Ballify

Define Objectives
‍
For the first step of the process I defined objectives by outlining the goals of the project. This helped me focus on what was important. The main objective was to design the Ballify app and create an interactive prototype. I aimed to specifically design features that would address the problem of finding the right time and place to play basketball.

Research and Empathize
‍
‍The next step in the process was research and empathizing. I decided to rely on a survey for the majority of my research. I created a survey through Google Forms and asked the following questions:
‍
‍Where do you prefer to play pickup basketball?
What day of the week do you prefer to play pickup basketball?
What time of day do you prefer to play basketball?
What type of game do you prefer to play?
Why do you play pickup basketball?

From the survey results I concluded that the majority of people prefer to play full court basketball games indoors, on weekend afternoons. I also noted that the main reason people play basketball is for health and wellness specifically exercise. There is also a therapeutic and social aspect of playing basketball that people get from playing. I also researched statistics on basketball and fitness.

I also researched competitor apps that are similar to Ballify to learn from their mistakes and successes. I found three competitors; Nike Run Club, Meetup, and Foursquare. I learned that competitor apps had a few of the features that potential users of Ballify would need. For instance, using Foursquare I was able to locate several basketball courts and see who’s checked into that location. However, I was not able to see basketball court information about the number of courts, if they are indoors. Using market research information, I created three personas to frame the needs and point of view of potential users.

Ideate
‍
‍The next step in the process was coming up with multiple solutions to address the needs of users. The potential solutions that I came up with were:

- An interactive Map
- List of locations (courts, gyms, parks)
- Information about courts (hours of operation, cost/fees, number of courts)
- Check in users to a court automatically using GPS location
- Allow people to schedule games
- Allow people to see score of current games being played
- Rewards program that offers membership, discounts, merch and partnerships with sportswear brands (each game scheduled, played and checked into people earn points)
- Alerts for games

‍After coming up with multiple ideas I created a low fidelity and then high fidelity prototype that I used to gain feedback and validate solutions. I started with drawing rough sketches using pencil and sketch pad. Then I moved to Figma to create the designs for each screen of the app. After exporting the app screens, I used InVision to compile these screens into an interactive prototype. I created simple animations for each screen to provide a realistic feel of an app.

Outcomes & Lessons
‍
With an interactive prototype created I was able to validate my designs and receive constructive feedback about the app. It was mentioned that this application can be used for other sports, specifically soccer. This made me think about how I could design solutions to integrate other sports in the app. One of the main lessons I learned from this project is the power of surveys. This tool allowed me to cheaply and efficiently get answers without having to physically ask questions in person. I also answered the questions I asked at the beginning of this project. I learned when, where and why people play basketball and that the Ballify app is not a social media nor navigation app, but a crowdsourced search app similar to Yelp or Foursquare.