Designed for the
football community
Despite boasting over 5 billion fans and 275 million active players worldwide, the global football community faces fragmentation due to the presence of numerous disconnected platforms for news, social interaction, training, scheduling, and commerce.
FTBLRLIFE aims to bridge this gap by offering a comprehensive platform that integrates all aspects of the football experience. Tasked with creating this mobile solution, my goal is to unite the fragmented pieces of the football ecosystem into one cohesive platform.
Business Goals & Impact
Introducing a mobile-friendly application that effortlessly connects the global football community, integrating features such as real-time news updates, robust social connectivity, comprehensive training resources, convenient scheduling tools, and seamless e-commerce capabilities.
Goals
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Expand the user base through straightforward and captivating activities.
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Unify all segmented marketplaces within the football community into a single, comprehensive app.
1. Socialize
Design a football-specific social activity that invites and connects football supporters from all over the world.
3. Teams+
Build a scheduling tool designed to efficiently organize and connect players, coaches, and clubs.
2. Chat
Craft a streamlined communication feature that consolidates all of a user's conversations into a single, organized hub.
4. Player Discovery
Create an innovative player discovery feature enabling prospective professional players to be scouted by football agents from any location worldwide.
Project Overview
Category
My Role
Timeline
Team
Sports Industry
UX/UI Designer
Ongoing
Solo
1
Define
2
Analyze
3
Ideate
4
Design
5
Test & Retool
1. Understanding the Problem
Competitor Analysis
To gain insights into the current market landscape, I conducted a comprehensive analysis of various facets within the football industry. This encompassed examining areas such as football news dissemination, scouting platforms, club information sources, scheduling tools, training resources, gear and equipment providers, social media platforms, and methods for discovering football talent.
4+
10+
8+
6+
5+
15+
Football News
Sources
Scouting
sites
Scheduling
Tool apps
Training
Tool apps
E-Commerce
sites
Social
apps
"With all of these different brands, tools, social engagement platforms, and resources none of them live in the same place. It's a fragmented sports landscape. We will create a train station for all of these organizations to meet at and connect."
- CEO of FTBLRLIFE
Competitive Usability Testing
I conducted interviews with five individuals deeply involved in football: a coach, a player, a player's parent, an apparel sales representative, and football agents. The primary objective was to gain insights into how these users engage, navigate, and thrive within the football culture, identifying both effective strategies and areas for improvement.
Here are the key insights gleaned from these interviews:
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Coaches rely on specific apps for communication, using Ring Central for interactions with other coaches and a separate platform for communication with players and parents.
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Players utilize WhatsApp for chatting purposes while turning to Instagram and TikTok for sharing images and videos. Additionally, they use specialized apps like Techne Futbol for personal training and skill development.
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Parents employ a variety of apps for sharing their children's videos and images, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. They also utilize different online platforms for purchasing gear and equipment, relying on word-of-mouth recommendations to find private trainers for their children's development.
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Football sales representatives primarily engage with clubs and larger organizations to promote apparel sales. Brands invest significant resources in marketing efforts across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Amazon, and various streaming platforms.
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Football agents primarily discover talent through existing clients and word-of-mouth referrals.
2. Reframing the Problem
Mapping the fractured landscape
After conducting five interviews, I compiled all the gathered information into a visual map. The consensus among the users was clear: they expressed frustration over the need to utilize numerous apps to stay connected within the realm of football.
3. Organizing a Framework
Site Map
I meticulously structured my ideas and categorized the primary activities and functionalities using a sitemap. This visual representation served as a powerful tool for illustrating the navigation structure and screen hierarchy, offering a clear overview of the system's organization.
4. Designing for User-First
Wireframes
Given the time constraints, I made the strategic choice to allocate additional time towards meticulously crafting wireframes that adhere to the outlined information architecture. My rationale behind this decision is rooted in the belief that these detailed wireframes will yield superior results during usability testing compared to rudimentary hand-drawn sketches.
Critical issues
Critical Issue 1. Users could share posts but were unable to provide a direct link to their profile for others to follow them. This limitation poses a challenge to one of our primary objectives, which is to expand the user base. Enabling users to share their profile deep links would significantly facilitate this goal.
Critical Issue 2. The initial news design aimed to empower the FTBLRLIFE social media team to effortlessly incorporate daily news links via the admin interface. However, the functionality of the news feature fell short, lacking the ability for FTBLRLIFE to track views or likes, ultimately resulting in a less engaging experience.
Why this works
Introducing a 'Share Profile' button alongside the 'Create Post' option has streamlined the process for users to connect with others, resulting in a noticeable uptick in follow activity over the past three months.
Why this works
By adapting the design to align with current trends in news consumption, we've enabled the social team at FTBLRLIFE to share engaging content such as images or videos along with relevant information and links. Additionally, this updated design empowers the FTBLRLIFE team to effectively monitor views and likes for their news posts.
High Fidelity Mock-Ups
FEED
FTBLRLIFE
5. Test, Iterate, Repeat
9
2
75%
Users
Moderate tests on
Chat Feature
Increase in
user to user
engagement
Critical issue #1
Currently, users are unable to include new participants in an ongoing conversation once it's initiated. I'm actively working on a solution to address this limitation. With the expansion of our community, the FTBLRLIFE team recognizes the necessity of seamlessly incorporating new members into existing conversations, rather than initiating fresh ones each time a new user joins.
Final Product
Join the Community
that is as passionate about football as you are!
Final Thoughts
Throughout this ongoing project, I had the opportunity to discover the practical aspect of social media through the lens of Football. As behaviors change in how content is consumed I want to continue to find ways for users to enjoy and engage in the greatest sport in the world.
Whats Next for FTBLRLIFE?
I am in the beginning stage of developing wireframes for the MKRTplace and PLYRdiscovery features to be built by the developers while improving the chat feature and fine-tuning the other app features.