Skatelutz: Progress Tracking for Figure Skaters
Skatelutz is a performance tracking app for figure skaters, developed as part of my Coursera UC San Diego Interaction Design Specialization.
Figure skating was the first sport to be added to the winter Olympics back in 1908, becoming a worldwide sensation since then. The sport has gone through amazing changes over the past 109 years. Nowadays, a student in the sport will collaborate with a coach in order to enhance their athletic ability and participate in competitions. Competing at the national level could eventually lead one to qualify for bigger competitions — such as the Olympic team.
Though the sport has risen in popularity, the tools and resources for skaters in the US, are limited and bounded by a 525- printable page rulebook. I was challenged to synthesize all the needs of figure skaters, especially students, into a single product that could serve as a means of tracking their progress and provide additional resources.
My 5-month progress began with interviews conducted at local ice skating rinks in NYC.
How do we help figure skaters track their progression within in the sport?
Understanding The User
In order to design an effective solution, I performed ground research first at a local ice skating rink in New York City. There, I was able to interview a series of students that provided me with a general base of the target audience.
- Children (Basic skills, Ages 6+)
- Teenagers (Basic, Freestyle level, between ages 13–17)
- Parents (Off/on ice)
- Adults (Adult Basic LTS, Freestyle, Pairs)
- Coaches
My ground research provided me deep insights which allowed me to find the major pain points for figure skaters working on skating elements or practicing for testing.
“I have to use index cards to remind me of current elements, warm up exercises and other sequences I need to work on. I keep them on a personal notebook, but sometimes I forget it at home so it’s not accessible all the time”.
Design Opportunity
My ground research provided me with insights that allowed me to find the major pain points for figure skaters working on skating elements or practicing for testing.
Brainstorming
My research presented several opportunities in which this mobile application could help figure skaters track their progress. I extracted ideas from my conversations with potential users and created user personas and storyboards to begin structure this mobile application.
Taking lessons from my conversations with users, I drew a storyboard to depict a scenario in which a skater would be able to use the app.
Mapping the User Flow
Taking Emily, my user-generated persona as an example, I began mapping the overall structure and different parts of the app.
Ideating and Testing User Interactions
Once the overall flow and site mapping had been defined, I generated paper prototypes. I presented the prototypes for testing to a user. Paper prototyping allowed me to quickly mock and test the interface, pinpointing all the areas that require further iteration.
Heuristic Evaluation
I utilized the paper prototypes to also conduct a heuristic evaluation session with a fellow classmate familiar with Nielsen’s Heuristics, which helped me find additional areas with usability issues and suggestions on how to resolve them.
Wireframing
I utilized the paper prototypes to also conduct a heuristic evaluation session with a fellow classmate familiar with Nielsen’s Heuristics, which helped me find additional areas with usability issues and suggestions on how to resolve them.
Feedback and Refinement
During testing sessions, I encouraged each tester to use the think-aloud method. This method allowed me to learn of what was successful and what needed more work at this stage of the design process. I felt validation when most users expressed excitement for the ability to go through different elements and view breakdowns on how they are performed. However, areas such as resources, which allowed users to view media uploaded and tutorials via different external sites (ex: youtube), was very limited. I learned that further modifications and focus on sort and filtering tools were needed
I performed an A/B test via usertesting.com in order to finalize the design for the “Practice sessions”. I had users compare two versions of the design and received valuable feedback that allowed me to finalize the final process and UI for that particular portion of the app.
Final UI
The UI takes inspiration from the confident, yet bold and elegant aura projected by figure skaters.
Development
Skatelutz is looking for a iOS developer! I’ve teamed up with a figure skating coach and together we are looking forward to creating custom content and bringing Skatelutz to life. More to come!
