Sports News App.
In a nutshell.
Challenge
Design a personalised sports news app for ESPN UK with tailored content.
Create a flexible system for iOS and Android (mobile and tablet), accommodating diverse content from multiple sources.
My role
Led (hands-on) UX design, research & prototyping work streams.
Collaborated with visual designers to bring the product to life.
Impact
No.1 ‘new & noteworthy' free app
4+ star iTunes rating
Featured by Apple as a commuter favourite
Approach.
Set the team up for success
We began by defining project scope, setting goals, and establishing our working methods. With a tight 4-week deadline, we focused on setting clear expectations and a detailed week-by-week plan.
Our core team included myself, a UX designer, visual designers, a delivery manager, and a client partner.
We collaborated with ESPN's US-based development team, holding sessions and consulting with our technical lead to ensure alignment with our design objectives.
Example of our planning board
Explored the world of sport
Many team members, including myself 👋, were sports fans, which gave us initial insights into what users might want from a personalised sports news app. To gather more detailed insights, we conducted interviews with sports enthusiast colleagues and sent out a survey to a few hundred people.
Using the insights we gathered, I led the creation of experience principles that guided our design process. We also developed a set of core use cases to address user needs effectively.
To ensure we could leverage available data and content types, we familiarised ourselves with API documentation. We conducted a rapid competitor landscape review to inform our design strategy.
Example experience principles
Shaped the concept
We established core flows to ideate around, such as onboarding, creating a personalized content feed, and tailoring updates. I facilitated collaborative sketching sessions with the core team to generate ideas.
These ideas were then developed into paper prototypes, which we showed to a selection of sports fans to gather rapid feedback.
Our multidisciplinary team worked in a collaborative project room with lots of wall space, allowing us to immerse ourselves in the world of sport.
Example lo-fi sketches of flow
Sweat the detail
The app was built by ESPN's development team based in the US, requiring us to thoroughly document flows, behaviours, and designs.
To illustrate key user flows and behaviours, we created an interactive prototype.
During the development phase, we had access to the build and provided prioritised feedback to ensure alignment with our design vision.
Detailed design documentation for build partner
