Role
UX Researcher
Information Architect
UI/UX Designer
Applications
Sketch
Invision
Adobe Creative Cloud
Duration
3 Months
Problem Area
At its peak in 2003 there were 30.6 million golfers who played on course at least once a year. By 2014 the number of active players had declined to 24.7 million. This decrease in players has been a burden on local courses. Since 2006 eight percent of U.S. courses have closed.
In contrast, off-course play is at an all time high thanks to new social experiences like TopGolf or DriveShack. This indicates there is still a general interest in the sport.
My goal is to facilitate involvement among new and existing players within their golfing community to support local courses.
User Interviews
Screener surveys were conducted to find five target users. Each user was interviewed for 30 minutes about their experiences with golf. My target users are golfers that play less than two times per year or individuals that show an interest, but have not played. Below are a few stand out quotes.
Affinity Mapping
Each user had their own unique story, but by grouping key aspects from each interview together similarities become apparent.
Reputation leads new players to believe other golfers will not be like them.
Social anxiety forms in both new and existing players when playing with others they do not know or that do not match in skill level.
New players are worried they will be embarrassed by not understanding how the process of playing works.
Each player needs to feel like they are welcome at the course, and these issues can prevent that.
Personas
Although there are similarities between each persona, both have unique characteristics that can demand different feature sets to address their issues. A root cause of each persona’s hesitance to golf on the course is a type of social anxiety. After reflecting on my research the questions below will act as guidelines for exploring design solutions.
How might we make courses more approachable for new players?
How might we relieve the stress of playing with strangers?
How might we engage players with the course community?
How might we create transparency within the process?
Ideation
I had a lot of ideas to address my questions, but needed to step back and focus in on the simplest way to address my personas’ problems. Since one of my main objectives is persuading users to play at their local course a tee-time booking service seemed like a natural fit, but what aspects can be added or changed to benefit both personas?
Show club rental options.
Quick tip guides.
Tutorial videos.
Player visibility.
Customized scoring.
Special tee-boxes.
Pair with alike players.
Specialized beginner pack.
Tee-time transparency.
Digital membership.
Player invite perks.
Biography or history.
Daily & weekly contests.
Group invitations.
Skill tracking.
Recommendations.
Messaging.
Ease of use.
Building Infrastructure
With a more concrete idea of the minimum viable product it was time to begin organizing necessary functons into screens through sitemaps and user flows. Three main areas were used to organize like functions and features. Keeping the number of sections to a minimum should create a better ease of use and simplicity.
User Flows (Red Routes)
Sketch Concepts (Red Routes)
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Now its time to take the sense of flow created in previous steps and create a skeleton of each screen. This let us ensure all steps and screens are functional by our own review, but also by using this prototype to conduct guerrilla usability testing. This fast testing confirmed my organization was on the right tracks, but it may be worth exploring iconography and progress indicators when prototyping further.
Brand Identity
Before creating high fidelity screens, I stepped back and created a mood board to examine what the brand will stand for. This brand and application is created to make golfing more accessible by introducing players to others like them. Foreplay shows real golfers around them which will redefine preconceived ideas about the community, and show new players how to begin playing. The visual design should reflect this idea of effortless approachability.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Two rounds of usability testing was conducted with the final prototype. A few areas of improvement was discovered such as creating a more visual concise tee-time card, course guide light box, and detailed descriptions of player skill levels.
How does Foreplay work for original personas? New golfers benefit from guidance throughout the booking process by having all aspects explained. Arrival tips ensure they know exactly what to expect. The ability to pair players with course guides or other beginners puts them in a situation where they will be welcomed.
Showing players and their skill level in each tee-time helps the casual golfer choose a paring he will be comfortable in. They can filter by players that match their skill level or join times with friends from previous pairings.
What’s next?
Foreplay is in a great position, but more usability testing to further refine the interaction and feature set would be beneficial. A/B testing aspects of the skill level identifiers and filters could be helpful.
Additional features could be developed down the road to explore even more ways to involve golfers with their local community.
Click on the video or link below to see the prototype in action!