onboarding flow, immediately after the personalization quiz (00:50). This is a 'soft' paywall, as it offers a 7-day free trial. The screen highlights a significant discount ('SAVE 50%') for the annual plan to anchor the user on the better value proposition. It clearly lists three key benefits of subscribing. After the first workout, the app also prompts for a rating (03:15) and account creation (02:32), which are key growth loops.

Who it’s for

This app is ideal for individuals looking for quick, efficient, and equipment-free home workouts. Its gamified approach and social features appeal to users who are motivated by goals, achievements, and competition. The beginner-friendly onboarding and customizable plans make it accessible to those new to fitness, while the variety of challenges and workout types can also cater to more experienced users seeking consistency.

Notes & opportunities

While the onboarding is strong, the app logs the user out and requires a full sign-in after a period of inactivity (08:51), which introduces friction. This could be smoothed out with persistent login sessions. The post-workout rating system (02:17) is good, but it could be more granular, asking about specific exercises to further refine the user's plan. Finally, while the 'Duels' feature is interesting (11:01), its value could be made clearer upfront to encourage more users to participate.