Design Thinking: How to fight against racism in football?
Lee artículo en español ➡ AQUÍ
“Some say football is stupid and only provokes violence. But it is also said that football is a reflection of society.”
Context
Over time there have been great advances, but even today there are shameful attitudes and acts of racism in many sporting events. In the case of football, these types of situations continue to occur apparently more frequently than in other sports.
Does it really happen in football more than in other sports? Do people change their attitude when entering a stadium? Is it just an absurd way to let go of anxiety? Is it a reflection of society in general? And above all, how to approach the phenomenon through design thinking?
Let`s start with the Research
Racism. Football. Implications at many levels: sports, institutions, socially, legaly, economically… Faced with a problem of such magnitude, it was necessary to cluster to organize ideas and approach. What threats, strengths, weaknesses or opportunities did the phenomenon pose? Who does it involve and how? To do this, I proposed a SWOT, as well as a series of research questions as a starting point.
Having a mental outline of the issues to clarify, I first investigated through an extensive desk research. After the recent racist episodes that occurred during the 2022–2023 season, and with the current climate of social awareness, there was great media and information coverage on the matter. I discovered several key points:
- Players, federations and clubs recognize the problem but none take concrete measures to stop it.
- Campaigns and slogans against racism by federations are constant, but are increasingly seen as symbolic, especially when fines imposed on clubs or federations for racial abuse committed by fans are often insufficient.
- The problem not only lies physically in the stadiums, also the online environment constitutes another framework for this actions.
A study by FIFA (International Football Federation) showed that more than 50% of players in different competitions received some type of discriminatory abuse in more than 400,000 posts on social media. More than a third were racist in nature.
Interviews
To continue delving into the problem, I conducted a series of interviews from different perspectives: fans, institutions and victims.
This fan affirms that the atmosphere generated in a stadium, surrounded by tens of thousands of people, with nerves on edge and his team playing for an important title, can influence his behavior, allowing himself to be carried away by said environment and leading to some insult that in any other circumstance he would be incapable of carrying out.
I interviewed a political activist who introduced me to the vision from a political-institutional point of view. He indicated for the first time the concept of “normalization” of certain attitudes in football events, which is an important point to take into account.
Finally, a racialized person, a young black Spaniard, of Equato-Guinean origin. In addition to also mentioning the concept of “normalization”, a very significant finding that I discovered in this interview was the direct effect that racist acts directed at fotball players have on many people; When racism is exhibited towards a footballer, not only is the footballer being attacked, but an entire group that identifies with him, for the simple fact of being the same race.
Normalization of the problem
By conducting a series of surveys as quantitative research, I discovered an important fact regarding the aforementioned concept of normalization. Among others, I asked the following questions:
From this small “experiment” I was able to extract the following fact: more than 10% of the same people consider a racist act more serious if it occurs on the street than if it occurs inside a stadium or sporting event. What’s this about?
A study from the University of Rotterdam states that racism in stadiums is more accepted and normalized in the football culture of Spain and other southern European countries, compared to places like England or Holland, where the media, retired players and football federations openly address the problem.
As I progressed in the research, I could see that the concept of normalization is a problem; when it is normalized it is minimized, and if it’s minimized, it gives rise to unwanted situations of violence and racism.
Benchmark
Carrying out a benchmark I discovered that there are numerous platforms/apps that address the problem of racism in sport, all of them from other countries: Australia, England, France, Holland… Therefore, deriving from the concept of normalization of the problem, I found that the panorama of options to address the situation in Spain compared to other countries was deficient.
User persona — User journey
Having empathized with those people who are affected by racism, it was time to empathize with the people who could be part of the solution. Can they be the same? Can the fanbase, where much of the problem arises, be part of the solution? To do this, I created the profile of a user persona and what their user journey could be.
In summary, the user persona is a football fan, who does not identify with racist behavior despite witnessing it for years. He considers that this type of behavior is completely out of place and is willing to act because he considers it to be an exercise in solidarity that affects and involves everyone.
As for the user journey, we place it on a day when the fan goes to the stadium, where at certain times racist incidents occur. These incidents are not only ethically unacceptable, but can end up impacting the home team with disruptions, financial penalties, or stadium closures, ultimately harming fan experience.
Insights
After research, having approached the problem from various angles, I extracted the following findings:
- 📍 Campaigns and slogans against racism are positive, but insufficient.
- 📍 There is a feeling of loneliness when trying to fight against a system that normalizes certain acts.
- 📍 There is a “crowd effect” that seems to support certain intolerant attitudes in stadiums.
- 📍 In Spain there are no easy and accessible tools for directly reporting acts of intolerance.
- 📍 Empathy and education are two fundamental pillars to raise true awareness.
Ideation
Having a better understanding of the phenomenon of racism in football and after carefully analyzing the insights, there was one idea that was clear to me.
To tackle the problem at its roots, the fans cannot play a passive role and wait for the authorities and institutions to take measures.
It is necessary for the fans themselves to get involved, but how to do it in an easy, accessible and safe way? How to motivate fans to take action on the matter?
I began to evaluate ideas and remembered a very interesting functionality of some platforms analyzed in the benchmark: an anonymous complaint form, from which to report acts of intolerance witnessed in football.
I used the MoSCoW technique to prioritize this and other main functionalities, which would ultimately be:
- 📍Reporting tool, both for in-place episodes (at a stadium) and in the online environment (social networks, etc.).
- 📍Choose the club you identify with: Thinking about how to counteract the “crowd effect”, I came up with the following concept. If some fans claim to get carried away by the emotions of the environment and end up behaving inappropriately, why don’t we turn it around? That is, use the sense of loyalty and belonging to the club so that the fans get involved and act to denounce those acts that they do not tolerate and that they do not want to be part of their fanbase.
- 📍Testimonial section: where anonymous and volunteer people describe situations in which they have been involved or in which they have been victims of sexism, racism, homophobia, discrimination, etc. It is also based on similar functionalities found on other platforms and I found it to be a very powerful tool to generate empathy.
With a marked objective and established main functionalities, the final idea was consolidated.
ACT. Anti-racism Football. Digital reporting and awareness application, which puts in the hands of fans the possibility of reporting incidents of intolerance in football.
Prototype
Moving forward in the process, we are at the end of the second diamond of design thinking. The time has come to concretize the ideas.
Wirframes and site map
Firstly, based on the functionalities, I made a site map to have a clear structure.
I made also some wireframes in low fidelity to define the placement of the elements and navigation flow.
Taking into account the context for which the tool is primarily intended (football events in stadiums), I tried to keep navigation as simple as possible.
As a first step, a classic form was important to specify age and personal data, which is necessary for identification in case of reporting an incident (this identification would only be visible to the authorities in case of having to take legal action).
It was also very important that once inside the application, the CTA for reporting was clearly visible and accessible at all times, this being the most important functionality.
High fidelity
First of all, sign in screens. As I mentioned before, first the form and then screen where fans can choose the club with which they identify.
In the following image I show a simple diagram of the home page where each section of the app is briefly showed, responding to the insights discovered in the research phase. The report button visually dominates the tab bar, to facilitate the CTA and the action of getting involved and report.
When interacting with the CTA, we access the following flow, where the complaint form and the steps to follow to complete it are located. You can choose whether it is an in-person case (in a stadium) or online, and there is a stepper that indicates where the user is in the process, as well as feedback through a modal window to indicate the end of the journey or if any data is missing.
Real stories, real feelings
Finally, the Testimonials and Community sections. In the first one, exercise empathy. In the second one, the user can verify how many users on their same team use the tool, fostering a sense of community and avoiding the feeling of fighting alone.
Colors
The color palette is simple. The primary color of what would be the branding is a red tone, alluding to the concept of “alarm-alert”; users/fans must be alert to detect when a reportable incident occurs around them, take action and get involved.
In turn, both the secondary colors and the neutral tones are born from the main red, providing visual harmony throughout the entire application. The contrasts between elements of different tones comply with accessibility standards.
Typography
I opted for Manrope, a clean, easy-to-read sans-serif font. The application is designed to be used for short periods of time, so I chose a versatile font without frills, to enhance the usability of the tool over large visual decorations.
Value proposition
What would be the elements that would define the value proposition of the tool?
- 📍Provide visibility to a serious problem.
- 📍Have a simple, secure and accessible reporting tool.
- 📍Be part of a support group.
- 📍Exercise empathy.
- 📍Support the club and the team.
Business model
It’s a fact that brands seek to align themselves with the social, moral and ethical values of the moment.
As a business model, I propose collaborations with sports brands that want to have a presence within the app (advertising agreements, promotions, etc.). A mutual benefit would be generated as income for the tool on the one hand, and as good publicity for the brand in question, by supporting an initiative that encourages actively acting against intolerant behavior.
Conclusion
Faced with an issue of such magnitude and complexity as racism, it was clear from the beginning that there would be no easy answers or solutions. Being a phenomenon that has occurred in many moments and historical contexts, and despite there being a current social context of great awareness, sadly it is clear that there is still a long way to go.
However, I have been able to verify that through design thinking methodology, with appropriate research and in-depth analysis, solutions can always be found that at least limit the problem in some way, contributing a little bit, no matter how complex it may be.
By promoting education and empathy, solutions can be generated to eradicate racism in football, building an inclusive environment where all players and fans feel respected and safe.
What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be
