MVP App
The new sports app MVP has come to solve the issue of fans' accessibility to the team, while in-app activities such as live videos with players, participation in events, quizzes and accumulating points as fans, motivates them.
The football club benefits from its side as well, when it can now receive information about those registered fans, reward them, sell them "dedication products" and be exposed to the fluctuations of its tens of thousands of fans in real time.
My Role
UX and UI Designer
User Research, Characterization, Visual design
September 2020 - Ongoing
Softwares used
Kick-off Meeting
In the kick-off meeting with the two entrepreneurs, I was introduced to the interesting venture, I was introduced to the app tree in terms of fans and the club, and to user research that the two entrepreneurs themselves performed mainly in close circles and in Facebook groups
The Challenge
Deliver a new service to hundreds of thousands of users
and produce prominence on previous apps.
The app is designed to provide fans with new services they have not previously received from their teams, such as unfiltered direct information from the team, zoom conversations with players - a feature formed during the Covid-19 period, and unique in-app games Which give users points, for which they receive prizes.
The Approach - Lean UX
In such a project, where the emphasis is on correct and beautiful products but also on high speed, I chose a lean approach which emphasizes quick research, fast drawings, prototypes and design examples. This sparked a lot of great ideas between the three of us and created a strong sense of integrity.
Gathering Information
The nature of the research was conducted on two fronts: one is an in-depth study in the Internet and the professional literature in the field of sports and the other is an in-depth investigation of real fans and team owners about their behavior on a daily basis and how they perceive their teams.
The way to get data on users was obtained by the project ventures on the one hand, by researching users in close circles and Facebook groups related to sports. On the other hand, I expanded the interviews and prepared dedicated questionnaires for sports enthusiasts all over the country, distributed them on WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram groups and received extensive information.
From the data we received from both the fans and the team managers, it is clear that there is a very strong demand for an app like the one we are building and there are unequivocal results that show great use of such an app on both sides.
Data-Based Personas
Based on the data we have, it was possible to build 4 different types of personas and build around them concrete information that will help us later through the characterization process.
User Flow
In light of the information we received and alongside the project developers, I built a detailed diagram of the characterization of the users, both in the mobile application and in that of the desktop, for a real understanding of the site tree.
Sketching
The next step was to arrange which of the decided features would be deployed on which screens. In the next screen you can see the features of the home screen and what features you can get in addition, when you drag your finger from the bottom towards the center.
The home screen sketch of the app- fans side (in its original name - Forca), based on the features we decided to insert the app depending on what is important to show to the users- user related features like personal notifications, personal details, rank among other users (gamification dedicated), free search (for users, clubs and events), news and also shortcuts for taking an "in game" photo immediately and swipe to the club's events page.
The live video screen with a player / team, has been given top priority, it is one of the important elements in the app and actually one of the main reasons to attract real fans. It was important to include the option to stop and go back in the video at any given moment, the ability to share and of course respond in the form of text or emoji.
The live video screen with a player / team, has been given top priority, it is one of the important elements in the app and actually one of the main reasons to attract real fans. It was important to include the option to stop and go back in the video at any given moment, the ability to share and of course respond in the form of text or emoji.
The CEO Dashboard screen is the screen where team owners and authorized people from the club receive information about app entries from users-fans, along with real data about those users such as shopping habits, city of residence, favorite player, etc. They can also see sales reports by Product, by Group, Profit and Loss and Statistics.
Wireframing the Solution
One of the essential steps in the process, was the transition of the sketches to the computer. It was important to deploy the right resolutions according to the user research from this stage, in order to understand what size the elements could really be, on the screen.
Processing the CEO's control panel sketches to the computer, it was important for me to make the information accessible in a cleaner way. I also added the ability to filter the information about the users by a name list, where you can select several users at the same time and activate the same action on them, for example sending an SMS message or other motivation to run the application.
Design Process
After approving the characterization for the system and after getting good results on internal tests that the Entrepreneurs performed with their acquaintances on the system, I progressed to the design phase.
I suggested choosing a different name for the venture, as "Forca" (power, or forward in Italian), would not be clear enough to users, so it was decided to go for the name MVP - according to the sporting meaning - the Most Valuable Player. This means in our case that the fans are the most valuable player for the club. I went to design the language of the "brand" in authentic colors and elements that would suit the brand.
Mobile Solution - Fans Side
The fact that the fan side of the product based on mobile phones, led us to show a different number of screens for different fans, that speak the design language of their clubs. Every fan downloads the same app from the store, but in the user settings, the app knows how to change visually according to the user's choices.
Desktop Solution
The design language included 3 basic colors: dark purple, fuchsia and white. It was important to keep the language and convey the same colors to the users of the MVP WEB app as the fuchsia is used for buttons or highlighting elements, white is used as a search field or as a background for text and dark purple is used as a base for the app
Prototyping
I created high fidelity mockups and then imported them into Invision App to allow the future developers inspect the file and export the HTML and CSS code.
I created UX tabs in advance so that during development it would be easier for me to check on the development progress from the UX side.
Results
As of this writing, the MVP app is in advanced development processes, in parallel with the midst of the first round of product recruitment and the presentation of the concept at the offices of the major football clubs in Israel and private investors.
My Takeaways from MVP project
1. Working on a project whose subject is close to me personally = great fun throughout the process- I really like sports in general and enjoy watching football (soccer) games in my free time as well. I was very happy when the entrepreneurs approached me and their attitude towards me all the way was to a person who understands the field. It built greater trust between us throughout the project.
2. Lean UX can prove itself- At first I was not sure if I could make that UX job in such a short time of two to three months including research, sketches, characterization and design. To my delight, the entrepreneurs were open-minded and gave me a free hand, responding to many of my demands and requests. The period was an intense period but I am very happy with the final results.
Making the world a better place
Beeing part of the development on an app like MVP, where real football fans can have a real benefit from their love to the football club they adore, makes me feel, time and time again, that I am in the right profession, I love what I do and feels a great satisfaction to contribute to the world from my side.
User Experience in a special education school
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