The Power of Human Connection in Digital Experiences

The Power of Human Connection in Digital Experiences

In the ever-evolving world of sports technology, apps and connected devices have revolutionized how pro and amateur athletes track their performance. While these digital solutions are incredibly effective at collecting and analyzing data, they often fall short in one crucial area: creating long-lasting relationships with their users.

The Importance of Human Connection in Sports Apps

One of my favorite recent healthtech data points from Omada Health Insights Lab showed that “individuals who engage with their app's support team and community within the first week of using the app are approximately 94% more likely to achieve their target goals.” This underscores the importance of human interaction, even in an experience that can be largely digital. While apps and connected devices provide valuable data, it's the personal connection support that drive sustained engagement and success. Trusted relationships with coaches and professionals, especially at the outset of a digital experience, are crucial for purposeful engagement.

Taking lessons from successful tech-enabled service companies, here are some examples of how I’d improve a few sports apps I use on a weekly basis: Arccos Golf, The Stack System, and Strava.

Personalized Support and Coaching

Incorporate virtual coaching features that provide tailored advice and feedback based on the athlete's performance data. For example, Arccos offers personalized insights and strategies to improve your game based on data collected from your swings and rounds. Arccos can also offer coaching that takes into account your data and provides personalized feedback.

Strava can do similarly. I track all my fitness activities there, and they have the potential to offer chat support with trainers or nutritionists to address specific questions and provide motivation.

These coaches can offer customized training plans that adapt based on the user’s progress and performance data. Arccos Golf could provide a dynamically adjusting practice plan that changes based on recent performance metrics, focusing on areas that need improvement. They can leverage internal tools to recommend practice plans to their coaches to send to golfers.

Community Building

Strava excels in this area by offering clubs and social networking features where athletes can join groups, share their activities, and encourage one another.

Virtual challenges or competitions can build a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition. The Stack System, for instance, could integrate leaderboard features where users can compare their swing training progress and compete in monthly challenges. I am a part of a small group where folks are already doing this in a discord discussing their progress and which programs they are working through.

Proactive vs Reactive Engagement

In the case where a human isn’t in the loop, apps can leverage their brand via outbound notifications to create a personal connection with the app. Proactive outreach leads to deeper support and engagement, contributing to more sustained behavior change and better outcomes. Sports apps can capitalize on this approach by implementing features that anticipate and address user needs before they arise, rather than merely responding to user actions. It pains me to see the notifications some sports apps send that have no relation to my experience and feel as if they are just sending a notification for the sake of a notification rather than trying to improve my experience (a larger topic to explore another time).

Use analytics to send personalized push notifications based on user behavior and performance trends. EX: Arccos knows I’m struggling with my driver right now based on my club and strokes gained data. They also know that I didn’t check out their tips regarding improving driver play. Arccos can send me that tip X amount of time after my round or even create more video content that I can be pointed to via a notification.

These notifications can remind users to stay active, offer tips to improve performance, or celebrate milestones. As another example, Strava knows I train for triathlons and could send a notification suggesting a recovery run route near me based on a recent intense cycling workout.

While sports apps and connected devices are invaluable tools for performance tracking, they must go beyond data collection to truly engage users. By focusing on personalized support, community building, and proactive outreach, they can not only help athletes achieve their goals but also generate a longer lifetime value of users. In a world where technology often feels impersonal, these human-centric elements are the key to long-term success.