RallyReady

How I helped the local tennis community in eliminating player frustrations caused by long wait times and the need for reservations. As someone who personally faced these issues, I interviewed the local tennis community players, analyzed competitors to find market gaps, adopted the non-linear design thinking process and created features to solve this problem.

Team: Solo

Type: UI/UX Design

Conceptual

Timeline: 8 weeks

Claude AI

UX Research

Summary

Recreational tennis players in Toronto face frustrations due to long wait times, players exceeding their court time, and difficulty tracking time in crowded public courts, disrupting their experience.

RallyReady helps users by providing a streamlined solution for efficiently managing their court time, reducing wait times, and ensuring a smoother and more organized playing experience.

The Solution

1. Court Occupancy Status and Wait Time Display

Providing real-time updates on court availability and estimated wait times, the app helps players make informed decisions on where and when to play.

Mobile app displaying nearby tennis courts, with details of Trinity Bellwoods Tennis Court in Toronto, including distance, availability, and wait time. Features search bar and navigation icons.

2. Automated Time Tracking and Alerts

The app tracks time automatically, starting a timer when players check in, notifying them as their session nears the end, and allowing them to rejoin the queue to avoid exceeding their allocated time.

Mobile app screen showing time remaining at Trinity Bellwoods Tennis Courts. It displays a countdown timer of 11 minutes remaining, options to check court wait times, and buttons to end session or rejoin queue. Court 4 is currently occupied.

3. Virtual Queue Management and Wait Time Estimation

Offering a virtual queuing system, the app lets players join a queue remotely, check their position, get wait time updates and notifications, and suggests nearby courts with shorter waits.

Mobile app screen showing wait time for Trinity Bellwoods Tennis Courts. Timer displays 11 minutes 59 seconds remaining. Queue position is 2 and court number is 4. Option to leave queue and check nearby court wait times.

Goals for Research

Comprehensive Understanding

I will engage with tennis players one-on-one,
observe wait times, and discuss their experiences
to grasp their frustrations.

Identifying Trends and Patterns

Over a week, I will observe behaviors and identify patterns in how players wait and experience frustrations, validating with quantitative data.

Comparison and Prediction

I will understand player perceptions, compare behaviors, conduct online surveys and predict future needs to build RallyReady effectively.

Primary Research

For my primary research, I started off with conducting one-on-one interviews with 5 participants, administered online surveys, and observed tennis player behaviors and patterns over a span of two days.

OVERVIEW

Speaking to the Right People (Recreational Tennis Players) in Toronto.

RECRUITING

Conducted online surveys and polls to gather data on the frequency of court usage, peak times, and common frustrations within my own network of tennis players.

SURVEYS

Conducted one-on-one interviews with a diverse group of tennis players, ranging from casual players to serious enthusiasts, to gain in-depth insights into their experiences and pain points.

INTERVIEWS

Spent time at public tennis courts in Toronto to observe player behavior, court usage patterns, and the overall environment.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS

I observed non-verbal cues of the participants and took detailed notes on wait times, court occupancy, and player turnover.

NOTE TAKING

Synthesizing data with AI

I usually rely on a team of researchers to create affinity maps and user personas to synthesize data into actionable recommendations. With a two-week research deadline looming, as solo designer, I needed extra perspectives.

That's when I turned to Claude AI. It quickly synthesized the data for me, saving invaluable time. In the end, it pinpointed three key findings, streamlining my process and helping me focus on what mattered most. The persona that was created by Claude was “John Ruud“.

Let's take a look at John’s as-is scenario and see how we can help him.

Emotional Journey of john Ruud

In conclusion, this phase allowed me to refine the data from observing player patterns and behaviors into actionable insights, ultimately consolidating their needs and pain points into a single "How might we" statement.

How might we

streamline court turnover, simplify time tracking in crowded areas, and provide real-time updates to reduce wait times and frustration for John's tennis sessions?

Ideation

I analyzed competitors to find key features and market gaps, then brainstormed innovative ideas for RallyReady.

In my competitor analysis, I compared four key tasks across RallyReady's competitors: onboarding experience, finding courts using map functions, booking courts, and user engagement features.

COMPARING KEY TASKS

Collage of five different logo designs, featuring various shapes and colors, including a yellow logo with bold text, green and gray checkmark, abstract tennis imagery, and stylized letters.

(L to R) Play Your Court, Court Reserve, Tennis Pal, Playtomic, Park Mobile

  • Onboarding Variety: Competitors offer different onboarding experiences, from minimal (ParkMobile) to detailed tutorials (PlayYourCourt, Playtomic).

  • Map Function Efficiency: PlayYourCourt and Playtomic have the most intuitive and detailed map functions for finding courts.

  • Booking Real-Time Updates: PlayYourCourt and Playtomic excel in providing real-time court availability and seamless booking interfaces.

  • User-Friendly Filters: Effective filtering options are crucial, with PlayYourCourt leading in usability.

INDIVIDUAL BRAINSTORMING

Location: Toronto Metropolitan University.
Duration: 2 hours 35 minutes

kEY INSIGHTS

  1. Real-time Court Availability Updates: Implement real-time updates on court availability, drawing inspiration from ParkMobile’s real-time features, to address high demand and improve user planning.

  2. Automated Time Tracking and Alerts: Introduce automated time tracking and alerts, similar to TennisPAL’s community-driven notifications, to enhance timely court usage and minimize wait times.

  3. Virtual Queue Management System: Develop a virtual queue management system, inspired by ParkMobile’s efficient queue management, allowing users to join waitlists remotely and receive timely notifications.

Transforming Insights into Wireframes

I completed several rounds of paper prototyping, where I translated all brainstormed ideas into sketches of my main screens. These sketches represent my final low-fidelity wireframes.

finally, RallyReady was born

Validating the design

When I completed the hi-fidelity wireframes, I showed them to 3 of my users who play tennis regularly and asked them for feedback. I gathered this feedback through moderated usability testing via zoom.

USER FEEDBACK

After receiving feedback from the user, I returned to the drawing board and brainstormed different ways to resolve the issues that the user pointed out

UI CHANGES

EMOTIONAL JOURNEY OF JOHN WITH RALLYREADY

Reflections & Takeaways

  • Conduct additional usability testing to ensure the interface changes meet user needs effectively.

  • Give more time to brainstorming to explore diverse ideas thoroughly to improve app functionality.

  • Apply an existing design system to save a lot of time and ensure design consistency.

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY

  • Discover different user types and edge cases to ensure the app meets all tennis players' needs.

  • Spotting and resolving all edge cases like rejoining and leaving the queue to resolve wait time issues.

  • Ensure the app is WCAG AA accessible to accommodate users with visual impairments.

IF I HAD THE TIME

Illustration of a person sitting at a desk with a computer, wearing headphones, a coffee mug nearby, a plant on the desk, and a dog sleeping on the floor.