FORM Swim
Designing trust into training,
one heart rate zone at a time.
Product Management
Agile Planning
UX Research

About FORM Swim
My Role
As a Product Management Intern, I worked cross-functionally with product, UX design, engineering, QA, and research teams to help define and deliver meaningful user features.
My focus centered on the development of a Custom Heart Rate Zones feature, a critical enhancement for power users who train by specific heart rate targets. I led competitive analysis, user research synthesis, feature specification writing, and supported agile sprint planning and beta testing coordination.
The internship gave me end-to-end ownership of a feature from discovery through to pre-development readiness, sharpening my product thinking and user advocacy skills in a fast-paced, hardware-integrated environment.
Setting The Scene
When I joined FORM Swim, the company was preparing for the release of its next-generation smart goggles, a powerful piece of fitness technology that overlays real-time swim data into the user’s field of view.
The goggles were already delivering live heart rate data mid-swim, but in our product review meetings, a consistent user theme kept bubbling up:
The Problem Beneath The Surface
FORM’s app calculated heart rate zones based solely on a user's maximum heart rate. For beginner swimmers or casual users, this worked. But for triathletes and performance-driven users, FORM’s most loyal and demanding audience, it wasn’t enough. These athletes had precise zone data from lactate threshold testing, HR reserve calculations, or coach-defined training plans.
FORM was giving them beautiful, real-time data, but it didn’t match the rest of their training ecosystem. And when the numbers didn’t align, their trust in the platform eroded.
Reframing the Opportunity
At first, I believed we were solving a design problem: perhaps the zones needed clearer labels or improved UI. But after diving into support tickets, conducting user interviews, and benchmarking leading competitors like Garmin, Apple, and Fitbit, it became clear: Users didn’t just want more data. They wanted control over how that data worked for them.
“Custom zones” wasn’t a request, it was a
baseline expectation for high-performance users.
Key Research Insights
The competitive analysis along with the support tickets submitted by our users, it allowed for me to bring clarity on the following:
Athletes follow their own heart rate models (Max HR, HR Reserve, or Lactate Threshold)
Competing products offered varying degrees of control, but few offered clarity.
FORM’s static system created workflow friction and broke training consistency.
There was no explanation in-app of what each HR zone meant.
Crafting the Solution
Together with the product and design teams, I helped reframe the feature to reflect two types of users:
Automatic Mode for casual swimmers who wanted a simple setup.
Manual Mode for athletes who needed precision and control.
This dual-mode approach aligned with FORM’s broader goal of serving both emerging and elite users, and was designed to integrate smoothly with the rollout of Dory (our next-gen goggles) and Smart Coach (an adaptive training system within the app).
I authored the feature specification from the ground up:
Defined user stories and usage scenarios
Outlined input validations and edge cases
Scoped the MVP in collaboration with engineers
Framed the logic for future zone feedback integration in real-time goggles use
I also worked with QA to translate the spec into test cases, and supported the coordination of early-stage beta testing logistics.
Building the Right Thing, the Right Way
I led sprint planning discussions, maintained JIRA tickets, and worked across product, design, QA, and analytics to keep the vision aligned. I helped identify priority stories for each sprint and ensured decisions were grounded in user context.
Knowing that feature scope creep could derail quality, I championed phased development:
Phase 1: In-app customization and onboarding
Phase 2: Real-time goggles feedback (post-launch enhancement)
This approach helped us move efficiently while ensuring future extensibility.
The Results
While the feature was still in development when my internship concluded, we achieved key milestones:
Approved dual-mode customization feature, balancing simplicity and control
Delivered a full spec that passed design and product reviews
Aligned user needs with FORM’s hardware/software roadmap
Sparked internal momentum for broader personalization across the product ecosystem
Most importantly, we began to restore trust for our high-performance users, giving them a setup that aligned with how they already trained.
What I Learned
What I’d Do Differently
With hindsight, I would push sooner for contextual onboarding. While we nailed the configuration flexibility, we missed the opportunity to educate less experienced users about why heart rate zones even matter.
Guidance, not just customization, is often what creates a truly empowering UX.
Credits
Closing Thoughts
This project wasn’t just about heart rate zones.
It was about empowering athletes to train on their terms, and helping them feel confident that FORM was an extension of their training strategy, not a replacement for it.
As a product manager, my job was to bridge the gap between what users expected and what the product delivered.
And that’s the kind of work I’m passionate about doing, building with empathy, strategy, and clarity of purpose.
Services
Product Strategy
UX Research
Feature Specification
Agile Sprint Planning
Stakeholder Collaboration
Beta Testing Coordination
Tools
Figma
Atlassian Jira
Confluence
Slack
Google Sheets
Google Docs
team
Manager
Dave Kruzeniski
Lead UX Designer
Lauren Annabelle
Company
FORM Swim
YEAR
2023