GameZone.
Helping sports hobbyists in arranging and joining pick-up games.
Overview
This project idea was evoked by the real-life frustration of me my friends and co-workers whenever we tried to organize a football pick-up game. The research I did proved that we're not alone, as so many people worldwide struggle with enjoying the sport they love with their friends or strangers.
So in this project I'm creating a mobile experience that helps amateur sports players to organize and play pick-up games more efficiently.
Challenges
These are the challenges our target users face when they try to organize and play a pickup game of their favorite sport:
01
● Sports amateur players don't have a way to know about nearby pick-up games or get invited to them before they take place.
02
● Some players don't show up to the game or forget to bring the pitch fees with them to the game which makes it difficult to start it at all.
03
● Game organizers struggle to find enough players, and it's so challenging for them to synchronize everyone's spare time.
User Research.
Conducted user focused research to better empathize with them and define their needs and pain points
User interviews
We conducted semi-structured interviews with target users to validate our initial assumptions and further understand how people currently organize, know about, and play pick-up games.
Synthesizing research findings
To better analyze research findings, I've organized all the qualitative data from the research into patterns and themes included in this affinity diagram.
User Personas
From the previous research findings, I've discovered that our user base is divided into two types of personas. The first is the game organizer in charge of the game, and the second is the player who wants to join the game. Each has different goals - however, a common thread was the desire to enjoy their favorite game with friends.
Persona I: Game organizer
Persona II: Game player
Empathy Map
I've utilized empathy mapping to highlight key research findings across all user types and aid in our decision-making. This helped me make inferences about our users based on their behavior, prioritize where our focus lay, and determine the most important takeaways.
Persona I: Game organizer
Does
● I call players I know, reserve the pitch, and call the opponent team leader to see if they can play at that time.
● I confirm the time and pitch with the players so they won’t come late.
● I invite other players via phone call, or I go to meet them face-to-face.
Says
"Finding players is a big responsibility as I face social pressure to organize a good game."
"I should always invite 1-2 additional players just in case some players don’t come."
"I don't know who's ready to play and who's not, so you should contact them all."
Thinks
● The worst thing that could happen is when people promise you to come, and then they don’t.
● The biggest problem is that we need to know each other's schedules and free time.
● One critical aspect of organizing a game is finding an available pitch at the same time of the game.
Feels
● I feel disappointed when players I’ve invited don’t come in time or at all.
● When I succeed, I feel happy that I will play a good game and that I saved my respect with other players.
● I hate organizing games because every player I invite has a different schedule.
Persona II: Game player
Does
● They go to nearby pitches and see if there's a game where they can join.
● Sometimes players gather and just split into two teams before the game.
● They use social media platforms like Messenger or phone calls and texting to connect.
Says
"Sometimes people don’t have much time, so it’s hard to be available simultaneously."
"My goal is to break the routine, optimize my health and spend quality time with friends."
"One time I didn’t see a friend for around two or three years, then we met at a football game."
Thinks
● People would reject them if they asked to join their game.
● Other players won't invite them because their skills are not good enough.
● There's no way to know about nearby pick-up games before they took place.
Feels
● When I play a good game with friends, I feel satisfied even when I lose the game.
● I feel lonely and isolated when there's no one to play with.
● Feels uncomfortable to ask people they don't know if they have a free spot in their game.
Competitive Analysis
Looking at the popular players within the space, I discovered similar feature offerings across the apps centered around creating and joining pick-up sports games.
Those might be key features in organizing and joining pick-up games I can get inspired by, and there's also an opportunity to position the product differently in the market.
OpenSports
Celebreak
Appito
SportsEasy
I've organized the all the findings about each of the competitors in this spreadsheet.
OUTSTANDING
+ Browse upcoming pick-up games, full-time spots on teams, and substitute player opportunities.+ Browse through player cards of nearby athletes looking to connect. Message them directly or invite them to your games+ Keep upcoming games organized, where you can view them and manage attendance
NEEDS WORK
- No screen reader or vocal commands that visually impaired users can use to navigate the app. - Offers just three languages (English, French, and Espaniol)
OUTSTANDING
+Straightforward user flow.+Easy way to find and join events, leagues and tournaments.
+Easy way to create an event and invite people to it.
OUTSTANDING
+Easy to navigate
+ Familiar ways of navigation (e.g. swipe..)
GOOD
+Users can create a team, invite members, and schedule games, practices and events and Team members can exchange messages in the chat section.- Users can't invite nearby players as they can only invite their acquaintances by sharing the invite link via their contacts.for every corner
NEEDS WORK
- No screen reader or vocal commands that visually impaired users can use to navigate the app. - Offers just one language (English)
OUTSTANDING
+Easy and simple way to create a team or join one.
+When you schedule a game you find all the functionalities needed to be organized in an intuitive way.
+Straightforward user flow.
OUTSTANDING
+ App uses easy and clear flat navigation with bottom nav bar containing the main features.
+ Familiar navigation patterns with clear indication of clickable elements.
OUTSTANDING
+ Users can organize matches, invite players, and have a presence list for your match, with a confirmed and pending list.+ They can also track field payments.+ They can make the game public to allow people who are in the community to find it and fill the available slots.
NEEDS WORK
- No screen reader or vocal commands that visually impaired users can use to navigate the app and place orders. - Offers just two languages (English and Portuguese).
GOOD
+ Easy to find key features+ Straightforward user flow.
OKAY
+ The most important features are present in home screen.
- Unfamiliar navigation patterns with vague indication of clickable elements.- Profile picture and user stats are permanently displayed above main features which is not that necessary.
GOOD+ Allow users to play games that fit their schedule.+ All games are played on quality fields with balls and bibs provided.- You can't organize your own game as you can only participate in already organized games.
NEEDS WORK
+ The high contrast ratio helps color blind people to use the app.
- No screen reader or vocal commands that visually impaired users can use to navigate the app and place orders.
- Offers just one language (English).
OUTSTANDING
+ Easy to find key info (Cities, games, messages).
+ Straightforward user flow.
NEEDS WORK
- Info clustered in indistinguishable way.
- No clear indication of clickable elements.
Value innovation
I've discovered some gaps in the competitive landscape that our competitors have overlooked; taking advantage of those gaps would enable me to provide a unique set of solutions that would define the value innovation of GameZone.
Gaps
● There’s no way organizers can invite nearby players based on their location using a map.
● There’s no way for the game organizer to see if a player is free at the time of the game.
Opportunities
● Allow organizers to see and invite nearby players based on their location on the map.
● Enable each player to make their schedule visible to organizers and other players.
Pain Points
While each user type had a variety of needs and pain points, across all user types, it was clear to us that the most important takeaways were:
01
No info exchange
Game organizers and players need to know about each other, but there must be a way to exchange information.
02
Lack of commitment
Most of the time, at least one of the invited players comes late or doesn't come to the game due to a lack of commitment.
03
No schedule visibility
Organizers need a way to see players' free time or pitch available slots, so they struggle to find a suitable time.
Ideation.
Generate and prioritize prospect solutions based on defined user needs
Brainstorming
Going with quantity over quality to generate as many ideas as possible, I've used HMW questions to brainstorm probable solutions to each of the three pain points identified earlier in the research phase.
User journey map
I've used this user journey map for each of the two personas to better understand our users' issues at every stage of their journey and generate prospective solutions for each.
Persona I: Game organizer
Persona II: Game player
Prioritization
This activity is usually performed in collaboration with a cross-functional team, including a product manager and software engineer, where the effort is measured by time scope and technical feasibility. I've classified features based on my judgment and a little research, but it's far from optimal.
key Features
I've generated so many ideas using HMWs and user journey maps, and as it's not realistic to proceed with all of them, I narrowed down my focus to 3 solutions:
01
Game personalisation
Create a simplified game creation process where game organizers can choose all the game settings and invite players.
02
Nearby games
Use a map that lets users see nearby games, filter the ones they're interested in and visit the game's profile.
03
Schedule visibility
Let players see each other's schedule and pitches available time slots to choose the best game time.
Sketches
To transform the suggested solutions into a more concrete form, I've used the Crazy Eight technique to create sketches of the app's main screens.
#Home
#Player profile
#Search
#Players
#Map
#Game profile
#Schedule
#Player profile
Prototype & Test.
Make our design solutions more concrete and realistic, test them with real users, and iterate
System architecture
I mapped out key path scenarios that get our users to their most prominent use cases within the least amount of steps. Since our users are likely to organize games and join them, I intentionally hid other secondary functions to limit my focus on those main tasks.
User flow diagram
A closer look at the user flows across the main journey compartments; enabled me to quickly refine the product architecture, which means fewer steps for the target users.
Wireframes
These digital wireframes represent the main steps of the two user flows each of our personas would go through to reach their goals.
User flow I: Create a game
User flow II: Join a game
Usability study
I asked participants to complete several task scenarios and observed their movement patterns and ability to meet their goals to assess the usability of the low-fidelity prototype.
Questions to answer
● How hard is it for users to organize a game or join one?
● Are there parts of the user flow where participants get stuck?
● Do users think those features are helpful and/or valuable?
● Are there any design changes we can make to improve the user experience?
Tasks to complete
● Use the map feature to find a nearby game for you and ask to join.
● Confirm your attendance at one of your games by paying the pitch fees.
● Try to create a new game, then invite other players.
first round (Lo-Fi)
After conducting five remote moderated sessions with a diverse set of target users, I've synthesized the most prominent themes from the study and turned them into insights.
Themes
● There's a lack of some critical info in the players' profile screen.
● There is no way for game organizers to create a reoccurring game.
● Users want to challenge another team early in the game creation process.
Insights
● Game organizers need to know more about the players to decide if they're a good fit.
● The game creation process needs to include a way to make a game reoccur.
● Organizers need a way to make them able to challenge an opponent team.
Iterations
Using the insights at hand, I was able to decrease the cognitive load of target users and fill the gaps in user flows.
Iteration #1
Add general info cards to the player profile that include Age and position.
Iteration #2
Enable organizers to create a reoccurring game and challenge an opponent team.
Second round (Hi-Fi)
In this second round of usability study, we aimed to discover issues we overlooked in the first round and test the effect of visual choices on usability.
Themes
● Users find the player schedule section in the player profile cluttered and confusing.
● The game cards in the search screen are so big, which makes users scroll more than necessary.
● The time slots in the pitch profile are cluttered, so they cause misclicks and errors.
Insights
● The player schedule section needs to be cleaner and more practical.
● The game cards need to be small enough to prevent users from keeping scrolling.
● The pitch timeslots section needs to become cleaner and more usable.
Iterations
Based on the second round of feedback, I tried to make the design more intuitive, simple and effortless to use.
Iteration #1
Edit the schedule form from weekly to daily and make it less cluttered.
Iteration #2
Reduce games' cards size so users can see more in one breakpoint.
Final Mockups
I've refined the screens into those Hi-Fi mockups keeping in mind user needs and GameZone brand identity.
Home
Map
Profile
Notifications
Game
Payment
Pitch
Search
Accessibility considerations
I tried to apply some of the accessibility guidelines I've learned so far.
02
Consistency
Ensured a high level of consistency to enable our target users to navigate through the design easily without encountering any unexpected or frustrating design pattern.
Takeaways.
Key reflections and learnings at the end of the project
Learnings
This is what I've learned throughout the whole process of this project, and I intend to apply it in future ones:
Documenting design decisions
● Documenting design decisions gave me a broad perspective on the big picture of the project and enabled me to see some of the gaps and inconsistencies within my process.
● The opportunity to immerse myself in the target user's environment and feel their pain while designing for them gave me an enormous advantage in solving their problems.
Exploring competitors Pitfalls
● The practice of discovering the gaps in the market to find the competitors' shortcomings opens new horizons that I would never think of by myself.
Next Steps
Due to time constraints, there are some ideas I couldn't concretize, and I'd like to do so if I have the opportunity in the future. These are some of them:
01
Micro-interactions
Since the reward is an essential component of habit forming, I wanted to create a celebratory animation whenever a user achieves their goal.
02
User Onboarding
Since our target users are supposed to create a profile and set their personal info, I want to build an intuitive onboarding section for the app.
03
Pitch manager flow
The implementation of this project in the real world can only be done by creating a user flow where pitch managers can update their time slots.
