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Guided first workout — no more "landed on Home, tapped nothing"

· v1.17.0 · ~4 min read · by

Firebase Analytics showed us something uncomfortable a few weeks ago: for every 100 people who install ZenMotion, ~29 finish onboarding and never start a workout. They pick a tier, answer the diagnostic, land on Home — and close the app. This release is a direct swing at that hole.

The change

Before v1.17: onboarding ended, you landed on Home with a "Next workout" card suggesting something. You had to interpret it, tap through, preview, and commit.

After v1.17: onboarding ends and you go straight to one screen — "Your first workout: {name}" — with two buttons. Start now takes you directly into the session. Explore first drops you on Home like before. No middle ground.

The recommendation is picked server-side based on the tier and skill you picked in onboarding:

  • Beginner (Tier 1) → Foundations Day 1. Adaptive to the rungs we just seeded from your diagnostic.
  • Intermediate/Advanced with a picked skill (met the prereqs) → Focus Split Day 1 for that skill.
  • Intermediate/Advanced with a picked skill (didn't meet prereqs yet) → The on-ramp strength program that builds toward it — with your skill still visible as the goal.
  • Intermediate/Advanced without a picked skill → Strength Calibration, so we can measure where you're starting from.

Each option has copy explaining why this specific session, not a generic "next workout." The visual matches what the workout will actually look like when you tap Start.

Under the hood

Seven new analytics events shipped alongside so we can measure whether this actually moves the needle:

  • first_workout_prompt_shown / _started / _skipped — conversion at the ready screen itself
  • workout_discarded — user opened the summary and threw the session away (with sets-logged so we can tell "test-and-toss" from "started but bailed")
  • workout_abandoned — draft was left mid-workout and the Live Activity timed out before the user came back
  • sign_in_attempted / sign_in_succeeded — splits the "installed but never made it past the sign-in screen" hole into "closed at the wall" vs "cancelled Apple's sheet"

The activation funnel has been mostly guesswork. In two weeks it won't be.

Also in this release

The first-workout tips feature that was originally the v1.17 headline is still in the build — small popover cues on your first session (where to log a set, how to start a hold timer, why the smart Finish button changes label). They silence automatically after your first completed workout.

What's next

If the guided flow lands, expect a follow-up pass:

  • Retry the review prompt after celebration sheets clear (right now it defers past achievements and rung bumps, which for a workout #3 user is basically every time)
  • Route Explore-first users to a Home hero card that keeps the first-workout recommendation persistent
  • If backend data shows a lot of workout_discarded with sets_logged=0 from Calibration, revisit whether Tier 2/3-no-focus users should skip Calibration on day 1

If it doesn't move the needle in Firebase, the assumption was wrong somewhere — and the events shipped in this release are exactly what tells us where.

Bug reports and feature ideas: support@zenmotion.app.

Train well.