Daily we encounter so many buzzwords and concepts that it’s important to level-set to make sure that we start from a common place. In the concepts that follow we aim to align our approach and perspective rather than provide specific definitions or workflows. Additional resources are provided for each concept.


User Experience

The impression a user has when encountering any of our brand experiences or touchpoints is the Life Time user experience. Tos be clear though, at any time, whether receiving a phone call or attending a group fitness class, a user never encounters all of our ecosystem at once—it is observed in moments and instances. We have the same limitation—we are users too remember. So we must be far-sighted to see past and future experiences, while being near-sighted in crafting efficient and consistent ones in-between to shape a positive, seamless and clear impression for any user.

Mobile-First

Mobile-first equals essential-first. The most minimal of our designs must address the needs of most of our users. When starting with mobile we are forced to think in terms of content hierarchy, performance, accessibility and affordance without assuming a user’s context or intention based on screen size.

Although mobile-first could imply limited function, simple layout and minimal content, this does not have to be the case. Rather, think of it this way—you’re creating the best narrative with the most intuitive functionality presented in the fastest and most accessible way to satisfy every user’s task. Only then do you have the building blocks to address more complex layouts without losing the user (or your message) along the way.

Responsive

We should design experiences that work within any reasonable user context. This includes, but is not limited to a user’s platform, device or viewport size. A combination of fluid grids, flexible media and media queries enables successful responsive experiences for each of our properties.

As much as possible we provide the same content regardless of the above factors.

Grid System

For digital properties we use a grid system to organize content at different breakpoints within the structure of a page. Organizing layout and content provides a consistant reading experience for users within and between properties. An effective grid system should be flexible enough to support a multitude of content while emphasizing patterns of content relationships and hierarchy.

While the emphasis here lends itself to the web, establishing a grid system for other tactics such as print, email or apps will also yield similar benefits.

Content Strategy

If creating a good user experience is the foundation, then content is the framing that every other aspect of an experience is shaped around. A successful content strategy guides, answers, inspires and enables users to walk through the structures we create without getting lost or running into dead ends. Content strategy enables hierarchy and informs visual weight, it lends itself to choosing one component over another, it aligns teams, it defines priority and champions the message we’re trying to communicate.

Performance

We believe in creating performant environments that are optimized for all users. Speed is part of the user experience. Our objective is to balance what is essential with what is experiential to create a fast and beautiful product.

Practically, this means we optimize imagery, write semantic markup, leverage system fonts when possible and compress and cache web assets.

Accessibility

See the section on accessibility for more.