OLY - sport platform for social good
Project type: Responsive web design for social good (Google UX Design Professional Certificate)
Date: August - September 2023
Location: Bucharest
Role:Â UX Generalist: UX Designer, UX Researcher, UX Interaction Designer, UX Writer
Design Process
The problem
Kids not being able to participate to all practice sessions. There is variable schedule at the basketball club + ad-hoc communication via more WhatsApp threads. They Need to keep up with school homework.
The goal
Help key stakeholders - children, parents, coaches - to have a unitary view on the sport club agenda (practice, games, events) and communicate/ interact in only one place. Also, help kids having an up-to-date view of their performance and results
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My responsibilities
​I played a one-man-show role: UX Designer, UX Researcher, UX Interaction Designer, UX Writer. ​Following the roles played in the project, I run the typical responsibilities throughout the project: discovery, ideation, competition analysis, user research, wireframing, interface (re)design, prototyping, usability studies.
User research summary
For Discovery, I run several interviews with various typologies of potential users: children and parents. For moving forward, I focused only on the children category. The initial assumption has been that children need to have a single view on their agenda, practice schedule, games and tournaments and an unique communication platform with coaches and team colleagues. The preliminary insights show that they need to be able to confirm/ infirm participation to some club events, but also to be able to choose alternative slots to keep up with the practice.
To properly polish the design I have created an empathy map after running the usability study for the validating the Lo-Fi (wireframes) prototype; eventually I run an additional validation stage on the Hi-Fi prototype. Following, them I have identified 3 key ideas to focus on:
(1) personal profile and results/ performance update
(2) generate clear and easy to use context for the children to interact with their peers and coaches in-app
(3) help children to keep up with the events and novelties coming from the club (practice, tournaments, camps)
Persona
Problem statement: Sophie is a 7th grade pupil and a basketball player who needs a clear and predictable basketball training schedule (main and alternative) because she needs to organise her agenda to participate in more training sessions.
After the first round of user interviews, I depicted the user journey. Also, for ideation, I played with the "Crazy 8" and I run a competitive audit.
Subsequently, in order to easy the website navigation, I envisaged a comprehensive sitemap covering all potential features. I aimed to clarify as early as possible the IA outlook that would eventually be reflected in a smooth, effective navigation. My objectives:
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Simplicity
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Appeal
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Clarity
User journey
Competition analysis
I investigated 6 similar sites - 4 direct, 2 indirect competitors - and I have identified several common patterns: membership, calendar, event management, statistics, and in-system communication venues (inbox, notes, chat, forums)
Crazy 8
Site map
Paper-based and digital wireframes (Adobe XD)
2 digital wireframe runs: native iOS (Sigma) + screen size variation wireframe , progressive enhancement (Adobe XD)
Following users feedback…
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… need for personal profile and results/ performance update
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… need to receive notifications and updates in app…
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… need to access a single “all-in” calendar to see all events (practice, games, camps…
… I have focused in design on four key features:
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Calendar management
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Communication tool
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Results/ profile slot
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Events update in homepage
For ensuring a proper user experience across various devices and context, I run two sessions of wire framing design, both for native mobile app version (Figma) and for a screen size variation suite (Adobe XD, progressive enhancement).
Affinity map
Using the low fidelity piece of design I run a first usability study session with 5 users (kids). During the assisted 1-2-1 interviews I found out that:
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Users need more straight-forward, easy to recognize notions for usual topics (calendar, communication, etc.)
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Users in this category do not find convenience in features like filters or similar “sophisticated” tools - they look for direct CTAs to complete a task
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​users in this category need more info (on their stats page, news section) or the possibility to add/ adjust occasionally relevant personalization
Low fidelity prototypes, app and responsive design
Mockups (mobile app and responsive design)
High fidelity prototypes (mobile app and responsive design)
Accessibility considerations
I applied the following accessibility features:​
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Looking for a balanced and neutral contrast of used colours. Intense colour used only for call to action buttons/ sections
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Clear labeling for elements and button that require users’ intervention or attention
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Personalized messages in all screens to help users understand what that section serves for and to easily act/ perform a task
Lessons & takeaways
Designing for a social good was an demanding, but enriching experience. Also, addressing a solution design for a special category of users - children - was inspiring starting from their natural, authentic simplicity in thinking and straight-forward wish for action.
The provided solution offers a one-stop-shop experience for sport clubs and their members - coaches, children, parents - and support small communities in easily organise sport and school activities. Here is what I heard:
“I really like that I may see my schedule and team’s activity in one place. It’s easy for me now to know when I can go for another practice session”