Making it easier for coaches, team managers and volunteers to use the tool to create teams, enter teams into competitions and assign players into teams.
TeamBuilder
Our design challenge
001
To redesign and modernise the outdated Sporty competition management web app
The old version of TeamBuilder was released over ten years ago and was not accessible on mobile – making it a real challenge for coaches and managers when away at tournaments.
10
years since TeamBuilder was first released
2000
clubs and schools using TeamBuilder
26k
schools and sports organisers with login access
Scope
002
Through in-person interviews, online feedback forms and meetings with industry leaders we learned:
Coaches and team managers needed more flexibility to manage their teams using mobile devices.
Users found it hard to navigate the app as the display presented too much data at once.
Users had to make a lot of clicks and navigate to different areas of TeamBuilder, as well as to other Sporty products, to complete tasks.
TeamBuilder V1 - first released in 2014 and only available on desktop
Solutions
003
We developed a decluttered view to make it easier to focus on which players weren’t yet assigned to a team and to get an overall view of teams in selected gradesWe developed a decluttered view to make it easier to focus on which players weren’t yet assigned to a team and to get an overall view of teams in selected grades.
We enabled enhanced filtering and column display customisation to suit different team needs e.g. a filter for ‘under 15s’.
We improved the team view for both desktop and mobile, for easier editing and team management on the go e.g. using a hamburger menu to incorporate the same setting options on mobile as on desktop.
Gallery
004
Original TeamBuilder (Not mobile responsive)
Revised TeamBuilder
Drag and drop people into a team
Competition managers can easily create new grades
Simplifying multiple grade editing with bulk edit
Send an email directly with a registration link
Ability to move a person, or add them to a team when they are already in a team
After adding/moving a person there is a prompt to select roles for the new team
Mobile screens showing people view, team view, and menu features.
Launch support and feedback
005
Users pleased to no longer be “flying blind” on the sideline.
The old TeamBuilder was well used and well loved, despite having a few pain points – so it was important we got the update right. By staying close to the original design, users were able to intuitively see how they could better use the new web app. We released training videos, support articles and delivered one-on-one trainings to some of our large scale users.
We have seen an uptake of people using TeamBuilder on game days on mobile devices. While competition managers with more complex needs still prefer editing and creating grades on desktop, coaches, team managers and volunteers now prefer using TeamBuilder on their mobile device.
Personal Reflections
005
Balancing long-term objectives with short-term priorities
This was originally meant to be a three-month project but it ended up taking over year. During this time, Sporty grew considerably as a business and we had to keep prioritising new paying clients over our own internal redesign projects. Despite completion of this project being delayed, I saw the importance of continuing with it as Sporty would need high-quality, modern and user-friendly web tools in order for our growth to be sustainable and to retain clients.
Developing my project planning and personal management skills
I was the sole UX designer on the team and so often had to juggle multiple responsibilities at once. This experience honed my ability to handle pressure and reinforced the importance of effective project planning and resource allocation.
Collaborating effectively as a team
For this project, I worked closely with the project owner, developers, customer support team and management. Through presenting and showcasing my design concepts and ideas to a busy team and management group, I learned to articulate design decisions clearly and convincingly.