An open laptop computer sitting on top of a white table

I designed a user-friendly feature for administrators of grassroots sports clubs to manage facility creation, availability, and booking, following UX/UI best practices. This feature was specifically tailored to be accessible and intuitive for individuals aged 30-55 who may be less tech-literate.

Role
UX Research
UX/UI Design
Team
Solo Project
Client
Design Challenge
Duration
1 Week
March 24
Overview
Research
Analysis
Iteration
Final Solution

Context

Grassroots sports clubs need efficient management tools for scheduling and coordinating facilities.

Problem Overview

At the moment, current systems lack intuitive features, making it challenging for less tech-savvy administrators to manage facility resources.

Objective

Research, analyse and design a user-friendly feature that allows club administrators to effortlessly book facilities and manage resources.

Design Process: Double Diamond

Research

The project's initial phase involved understanding current market solutions, their strengths, weaknesses, and conventions. I also aimed to comprehend user goals, team management contexts, and daily operational challenges.

Competitive Analysis

To get a better understanding of the event booking space, I have curated a variety of Facility/Event Management software. The goal of this research technique was to get an insight into how competitors deal with the problems/painpoints that we might face and to identify common practices/conventions that we can emulate.

Key Insights:

Clear Navigation

The implementation of a sticky sidebar navigation with distinct options improves the user's overall experience with the software.

Distinct Categories/Tags

By prioritizing visual hierarchy through color contrast and tags, users can easily identify different events, teams, and members, thereby reducing confusion.

Streamlined Management Flow

The addition and removal of facilities/events is a common feature in the reviewed software. Offering flexible options, such as single or recurring events, enhances user satisfaction and efficiency.

Forum/Job Post Investigation

My first challenge arose while attempting to deepen my understanding of the user. Given the project's scope and my limited resources, I was unable to conduct user interviews. I discovered that researching public forums served as a fitting alternative.

Key Insights:

Manage all Members

“What I would like to achieve: Management of all members (name, birthday, phone number etc.)”

Categorisation

“have different teams under the same roof but a way to separate the fixtures/results etc.”

Payment Status Uncertainty

“track memberships and related payments”

User Persona/Storyboard

I approached this storyboard by reviewing the findings collected to visually map out the journey of the user. This storyboard was used to emphasise the users context and emotions.

Analysis

Affinity Diagram

At this stage, I have completed the research to understand the user, problems and existing solutions. It was then time to organise the raw data I collected to clearly define the issues at hand. To achieve this, I created an affinity diagram to group the research findings into logical clusters, aiming to enhance the clarity of the results and guide the design process.

Key Insights:

Categorisation of Groups

A significant insight is the users’ need to efficiently categorise and differentiate various groups like facilities, members, teams, and events.

Software Feedback (System Status)

Feedback is crucial in software, especially for less tech-savvy users. It signals whether an action has been executed, progress has been saved, and alerts users if there's a problem, thereby guiding the user through the process.

Communication and Collaboration

An insight gained during the research is that users want the ability to invite team members, communicate with coaches and managers, and receive notifications.

Software Input Controls

When creating an effective club management software, it's crucial for the admin to have various control options like scheduling single or recurring events.

Visual Hierarchy

The application of colour contrast, white space, and information chunking is a fundamental UX principle. It ensures the design solution is not only easy to navigate but also visually appealing.

Iteration

Brainstorming

During the diverging stage, I aimed to generate as many ideas as possible to inform the final solution. Brainstorming allowed me to clearly define my direction, prioritise, and concentrate on the key issues uncovered in the previous phases.

Design Goals Prioritised:

Efficient Management Processes

The main objective was to design a process that boosts productivity and efficiency. This process would allow user’s to easily add, remove, manage and view club facilities with a focus on enhancing the overall user’s experience.

Communication/Collaboration

A key design requirement is the ability for admins to share information, communicate with team members, and collaborate with coaches.

Categorisation

The main goal was to develop a system that enables admins to easily categorise and filter various teams or groups.

User Flows

In this phase of the project, I leveraged insights from previous stages to develop seven user flows. The purpose of creating these user flows was to understand where each screen sits within the software's structure.

Sketch to High Fidelity

View Prototype

At this stage, I have completed all the research and mapped out possible flows for the product. It was then time to design wireframes based on the insights collected.

Given the scope of this project, I was mindful of the time constraints. Therefore, I decided to focus on a single use case. I chose the "Create Booking" use case, as I recognised that addressing this would inherently tackle other use cases.

UX Design Principles (Justification)  

Perceivability

The interface was designed with user in mind. The user should know what the software does, what they need to do first and how to do it. The design adopted the use of skeuomorphism, making the calendar resemble its real-life counterpart.

Progressive Disclosure

To prevent information overload, the design has been divided into smaller steps. This ensures that the user down not become overwhelmed with a excessive information.

Inline Validation

One key insight from the research findings was the importance of prioritising software feedback. Inline validation, which provides real-time feedback as users fill out a form, is a great way to do this. It helps reduce errors and increase user satisfaction.

Clear Navigation

The competitive analysis highlighted the need for clear navigation. I implemented a fixed sidebar for easy, intuitive access to software features.

Chunking

While designing the form, I chunked the elements into 4 sections: Title/Description, Date/Time, Team/Coach and Location. This allows the user to scan the data more easily.

Accessibility

Accessibility was a primary concern in the design of this product. Simplicity and consistency ensure that the product is accessible to all, particularly those aged 30-55 who are less tech-savvy.

Final Solution Features

Categorisation

The software provides an easy way for admins to categorise and filter various teams or groups.

Team Management

The software provides intuitive tools for admins to manage their teams effectively.

User Control

The software prioritises user control and forgiveness, preventing penalties for mistakes.

Hicks Law

By only providing the user with a limited number of options, it reduces their cognitive load, which in turn reducing complexity.

Smart Default

The software remembers previous entry, saving the user time and increasing satisfaction.

Inline Validation

Provides real-time feedback as users fill out a form, with the aim of reducing errors.

Communication

Once the form is validated, a notification will be sent to team members.

Software Feedback

The software provides real-time feedback when an action has taken place, helping to reduce errors and increase user satisfaction.

Design System

While developing this design system, various factors were considered. To maintain consistency, I used the M3 Material Design, an open-source design system, as a reference. I employed an 8pt grid system and a 14-column layout. Auto layout was used throughout the process to make the design scalable and future-proof.

Learnings/Next Steps

One of the main learnings I took away from this project is the importance of research. To effectively design a product, you must first understand the user’s context, goals and frustrations they have.

What would I do differently?
If I were to redo this project, I'd plan to conduct direct interviews with users. Given the limited time I had, I thought it was appropriate to investigate forums, as this approach provided key insights into the frustrations and painpoints that admins encountered.

What's the next steps?
The next steps to further develop this project would be to:
1. Conduct usability testing with the current prototype to identify any usability issues.
2. Continue developing the product, focusing specifically on other use cases.
3. Conduct user interviews to validate design decisions.

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