MOTI Sports
Overview
Youth soccer training, anywhere & anytime!
MOTI Soccer is a youth 3D soccer training app for iOS and Android, with a desktop portal and administration. The app is designed to provide soccer players with interactive and personalized training drills to help improve their skills. The portal is used by coaches and trainers to create, communicate and manage training programs for their teams.
Product vision
MOTI Sports will be the three-dimensional learning hub for youth sports.
Discovered issues
Unity for cross-device app development caused difficulties. Also creating a seperate app and website to function and look the same is not advised.
Product outcome
An updated app and portal with an improved design and user experience.
MOTI Soccer SaaS overview
Company
- MOTI Sports, Inc.
Team
- Project Manager
- UX/UI Designer
- Web Engineer
- Database Engineer
- Mobile Engineer
- 3D Modeler
- Video Engineer
My roles
- UI Designer
- UX Designer
- Graphic Designer
- Design Strategist
Problem
Making it all work together
MOTI Sports was experiencing fractured continuity, low usage and engagement among its target user group of youth soccer players, volunteer soccer parent-coaches and group administrators. The website and the backend did not communicate, mesh features or the message. The company wanted to improve the user experience of the app and portal in order to increase usage and retention.
User challenges
Fractured continuity
Users are unaware of where, web or mobile, to accomplish tasks
Low usage
The barriers to entry were great and the payoff was relatively small
Low engagement
Users who got in were not staying long and often did not come back
Solution
Three-dimensional sports learning system
To make soccer knowledge easily accessible to coaches, parents and kids, MOTI Sports developed a web & mobile app that allows users to view and learn soccer skills and drills at any time in 3D.
Main product features
Full featured administration
Coaches can easily prepare for practice
Fun 3D app for players
Players can see the animated moves in 3D
Detailed analytics
See who is using and what they are viewing.
Discovery, Understanding & Ideation
On the ball in the pitch
MOTI Sports conducted user research to better understand the needs and pain points of its target users. This included conducting interviews with youth soccer players and coaches, as well as analyzing usage data from the app and portal. Based on this research, the company identified several key areas for improvement: simplifying the training program creation process, improving the 3D training and enhancing communication and support.
Business constraints
Technology
HTML/CSS/JS
Bootstrap/Material
JAVA/Maya 3D/Unity 3D
Time
6 months
Resources
MOTI Sports content and sports experts
Industry analysis
The sports training and management industry is widespread due to the number of sports and vastness of a world market. MOTI Sports, although capable to do many sports, decided to focus in on one sport, the youth soccer training and management industry.
Competitive analysis
There were numerous competitors. The MOTI Sports differentiator was their 3D content and vertical team management & learning focus.
Product standards & innovation research
Sports web/mobile standards and innovation was mostly gathered from professional leagues and large scale sports media, as well as modern CMS systems and gaming leagues.
Technology constraints
Technology
HTML/CSS/JS
JAVA/UNITY
Resources
On-site server, database and app stores
Requests
Make the site responsive and app for iOS and Android
User research methods
MOTI Sports conducted user research to better understand the needs and pain points of its target users. This included conducting interviews with youth soccer players and coaches, as well as analyzing usage data from the app and portal. Based on this research, the company identified several key areas for improvement.
200 Surveys
General surveys were sent by email to club admin, coaches and parents.
8 Interviews
Administrators, coaches and parents were interviewed by the CEO and results were provided.
4 Workshops
Four workshops were performed at youth soccer fields with coaches and both older and younger youth players.
Ideation
The challenge was to connect their marketing, SaaS website and app into a more cohesive unit.
One of the biggest challenges ended up being the sign-in process communication of the website and app. As well as managing the transistion from "3D Sports Tech" to "MOTI Sports" to "MOTI Soccer".
Design system
Branding, logo and main colors were provided by MOTI Sports. Subcolors, icons and components were designed as needed.
Prototyping
Mold and shape as it needs
Various prototypes were created with the client's direction and the major influences ended up being their previous site and modern sports sites.
Low-Fi Exploration
The site redesign began with digital sitemaps and wireframes.
Testing & Iteration
There were many back and forth sessions with constructive edits.
High Fidelity Prototypes
Site prototypes were created for clarity, approval and presales.
Validation
Working together works
After implementing the changes, MOTI Soccer saw a significant improvement in retention and engagement with the app and portal. The company experienced a 35% increase in usage of the app and a 40% increase in usage of the portal.
Outcomes
Rolling in unison
Youth soccer players reported that the new drills were more realistic and engaging. Coaches reported that the portal was easier to use and saved them time. Adminstrators and directors stated that it was a powerful tool for staying organized and focused on youth soccer consistency and continuity.
Final designs
Product benefits
Improved engagement
+35%
Increased sales
+20%
Raised awareness
+40%
The sport of soccer is world wide
Post-Launch, the user experience was improved and usage increased.
Takeaways
The way the ball bounces
The timeline was ample but the transition from old to new was rocky. Everyone did what they could to get the app and site running efficiently.
What did I learn?
- Non-Native development environments are difficult to use for exact consistency.
- Triple check when deciding upon a script-based design system.
- Proprietary systems can be hard to change because of deep roots.
What would I do if I had more time?
- Redesign the 3D content player.
- Add better onboarding screens.
What would I do differently?
- Move the app to an all Native system.
- Used realistic detailed professional attractive adult 3D models.
- I may have made the website for coaches only content and the app for the players and their parents.
Overall there are many things I would have liked to have improved, but the additional resources and time were not available.
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~Fin
© 2023 William Polito