Reframing the Problem: A Case Study
From concept to kickoff: A youth sports networking app launched in 6 months
Context
I consulted with a client on a new app development project, where the main challenge was determining which features and functionalities to prioritize. With many ideas from stakeholders, we needed a clear starting point that aligned with user needs and business goals.
My Contribution: As the principal designer at a development agency, I was the sole contributor on design but partnered with a PM to drive client engagement and worked with the stakeholders to discover the best product market fit.
The Problem
There was so much that stakeholders wanted this app to accomplish from solving team organization, coaching and training, self promotion, and athletic performance measurement. We knew we couldn’t do everything within the first release, so we needed to focus in on a value proposition that would create a great foundation and increase use signups.
What We Did (Summary)
To help stakeholders focus in on a value prop, we implemented an Effort-Impact Mapping exercise to assess each feature. Additionally, we conducted user interviews to gather insights into the target audience's most pressing needs and pain points.
- Effort-Impact Mapping
helped prioritize high-impact, low-effort needs of athletes. However, to avoid over-prioritization, we sought input from industry experts for better clarity of complexity of the needs. - SME Interviews
Seasoned coaches and event organizers helped me and the PM identify significant headaches and showed me user flows that would inherit a lot of complexity. This helped us to reframe the project and focus on the low-hanging fruit so we didn’t waste time solving costly problems. Ultimately, this helped us reframe the problem and focus our efforts.
Outcomes
We reframed the problem to focus on creating an app that resonated with athletes on an emotional level, aiming to drive engagement through self-promotional features that would excite user to start using. By shifting the focus to self-promotion and networking, we created a more engaging and appealing app experience connected with athletes desire to look and feel their best.
Key Metrics:
We designed metrics to gauge user engagement and how effectively we captured the emotional appeal of the app, which aligned with the main objectives.
- App Downloads & New Users — 5k+ in the first 6 months.
- Session Length & Frequency — 50% of users engaged with the app once a week or more, with an average session length of about 32 minutes.
- Designed, Built, and Launched in 6 months.
The Messy Side of the Story
… and additional context
Sensemaking — Iterating On the Value Proposition
When Tech9 was presented with this project, we immediately recognized its ambitious nature. The stakeholder’s extensive experience running successful athletic camps had given him unique insight into the challenges within youth sports — from team organization and documentation tracking to athlete networking, stat management, and tryouts. With so many potential platform directions, our first task was to work with stakeholders to identify a clear starting point rather than attempt to tackle overly complex problems all at once.
To do this, we relied on impact value mapping and input from subject matter experts (SMEs) to assess which solutions would deliver the most value while remaining feasible for an MVP. Through this iterative process, we determined that a self-promotion networking app for athletes was the optimal starting point. This approach offered the potential for broad market appeal and a strong user base that could serve as a foundation for expanding functionality in the future.
About 14% of 10th-grade students whose families were in the top 20% in terms of socioeconomic status played sports in college — compared to fewer than 4% of those in the bottom 20% of socioeconomic status.
https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ssj/39/2/article-p129.xml
Conversations with seasoned coaches and industry professionals further emphasized the financial barriers many athletes face, from high fees and travel expenses to time-intensive commitments. These insights shifted our focus from solving logistical challenges like team organization to a mission of empowering low-income athletes and helping to level the playing field.
Wireframes and Information Architecture
Building a social networking app for youth athletes to present themselves professionally and compellingly seemed straightforward — at first.
However, as we began mapping out functionality, the complexity quickly surfaced. A key challenge was accommodating multiple user types: athletes, coaches, and parents — each with distinct needs. This required designing a network where users could easily differentiate between these roles, which added significant layers to the development and risked delaying the launch timeline.
This was just one of several challenges we faced. To tackle these complexities, we relied heavily on information architecture (IA) diagrams and wireframes. These tools helped us organize the app’s structure, streamline user flows, and ensure functionality met the needs of each user type. This methodical approach kept us aligned and allowed us to address problems early in the process.
Captivating & Customizable
We wanted athletes to customize their profiles to reflect their team colors and showcase personal images. Recognizing the challenges of varying photo quality and the limitless combinations of team colors, we explored several approaches. These included overlaying colors on images, incorporating stock photos, and using AI tools to enhance uploaded pictures. While AI-enhanced photos were too costly for the MVP, we leveraged AI to remove image backgrounds and applied team colors to make players stand out. We also refined the upload UI to educate users about optimizing image quality.
Design iterations moved frequently between high and low fidelity to strike the right balance of visual hierarchy — whether stats or the profile picture should take precedence. Ultimately, we aimed to allow athletes to choose from multiple profile layouts, giving them the flexibility to showcase themselves in different ways.
How we iterated to capture attention
During development, we began evaluating the app’s engagement levels and grew concerned about capturing the interest of our target age group. To address this, we explored ways to incorporate video game-inspired elements into the app. We considered two approaches: designing a visually engaging interface reminiscent of video games or implementing rewards and achievements tied to user stats and rankings. While the latter was more ambitious and beyond the scope of the MVP, we decided to focus on creating a video game-inspired aesthetic for the initial launch.
We introduced design elements like dynamic fuel-like rails to visually represent athlete stats, a style commonly found in games. Additionally, we used larger numbers with playful animations that scrolled and ticked up, enhancing the app’s visual appeal and interactivity. Recognizing the importance of verified stats, we also included functionality for coaches to validate user-submitted data, laying the groundwork for future feature expansions.
Development & Timeline
Launching an app is rarely seamless, and this project was no exception. With a tight three-month deadline to deliver an MVP, we worked closely with a skilled development team to bring the app to a launch-ready state. However, some design nuances posed challenges, particularly the use of background blur effects. While these worked well on iOS, Android’s limitations required us to compromise. We opted to replace the blur effects with dark gradients, simplifying the design to effectively separate overlaid text from imagery while maintaining a polished look.
Conclusion
The project was a success, reflected in the ongoing growth of user engagement and signups. Each challenge required iteration and persistence to uncover the right path forward. While tough at times, having clear objectives consistently guided us in making effective design decisions.
