TrainerDay calendar design discussion

Website / Web-App
#1

So we have avoided a calendar for a long time but realizing where we want to go (dynamic planning with Coach Jack) and because many people have asked for it we are building a calendar. It will be a super simple planning calendar, not any kind of metrics focused calendar. Still avoiding advanced metrics. So you will be able to add any plan to your TD calendar. I want it closer to the TrainerRoad calendar than any other calendar. Just wanting to know if there are any specific features anyone wants. Here are some

  1. Add Multisport planned workouts
  2. Delete an entire plan
  3. Edit Coach Jack and update plan automatically for workouts that have not been completed yet.
  4. View completed history including other strava activites
#2

For me one of the strength of TD is, that you don’t have a calendar :wink: No need to plan anything, just tick off workouts on the todo-list.
I understand, that some users need a calendar and I think it’s a great idea to include it. But please don’t force me to use it, if I don’t want to. TrainerRoad did this and it was the first step that led me to leave the platform.

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#3

Don’t worry. I agree 100%. I also was frustrated when TR added the calendar. I even talked to Nate at that time explaining my needs/frustration, he did not seem to listen or his team did and the TD app was born.

Everything will work exactly the same for you, just another option for other users to use the calendar if they want. The app would look the same except users using the calendar would see workouts based on days as apposed to next in sequence. Also for outdoor we can send notifications of how to perform workouts in simple format or send weekly summary emails. Long term dynamic version of Jack will work like a hybrid of the current model and a calendar.

Thanks for your response.

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#4

As close to intervals.icu as possible for me @Alex. If just wanting a calendar then similar to Google. Simply a visualisation of what’s been and what’s coming with the ability to move workouts around and substitute as you see fit with no “drilling down” into specific metrics (other than the narrative which already accompanies each workout).

#5

I really think Intervals is great for the problems it solves. In your case using Garmin and Intervals I would not see much reason to use our calendar unless you want simple notifications for following outdoor rides at least until we get the dynamic version of Jack that works a bit similar to TrainerRoad adaptive training. In that case it is possible you might like ours especially if it automatically managed your Intervals and Garmin calendars at the same time. Can you explain any other reason you might want to use our Calendar? Yes Google calendar is very simple and clean like TrainerRoad. It might be interesting to have a left hand side like google that allows you to turn on or off your plan as well as any extra workouts or activites you add. Like this

image

#6

I should point out the main purpose of this calendar at this time is just making the simplest way possible to follow a calenar in our app. Many users feel intervals is overwhelming and so this is really to give them a simple solution. I have no interest in being any form of competetion to intervals or even TrainingPeaks calendars, I am happy to support David. We have a nice working relationship.

#7

I may use it just as a visual queue to see what’s coming up. If I want a snapshot of what’s coming, it’s not always convenient to open Garmin connect or intervals as well as trainerday.

#8

Thanks for the clarification.

#9

So the main features I see are

  1. Push plan to calendar (Coach Jack or TD)
  2. Edits in Coach Jack to my plan automatically update all workouts that have not been completed yet. CoachJack edit feature is coming soon.
  3. Delete an entire plan
  4. Drag and drop workouts
  5. Different workout types (cycling, running, swimming, strength, other)

One of the things I am trying to avoid confusion on is having the ability to push CJ to My Plans, vs pushing directly to “my calendar.” If you push directly to your calendar you will be able to edit your plan in the CJ editor and if you push to my plans. I am just mentioning this because if talking about it helps and someone might give me an idea I did not think of.

#10

I like the idea of a calendar however I use intervals for all my planning so I wouldn’t use it much.

If there was one thing I’d like, it would be a cleaner intervals WOD screen within the app. I wonder if you could maybe condense it a little so an extra one or two future workouts are visible with some nuggets like TSS and KJ displayed in one corner.

#11

Yes my guess is not a single intervals user would stop using the intervals calendar and start using ours. :slight_smile: Ours will be specifically designed for the user that does not want a full featured (complex) calendar. Just simple. Let’s split your idea off into a new request. One thing I like about is that intervals users tend to be more data obsessed and providing users using intervals based plans a bit more data i our app. Let’s discuss that separately though. I will create that request tomorrow unless you want to.

#12

I like the layout of the calendar within the TR app. Is that the sort of design you meant?

#13

Yes exactly!!! I totally like the TR calendar. But for now it will just be in our web site. Eventually we could pull it into the app as well.

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#14

So in your case and possibly many others what might be an ideal design is to do like Intervals and TrainingPeaks do with Garmin which is auto sync between calendars. So then you could follow a TrainerDay calendar but the data is driven by your Intervals calendar. It’s a subtle difference but then as we enhance our calendar intervals and TP users also benefit from this effort.

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#15

I think that would be perfect. It would accommodate most users.

To be honest, the TR app calendar it isn’t far from what you already have with WOD in the app which is what I use now to load workouts.

#16

Yes maybe the mobile view but we don’t have the web editor for a calendar now. I have been reviewing their web calendar but will review their mobile calendar too. I looked at all the web calendars, meaning TR, Intervals, TrainingPeaks, Today’s plan and so on and felt that TR’s matched the simplicity level we are trying to accomplish.

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#17

Agreed. I sometimes feel intervals is a little overwhelming but it is one of the few that accommodate running which is why I use it.

#18

Yes actually Intervals is fine for me and for users that want a super powerful tool they have a great solution there now, but for people that just want a super simple calendar for following our Coach Jack (or any TD plans) it would be best if it was built into TrainerDay. As I mentioned originally we plan to start adding skills work to our workouts and getting an optional notification of what todays skill practice is would be a good solution for many users.

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#19

Hi - Is there a way for the app to open on calendar vs “workouts”? Thanks