Showcase 2025 Student Spotlight: Hayley Horton
Student Spotlight featuring BA (Hons) Product Design student Hayley Horton and her project 'MoveFit'.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 7 May 2025
Categories: Student Showcase; School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment;
The Project
MoveFit is a fitness based app designed to help build confidence in the gym. The aim is to encourage people to push themselves beyond using cardio machines through a combination of gamification elements and education, helping users learn through interactive challenges.
Scanning QR codes using the app provides helpful guidance for gym users.
The inspiration behind the project
Hayley was inspired to create MoveFit after seeing how intimidating gyms can feel for beginners - especially when it comes to learning proper form (the correct alignment, posture and movement needed for each exercise) without guidance and supervision. Hayley sough to devise an app that would make the gym experience more accessible, approachable, educational and fun for newbies, helping people feel confident and providing them with the motivation to keep improving.
MoveFit combines gamification elements with education to enhance the gym experience.
The project experience
Hayley says that working on the project has been an exciting and rewarding experience:
"Throughout the project, I have learned a lot in regards to customer retention within gyms after speaking frequently with Paige Luke-Ansell, the Manager of SnapFitness Burntwood, or about the complexity that comes with analysing the form of individuals with sports therapist Jack Gallagher-Hemming – all of which has helped influence the development of my app design."
She explains: "One of the biggest challenges was finding a solution to offering suggestions to improve form, without directly commenting on where users may need to improve on – as everyone’s range of motion is different! Giving generic feedback and designing the game to suggest correct form was an area I particularly struggled to master!"
Overall, however, Hayley believes working on MoveFit has strengthened her skills and deepened her passion for making fitness more accessible to everyone.
Hayley Horton - BA (Hons) Product Design
Being part of NTU
"My time at Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé has been a journey of real personal growth. When I first started, I was full of ambition but unsure of exactly where it would take me. However, the support of the tutors along with new projects and new experiences have all helped me to learn more about myself and what defines me as a designer – how I work, what drives me and where I may want to go next postgrad!
"One of my most memorable moments at Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé has been the connections I have made with friends and the incredible support I have received from my tutors. From late-night study sessions to those moments of encouragement when I was feeling overwhelmed, I learned that university isn’t just about the academics – it’s about the people who help you grow along the way. The friendships and guidance I received created and environment where I felt motivated and confident to push myself further."
Closing remarks
Hayley encourages anyone considering studying Product Design at NTU to apply for the sandwich year (placement) course as "the industry experience you gain is invaluable". Shse says that the opportunity to work in a real-world setting not only enhanced her skills, but gave her a clearer understanding of what the industry expects. "It's a fantastic way to build connections," she adds. "It lets you apply what you've learned in a practical context and gives you an edge when it's time to enter industry. The placements truly open doors and help you grow as a designer!"