RUGBY UNION MATCH CENTRE
Enhancing the digital match day experience for thousands of rugby fans
THE PROBLEM
Rugby Union teams currently have a basic out of the box match centre with limited features and not a lot of personalisation for users to view data and be fully immersed in the digital matchday experience
The features that are offered to Rugby Union fans is very basic and doesn't give a full story of the two teams that are competing against each other. As a result, a lot of features that are offered are not engaging to fans, and they subsequently either don't spend much time at all looking at specific pages, or simply can't find them either
4,000 average users on match days
34% of users spend most of their time on the overview page of the match centre
42% of users spend time looking at match stats primarily
19 seconds - the average amount of time spent looking at match stats
18 seconds - the average amount of time spent on video pages despite having a high viewer count
Immediately it was evident that there is an issue with how users digest match stats. The contrast between high video page counts and low time spent on these pages suggests that users want to find more engaging video content that is easy to understand. As a result, focusing on bringing to life match stats as well as the overview page was key for us. It was also evident that the current match centre does not cater to a range of different user needs, so creating something that is accessible for everyone was a key objective.
In addition to this, there was also a commitment from the business to grow and retain rugby union fans, as it is a market that InCrowd was trying to break through more in comparison to their client work with under industries, such as Cricket and Football.
TIMELINE
June 2022 - August 2022
THE TEAM
1 UX/UI Designer
1 Product Owner
4 Developers
1 Quality Engineer
1 Quality Assurance
KEY GOAL
To create a much more intuitive and personable match centre that caters to all needs
OBJECTIVE
- Enhance the match centre with a range of new features, utilising key APIs and data driven by Oval Insights analytics
- Create a match centre that is personalisable and offers a unique experience to different types of fans
- Make data much more engaging and easier to digest in order to increase traffic into certain pages
WORKSHOP SESSIONS
Workshop sessions were set up to gather initital insights from 30 participants in terms of understanding how they interact with match centres and what do they typically expect to see
Synthesising sessions were used in order to understand what themes should be visible in the match centre depending on the match state at a high level. They were ranked in a prioritisation order, and then further prioritisation sessions were conducted to know which were the most important ones in each list
The experiment was then redone on a much more granular level. 30 participants were asked to conceptualise what type of features would sit in specific themes at each match state, and then further vote for the ones that they felt were most important.
In addition to this, the workshop validated initial assumptions that Rugby fans tend to interact with match stats more than other sports fans, which gave valuable insight into the type of users that I would be designing for
USER PERSONAS
User personas were created in order to understand the different types of fans that would use the currrent match centre product, as well as how they would typically go about navigating the match centre for specific information
The die-hard fan
The Stats Buff
The casual fan
The New/Young Fan
CURRENT MATCH CENTRE PROBLEMS
The current match centre misses a lot of key information that fans would like to have access to, whilst also not providing valuable content that fans can engage with
Fans currently do not have access to information like seasonal match stats, standings, and comparison tools. Focus group sessions showed that this was something that users wanted
57% of participants wanted to compare stats over multiple seasons rather than just across the current season, with the goal of spotting trends
83% of participants want to be able to compare in-depth stats between players, both from the same team and opposing teams
70% of participants want to see more visual infographics that provide more in-depth information as well as easier to scan
73% of participants want more interactional, reward based features that make the match centre much more engaging and a place to engage with other fans
Landing Page
The lineups page is a bit flat, and only showcases basic information.
Participants found that it was difficult to know exactly which player was who, as well as what number and position they were.
Participants wanted more dynamic data to be visible in the lineups, with the ability to look at summarised stats of eahc individual player's season.
Match Stats
The landing overview page is what fans seem to interact with the most, but does not offer much insight into the game between 2 teams. Participants wanted to be able to compare head-to-head stats between both teams in much more detail rather than just using it as a hub for latest news.
Participants also found that the page was bland and only offered surface level information. They want the homepage to be a centre of data that they can interact with and make quick predictions.
The homepage was seen to also be the main landing page for match-centre data, providing real-time, dynamic updates of the game, rather than just a news aggregator centre.
Lineups
Match stats relatively all look the same, and it is expected that this is what makes the match stats screen uninspiring to hold fan engagement.
Participants also wanted more indepth comparisons between players so that they could see leaderboards, trends and the best performing players.
Participants also found the tabbed feature to hide a lot of information that especially became difficult to navigate on mobile.
Standings
Standings only tell the story of the current season at that specific point that the fan looks at the table.
Participants wanted to have more control over how they use the tables, in terms of looking at home/away/overall records, next matches, as well as positional changes over the course of the season.
OPEN CARD SORT EXERCISE
8 participants were given different features and asked to group them by pages as they saw best fit. This provided the basis for the information architecture to structure the match centre accordingly to what fans wanted.
The card sorting exercise provided valuable insight into how users typical expect to navigate through the match centre and what they want to see when landing in it.
Users typically want an overview page which tells a story about the match, by giving historical head-to-head stats between the teams, such as previous results, last 5 games, table positions, as well as match summaries if the game is live.
They also indicated that lineups are an important part of the match centre that is frequently used, as well as this being an entry point to player profiles.
HIGH-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
Using the information architecture, wireframes were created to show the overall functionality of the new and proposed match centre. Frequent collaboration with developers and Oval Insights allowed me to understand what type of data was feasible to be shown, and how we can display that information.
ULSTER RUGBY USER INTERFACE
After creating the design system and components, these are expected to be used across a range of different rugby union teams. Ulster Rugby will be the first team to utilise this new match centre UI. I then conducted 30 moderated testing sessions to understand how particpants interact and understand the new match-centre experience.
Pre-game overview
News and Video content is now stationed in the hero banner of the page to allow for better findability, as this is what fans tend to engage with the most when they enter Ulster's website. It also provides a summary of key news relevant to the match centre, whilst bringing to life more key match-data.
On top of this, we have offered more statistical data that provides betting fans more information to make informed betting decisions, showing the win probability of each team, and the ability to increase engagement with the match centre rather than relying on third parties.
63% of participants found value in the win probability when it came to making betting decisions.
83% of participants prefer the new template with news articles being synthesised and filtered into a smaller area of the landing page. They found the current design to be far too overwhelming, whereas now they find that they can scan the page easier and get to more engaging content quicker.
Fans now also have the option to see more summarised data regarding recent form, recent opponents, and scores, as well as navigate through different match centres. This will allow them to have access to a wide variety of data whilst still being easily digestable, and not having to search for the information as they currently have to.
Fans also get given a more visually appealing match history, with specific branding for each tournament type, making it easily scannable as well as aesthetically pleasing.
100% of participants found the summarised recent head-to-head history to be much more visually appealing, as well as easier to digest information as it provided clearer context into the team's recent games, as well as previous tournaments they have faced each other in. It also provided more navigation to other match centres, which makes navigation throughout the site much easier in general.
Live game overview
Fans are now given an dynamic timeline of the game, detailing the key events of the game. They can see substitutions, red cards, sin bins, tries and conversions.
They are also given the option to look at infographics that detail the passing sequences or position of tries/conversions in order to get a more accurate reading of where the action happened on the pitch
Sin bins now have an interactive countdown timer that informs the user on how long is left until they are allowed back on
These features allow fans to have a quick snapshot summary of how the game is playing out, clearly displaying which team the action belongs to
80% of participants found the dynamic match timeline on the live-match centre landing page to be highly insightful and offer more complex data at a bitesize level, whilst also adding to the drama of a matchday experience with live updates and big infographic tiles.
100% of participants found that the information that appeared on the timeline was exactly what they wanted, and felt like it offered a much more immersive and in-depth experience than what the current journey demonstrates. Being able to see XY coordinates of tries allows the user to have a much more enhanced experience in knowing how a play route occured.
17% of participants found that the timeline took up too much space and would prefer a horizontal view would reduce scroll-time. Future iterations could involve utilising this view. However, the decision to go vertical view was due to mobile optimisation.
The overview page was significantly revamped and has dynamic features to the user depending on the status of the game (pre-match, live match, post-match). As this is the landing page, we want to give the user a range of different features that tell the story for the match and also serve as a central hub that allows them to dive deeper into certain aspects, like match stats, player stats, or standings.
The header has been completely revamped now to showcase a countdown timer for when the game starts, including the form of the last 5 games from each team. It also provides the option for fans to buy tickets before the game begins, as well as more general matchday information that the fan would need to know
100% of participants find the landing page much more engaging and interesting to visit. The visual improvement made the experience more immersive and allowed them to not feel excluded from the match-going experience
93% of participants found the new layout to be easier to scan and read data quickly rather than having to search for it
An updated table has been included to show more information, including more exposure on points difference, team logos and next opponents.
Fans also now have the opportunity to take part in polls and other engagement tools in order to see what others think about the game, so the community aspect of a matchday experience is not lost on the online fan.
73% of participants think this feature is highly valuable to their matchday experience. Fan engagement is pivotal to the online fan as they want to feel valued as supporters as much as matchgoing fans. In addition to this, the ability to have a voice allows them to interact with and communicate with other like-minded individuals, as well as see how their opinions line up with others.
The header now displays the live status of the game, as well as scorers, and highlights relating directly to the game are displayed here so the user always has access to it regardless of what page they are on. They are also given the option to watch a stream or listen to live audio commentary, which is provided by the club's personal streaming services.
The stadium the game is being played in also pulled through to make for a more visual experience, allowing the fan to feel like they are part of the match even in an online experience.
90% of participants enjoy having highlights and video content in the match banner as it is relevant to the live match and separates content away from team and player data
100% of participants prefer the new iteration to have up-to-date scorers and cards in the match banner as it provides more context at a glance of who has influenced the game in some capacity
Fans can now also see a basic summary of the match stats, which they can click on to look at in more detail.
They can also see how the score in the game is affecting the table positions of both teams in real time.
Finally, we have added a match leaders section, which shows the best performing players for specific metrics.
These stats will allow fans to have a better understanding of how the game is playing out, and who is performing the best. This in turn can lead to better discussions amongst other groups, or help them make better informed fan decisions.
The match centre landing page is typically seen as a place that showcases dynamic summarised data of the match that fans can digest and interact with at a glance, and can be used for navigation to view that data in more detail. As such, the landing page has drastically changed from a news aggregator site. The scanning experience has significantly been improved, and visibility of data has been enhanced so that they aren't just hidden away behind tabs.
90% of participants find high value in seeing high-level overviews of leaderboards for specific metrics. It allows them them to quickly see who is the best performing player in specific scenarios, and gives them an easier navigation to finding player stats and comparisons in more detail.
Lineups
Lineups were dramatically improved to include more in-game data on players, as well as offer the opportunity to view specific player profiles, which were previously only available outside of the match centre.
The list view lineup has the ability to click on a player's name and view their player profile in more detail, or to expand the player name and see in-match stats in comparison to the rest of the game. This gives the user more data available at hand to see how players are performing in the context of the game.
83% of participants found that this level of data significantly enhanced the match-day experience.
90% of participants also believed that the player-specific data was found in the exact area where they would go to search for it.
27% of participants would like the information to be more visually snappy and engaging, including the ability to compare between different players. In such an instance, it is possible they didn't know this feature was possible elsewhere in the matchday experience.
The pitch view lineup now shows up-to-date match related information specific to each player, including yellow cards, red cards, tries, conversions and substitutions.
it also has an updated player profile icon which saves space and allows for more information to be present on the screen to the user
100% of participants found the lineup change was much more visually engaging and less "clunky" to look at
20% of participants would like to see a lineup of both teams on one pitch, rather than having to tab between the home and away team
Match Stats
Match stats are one of the most important aspects of the match centre. Previous market data indicates that Rugby fans on average engage with stats much more than other sports, yet Ulster's match stats section gets extremely low traction. The new designs put a lot more emphasis on bringing stats to life with visual infographics and more in-depth information, as well as more control for the user to compare data between players and teams in much more detail than they previously could.
The introduction of expected tries was brought in based on APIs available from our rugby data provider, Oval Insights. It shows how the expected tries of each team changes over the course of the game. This data is calculated using a range of values that have an effect on the expected score.
One other feature is the use of showcasing try and conversion positions on a pitch view using X and Y coordinates. This allows the user to see where play started from the pitch and where it ended, empowering fans to get a better view of play-by-plays for their team.
63% of participants found that this level of detailed statistics added value to immersing themselves within the game so they can understand patterns of play rather than just relying on surface level statistics.
37% of participants would have liked such complex stats to be explained better, with keys and supportive text explaining how it works.
There is a lot more focus on improving the visual clarity of match stats. The current match centre lays everything out in just bar charts. Here, we have opted for pitch-view infographics displaying possession related data, and donut chart comparisons for percentage based stats.
90% of participants found it much easier to understand pitch coverage for each team much better, as well as scan information easier by breaking up data from arbitrary bar charts
Player Stats
Ulster currently provide very little personalisation in player stats. Tables are static and don't provide much personalisation of data showcased, so the new and updated tables give fans the power to fully customise what data they want to be able to see.
Fans are also given the opportunity to directly compare two players, which gives them an overview of their seasonal stats and live match stats.
97% of participants find player comparisons to be a highly integral aspect of the matchday experience, so the ability to select multiple players from each time was seen as a significantly positive feature.
43% of participants stated that they would like to have more control of player comparisons, and be able to compare more than just 2, so that they can make much more granular comparisons
Player stats has been fully optimised to allow for greater visualisation of stats as well as personalisation. The first thing we have done is create a table with multiple filters. Fans can now filter stats down to seasonal or live match stats, or to view stats for Team A, Team B, or both.
Fans can also filter the match stats specifically, and can select or deselect as many stats as they want to view
90% of participants found the table extremely engaging and easy to navigate. The filter options were clear and concise whilst also allowing them full control over seeing what stats they want to see.
Player comparisons show spider diagrams of seasonal average stats so fans can see which metrics a certain player performs better in.
They are also given the opportunity to compare stats on a season-by-season basis, or per game over the course of the season.
These features fully allow the user to have full control over what stats they want to see, as well as fully optimise the experience for fans who enjoy interacting with statistics. The data is simple and easy to read, so that newer fans can also easily digest information and understand who the best performing players are.
100% of participants found the comparison tool across sesons and within the same season was incredibly useful and added a high level of insight that was clear and concise.
30% would like to see more clarity on the data within the spider diagram. This was a tool used more in stats like football than rugby, which potentially might not make it the most effective method of showcasing summarised comparitive data on rugby players
Standings
Current standings don't provide fans the chance to see storylines for teams over the course of the season, so we wanted to bring a team's seasonal story to life, in order to create better discussion about their current campaign, and predictions for how the season will play out...
The biggest change to standings, however, is the ability to now filter by per-game. This allows fans to see how the two teams competing have changed positions over the course of the season. If they hover over a specific match week, it will show the results for that match week, and if the teams moved up, down, or stayed the same in their position in the table.
This fully enhances the experience to see team form over the course of the entire season.
100% of participants found the trending table to be highly valuable as it provided much more in-depth context of the team's form over the course of the season. The ability to preview games vs other teams and be able to navigate to that corresponding match-centre hub was well-received, with users stating that it allowed them to compare how team and player stats change on a game by game basis.
It also allowed participants to make better informed predictions on how the table will change by the end of the season, as well as predictions for tournament runs as well.
Standings have been updated to include more seasonal information, such as points differences, try differences, and seasonal points percentages. It also includes better visual clarity, detailing the logo of each team, as well as who their next opponent is going to be.
100% of participants found this to be a subtle change, but offered much more valuable experience as it allowed them to make predictions on how the table will change overtime.
100% of participants found the real-time table update to be useful as it also impacted betting and predictions.
20% of users therefore suggested that providing betting options on the tables and standings would also be welcome as they don't need to jump between screens to engage with the different tools available to them
73% of participants found it incredibly useful to be able to filter between different tournaments as well as it provides more context to the team's performances over the course of the entire season
CONSTRAINTS
There were many constraints placed on the project, such as existing back end builds, APIs, and data available to us through our data provider, Oval Insights
There was a real appetite to include much more granular stats, such as average stats per team and over the course of the season. As we were not given this data directly from Oval Insights, this had to be manually calculated and developed by us. This proved too time costly, so was ultimately left out of the initial solution. However, it has been noted to potentially return further along in the roadmap once the initial match centre is rolled out.
In addition to this, the project ran on a strict two month deadline, so I was constrained in creating new, slick components that do not currently exist within the design system. As such, prioritisation was conducted through voting at the start in order to know which features were the most important to the user experience, and to focus on those primarily with a goal to explore the match centre further down the line.
Finally, user feedback was mostly extremely positive, with insight suggesting that the more granular, complex data adding value to the match-day experience. However, feedback suggested that such data should be better explained so the upskilling experience on how to engage with such data isn't so frustrating. Further iterations will have to take place to optimise this further.
SUMMARY
The new Rugby Union match centre has been completely rehauled to allow for a much more in-depth and immersive experience, providing full control to the fans to fully experience matchdays in ways where they are able to explore a wide rage of data, and make informed decisions or have more-indepth discussions with their peers.
The new match centre will cater towards all types of fans, and give them the opportunity to digest a wide range of easily-accessible data in a much more visually stunning way.
Going through multiple rounds of iteration saw the match centre experience vastly more immersive and inclusive for a wide variety of fans
I left the project before it could be delivered.
