Project
Tennis player community
Background
During the pandemic, many people experienced isolation during quarantine, leading to a disconnection from friends and a lack of opportunities to form new relationships. With indoor activities limited and traditional sports courts for basketball, badminton, and football closed, options for ball games became scarce. Tennis emerged as an appealing choice, requiring only two players and several courts remained available. In response to this need, I decided to create an end-to-end app designed for individuals interested in learning how to play tennis and making new friends.
Role
User Research
Design system Interaction design
Prototyping & testing
Device
Mobile
Challenge
Background
During the pandemic, many people experienced isolation during quarantine, leading to a disconnection from friends and a lack of opportunities to form new relationships. With indoor activities limited and traditional sports courts for basketball, badminton, and football closed, options for ball games became scarce. Tennis emerged as an appealing choice, requiring only two players and several courts remained available. In response to this need, I decided to create an end-to-end app designed for individuals interested in learning how to play tennis and making new friends.
Role
User Research
Design system Interaction design
Prototyping & testing
Device
Mobile
Create a streamlined platform that enhances social interactions among tennis enthusiasts while providing easy access to organized information about players, events, pro tips, and court bookings, addressing the frustrations of navigating multiple venues.
User interview
To start, I aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the users' needs, motivations, and lifestyles I was designing for. After conducting preliminary research, I held interviews with four participants.
Key takeaway
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Skill level matchmaking: Finding other players of the same or higher skill level is challenging
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Court availability: Locating courts is straightforward, but information on their availability and accessibility is lacking.
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Challenges in finding coaches: First-time users face difficulties searching for coaches, often resulting in high costs.
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Learning techniques: Beginners need to learn tennis strokes, but they struggle to self-correct their techniques.
Target user
User research provided insights into participants' goals and pain points, confirming assumptions about their experiences. Shuo emerged as a standout participant, facing significant challenges and actively seeking solutions. This led to the creation of a persona tailored to the app's purpose.
Interviews explored Shuo's behavior in finding partners, booking courts, and joining events. An empathy map was used to capture these insights and observations effectively.
Storyboard
I began organizing the audience's actions at each step, guided by our research findings. By illustrating each process stage, I aimed to create a comprehensive narrative supporting the app's purpose.
Shuo Li has been playing tennis for some time and is looking for players at his skill level or higher who can meet at a nearby court. He also wants to create events for additional players interested in joining. After these events, he wishes to share his experiences with others.
1. Shuo wants to find someone to play tennis with in his spare time.
2. Shuo finds Susan, who is willing to play with him, but she wants to play doubles.
3. After confirming the match with Susan, Shuo booked the court.
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4. Li posts a public event for other players to join with them if they are interested.
5. Li, along with three other players, play tennis together.
6. After playing, Li shares their picture on social media.
Competitive analysis
From the user interviews, I discovered that most participants struggle to find a website or app that meets their tennis needs. They often rely on information from friends, which can be limiting. To address this, I researched competitors that cover the essential aspects users require. Analyzing their features helped me identify opportunities for improvement and refine our approach.
Developing key features
Based on the storyboard, I identified five key app features: Profile, Search, Booking, Event, and Community, ensuring clear navigation for a smooth user experience.
To support new users, I incorporated an onboarding process to explain the app's offerings and functionality.
The user journey starts with searching for a partner or coach, followed by communication through chat. Once an agreement is reached, users can book courts and create events to invite others. Finally, they can track their progress and share experiences to foster community.
Onboarding
Profile
Search
Find
Create Event
Comm.
Sign in
About
Profile
Search a player/coach or court
Search
Results
Chat
To Play with Partner/Coach
Find a Coach to Analysis Video
Search Court
Book Court
Confirm
Coach Profile
Upload Video
Select Video
Write Question
Confirm Purchase
Profile
Invite/Create event
My Posts
Create Post
Video/Pic
Upload
Community
Profile
Tracking
Famous player
Techniques
Create Event
Join
After Join
Group Chat
Concept & logo design
This app aims to create a community for tennis players, using the sport to connect individuals. This is how the brand name “TennisLink” was born. With TennisLink, players can track their records, search for other players or coaches, book a court, join or invite users to events, and share their experiences.
Building on this concept, I translated these ideas into the logo design.
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Fosters a social atmosphere that brings together people with shared interests and encourages active participation
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Key features
Onboarding process
Welcome users and introduce the app's five main features: Profile, Search, Booking, Event, and Community. Users can log in via Apple, Facebook, Google, or create an account with their email, then complete their profile to find matches.
Filter for the best match
Before searching for a player, users will see essential information about tennis players on the screen for easy viewing. A vaccination status icon will be shown next to each player's name.
Filter options include distance, NTRP rating, vaccination status, gender, type, and availability, allowing users to refine their search. Once they find a match, users can message the player directly to connect.
Search and book a court
A map is available to locate all nearby courts, providing detailed information to assist users in making informed decisions. Once they select a court, they can apply filters to find one that meets their requirements. After finalizing their choice, users can enter their payment information and review the booking details to confirm their reservation.
Create a event
Public events
Why: Encourage socialization with other player, meet new people
Choose event date/type
Why: Private event: as a reminder
Public event: invite other players
Provide event details
Why: Other players can view the information to determine if they want to join.
Add people in position
Why: Ability to choose your partner or competitor
Share moments
Users can choose a picture or video from their albums or take a photo to upload, allowing them to capture and share their experiences with the community. They can edit the post, tag people and locations for personalization, and share their moments to foster connections and enhance community engagement.
Validation
Share booking information
Allow users to share detailed booking information, such as price, date, and court with all participants. Additionally, ensure that any updates, such as changes to the player list or event time, are automatically communicated to all players who have joined the event.
Make the position allocation optional
When testing with players, I found that many were confused about the option to choose a teammate at the beginning, and some didn’t want to make a decision right away. To address this, I've made the teammate selection optional. Now, users can join the event without having to choose a position initially, or they can select a position later under more clear guidance.
Future development
All the main features have been developed based on extensive research and findings. However, some advanced features would still enhance the TennisLink community.
Find
In the search navigation, users can find both players and coaches, filtering by skill level, price, number of attendees, and location. They can also upload practice videos for coaches to analyze their techniques.
Split bill
Implementing a secure billing system or partnering with a third-party service is essential to facilitate splitting bills when booking a court. This ensures that all attendees can pay their own fees, protecting the event host's interests.