How YMCA Moncton Can Help Moncton People by Digitizing Service Offerings
While the Moncton YMCA website lays out the programs that are offered, provides a text-based schedule an hour system, and provides a ton of information on the benefits of joining, volunteering, and on supporting the Y financially, it does it in a very basic way. The schedule is not interactive, meaning you cannot sift through the various events that are happening on a month or yearly basis, you cannot click on events to see more information about them, and any schedule you look at will be PDF-based and hard to read in your browser. Couple this with the fact that Moncton members only get email reminders for upcoming schedules, change in hours, and events, means that many Moncton families are missing out on all that the YMCA has to offer with the website’s current state. By digitally transforming their website via a mobile app, the YMCA of Moncton can better help their community in a variety of ways.
What Advantages Does a Digital Mobile App Bring to the YMCA & Members?
Automatic push notifications and reminders: A mobile application is going to allow Moncton YMCA members to enable push notifications. These can be used to remind them that there are upcoming events that they may be interested in and they could be used to send out alerts on emergency closures/announcements, change in hours, and discounts on memberships or information on new community & global initiatives. They can also be used to alert members of new programs, change in program details, and provide quicker access to education systems via links.
A health logging system within the application. A major part of being a member at the YMCA is enjoying the benefits that it brings with its health and fitness programs. The YMCA offers classes in yoga, Nordic walking, strength training, line dancing, aquatic classes, personal training, and even sports for kids. Being able to log what classes you are a part of, what your nutrition intake is, and what your health goals are, goes a long way in helping members stay a part of the YMCA Moncton community.
- Fitbit & Garmin data exchange integration: For members that are a little bit more technical and enjoy their fitness trackers, a YMCA Moncton mobile app can be designed to have Fitbit and Garmin integration. This will allow members to completely sync all of their tracked data with the YMCA mobile application, giving personal trainers and assistants, access to the information they need in order to design specialty programs for members. Plus, it gives members another way to take a deep dive into their information and know how well they are progressing and why.
- A calendar sync: During the mobile app development process, a calendar syncing system can be added so that members can have access to their events, classes, and daily routine on the fly without needing to remember it or check with the website. This ensures that there is easy access and interactive access to what members use the most; their classes/programs.
- Interactive program schedules: Having an interactive program schedule that members can click into, expand, and read conveniently from their phone or tablet goes a long way in making the YMCA’s schedule easy to access. This completely negates the need to open a PDF up in your browser, painstakingly enlarge it so that it is readable, and scroll through endless pages until you find what you are looking for. Instead, simply open up the interactive program, search for the class you need information on, and click into the schedule to see it and all relevant information about it.
- Voice Commands enabling individuals to schedule routines on virtual assistant devices: For members who have virtual assistant devices like the Google Home or Amazon Echo, a mobile app can sync with their respective voice skills and allow members to schedule their routines across these devices. Then, it is as easy as using a voice command to access their schedule from home.
- Subscriptions payments from mobile wallets: A huge advantage to having a mobile app made is giving members the ability to use mobile wallets to pay for their YMCA subscriptions. This gives members another way to pay, on-the-go, and can be linked to push notifications for automatic reminders about upcoming payments and fees.
- Fundraising becomes easier: A mobile app offers unique ways to include fundraising goals and donations. For instance, users may be given the option to donate a small amount during their monthly subscription repayment. Push notifications can be used to alert individuals that a new fundraiser has started and to click on the link if they wish to read more about it and make a small donation. There can be an entire subsection within the application that is built specifically around fundraising events for easy access. There could be goal amounts included within the application, placing fundraising events and their milestones in front of users which may elicit more participation due to it having a visual representation that is easy to access.
Thus, it is quite a well known fact that it is comparatively much easier to navigate through Mobile Applications, unlike the website. A well-designed Mobile Application can perform tasks much faster than a website. And, if you really want to know more about what kind of advantages and benefits a Digital Mobile Application can bring to the YMCA Moncton and members, feel free to contact or share your ideas to kr@digitalmoncton.ca
