Enhancing the NFL Live Game Experience

theScore
Jun - Aug 2024
UX Research Intern

Summary

As a UX Research intern at theScore, I led a mixed methods research plan to identify areas of comprehension and confusion in the FPI concept design and understand user preferences and value props to tailor the FPI data. I found that there were some areas of confusion, but users were mostly able to understand the design. Users come to the page when they can’t watch a game live, during the red zone of a game, or for fantasy purposes. This led to using animation and a carousel to keep users engaged on the page, and UI changes to make the field visualization more initiative to understand.
Reach out to me if you want access to the full research plan and share out from this project!

Background

theScore is a sports entertainment company that provides sports content, scores and statistics to users primarily in Canada and the United States. In summer 2024, I worked as a UX researcher on the Sports team, which was responsible for any features related to sports, including scores, standings, matchup page, and team stats.

The Problem

The NFL experience in theScore app was designed to enhance the live game experience, provide essential data for following the game, increase user engagement and revenue, and continuously evoke and add new features. 
Through workshopping with my team, I observed that the product wasn’t meeting these goals. TheScore user base wasn’t growing, the live game experience wasn’t meeting expectations or providing relevant data, and users were frustrated about the information and how it was presented.
To address these problems the product designer proposed the below concept design for the matchup page:
Current matchup page
Proposed matchup page

Research Goals

From the identified user and business problems, I collaborated with the Product designer in a kickoff meeting, where two research goals came out:

1

Identify areas of comprehension and confusion in the FPI concept design

2

Understand user preferences and value props to tailor the FPI data to

Research Questions

Based on these goals and brainstorming of questions from the team, the following questions became the focus of the research:
Exploratory
1
What and how much information are users looking for in the FPI when following a match? 
2
What information is the most valuable to users? 
3
What are the main differences in information preferences between hardcore and casual users? 
4
What are the workflows or use cases of this information? 
Evaluative
1
Do users comprehend the information and graphics on the FPI? 
2
Are users satisfied with the type and amount of information shown? 
3
Are there any gaps or pain points within the FPI design? 
4
Do users know where to find play and drive data from the FPI? 

Methodology and Recruitment

Based on the goals and research questions outlined, it was clear that there were two main objectives so a mixed-method approach would be best suited. I used a survey to recruit and screen participants, user interviews, and card sorting to answer all my research questions.
I collaborate with the data analyst to send the survey out to two user segments:
1
Hardcore users: users who have used the matchup page >10 times within the last month
2
Casual users: users who have used the matchup page between 2-10 times within the last month
* Users who have used the matchup page less than two times within the last month were considered accidental clicks and therefore were not included in the analysis.

Conducting the Survey

Conducting Research

This survey included questions asking about satisfaction and importance levels for several features, as well as general NFL viewing habits such as:
  • How often do you watch/follow NFL games? Why?
  • How satisfied are you with the matchup page as a user/fan?
  • How important is the Field Position Indicator offered in theScore app to you as a user/fan?

Analysis

Most users were very satisfied with the current FPI and consider it very important for watching/following a game. However, users desired more details about the field position, drives, and plays.

Conducting the User Interviews & Card sort

Conducting Research

I interviewed 12 participants (7 hardcore, 5 casual) select from the survey respondents. Each interview was scheduled for 45 minutes and split into 3 parts:

1. Introduction

Building rapport, current FPI experience and NFL viewing habits to understand the use cases of the feature and make interview participants comfortable

2. Card sort

Users were shown an empty field design and asked to drag the cards where they would want to see them on the page, and then rank their 3 most important cards

3. Concept designs

Users viewed variations of the design of different football plays to gauge if they understand the design and if anything is missing or unnecessary
Example of the card sort activity

Conducting Research

I used an Affinity map to organize my findings and identify patterns between participants. This helped me visualize what responses were most common, as well as key differences between the user segments.

High Level Takeaways

These findings were shared as I learned them with the product designer, so he could quickly iterate on the design. I later shared them in a formal presentation with the broader team including the Product managers, Engineering, and Senior manager. 

Satisfying and comprehensive design

Majority of users were able to understand and liked the FPI concept design

Used when they can’t watch a game live

Users used the matchup page more when they’re busy or following multiple games at once

The red zone is the most important

Users tune in more to a game if a team is in the redzone or close in score

Visualization is more of a nice-to-have

Users are more drawn to the text and feel it could take away from extra information

Fantasy motivates hardcore users

Majority of hardcore users look for stats and data to support their fantasy team

Most important info to get game context:

1.Current field position
2. Current play
3. Last play

Recommendations

Based on my findings, I passed the following recommendations onto Design and Product:
1
Emphasize when a team is in the red zone: Users currently use the FPI to know when a touchdown will happen and will use the page more when its in the red zone
2
Consider removing extra click to view previous plays: If a touchdown has happened, users are more likely to look for information about what previously happened
3
Differentiate between various types of plays: Based on some confusion around the visualization and desire to see punts and additional plays
4
Consider ways to enhance the overall experience for fantasy: Since fantasy is a main driver for many hardcore users, it could be beneficial to investigate this experience

Results

The design was updated based on my research including:

Reflection and Learnings

1
The outcome will not always follow the research: One of the key findings was that users found the visual as more of a nice-to-have, and don't spend much time on the page. However, I learned this visualization is still important from the business perspective, to build a brand that can compete with ESPN. As the voice of the users, I had to figure out how to balance these competing needs, so that both the users and the business benefit.
2
A passionate user makes interviews FUN: I had to do my own research into the in and outs of football, but it was all worth it to be able to converse and understand hardcore football fans. It felt so rewarding showing these users the concept designs and get genuine feedback and reactions because it is something they care so deeply about. It often made it easy to conduct interviews when the participant was so excited about the topic, however I also had to quickly learn how to stop a conversation from derailing or talking about unrelated features.
Thanks for stopping by!
Know of any UXR or PM new grad opportunities, or just want to chat?
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Made by Sydney LeBlanc, 2024  
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