UEFA
Designing a user-centered tool to streamline financial decision-making and drive business growth.
Role
Lead UX Designer
Responsibilities
Visual direction, UX, content & product strategy, design system, user research and testing.
The Challenge
The UEFA Native App and UEFA TV serve as the digital gateway for millions of football fans worldwide. However, challenges such as onboarding complexity, fragmented user journeys, and low engagement prompted a redesign to deliver a more user-centered experience. Enhance the user experience (UX) and onboarding processes through UX design, research analysis, and user testing, ensuring seamless navigation, personalisation, and engagement.
The Research
Understanding decisions.
User research included interviews with 20 active and potential users to understand their needs, surveys from over 500 users globally to identify trends, and an analytics review using heatmaps and user flows to detect navigation issues. Additionally, a competitor analysis compared the platform with ESPN, DAZN, and FuboTV to highlight areas for improvement.
Key insights revealed that 73% of users sought easier access to live matches and highlights, while 60% abandoned onboarding due to excessive options and unclear instructions. Personalisation, such as selecting favourite teams and competitions, was a priority for 80% of users, indicating a strong demand for a more tailored experience.
Ideation
Imagining Solutions Together.
Our team focused on redesigning the onboarding experience to make it simpler and more personalized for first-time users. We introduced a streamlined sign-up process with single-click sign-in via Google, Apple, and social accounts, reducing mandatory fields to just the essentials. Personalisation was also a key priority, allowing users to select their favourite teams and competitions during onboarding to curate their homepage. A guided tour was implemented to walk users through essential features like live scores, video streaming, and notifications, ensuring a smoother introduction to the platform.
To enhance engagement, we unified navigation by integrating UEFA TV’s streaming services directly into the native app, with a single sign-on (SSO) eliminating login friction. Personalisation was further improved with machine learning-powered recommendations for matches, news, and highlights. A dynamic homepage was introduced, updating in real time with live scores and trending matches. Gamification elements like prediction games, leaderboards, and achievement badges encouraged user participation, while interactive features such as live polls, match chats, and social media sharing made the experience more engaging and community-driven.
Design Process
Shaping the Solution.
I began with low-fidelity wireframes to outline the structure and validate ideas. Feedback from stakeholders helped prioritise features like quick filters and visual summaries.
Moving to high-fidelity prototypes, I focused on IKEA’s design principles, clean layouts, bold typography, and eco-friendly colours. Interactive prototypes showcased dynamic charts and widgets, giving users real-time feedback as they adjusted parameters.
The final designs emphasised IKEA’s minimalist aesthetic while supporting accessibility standards.
Features included:
- Predictive analytics with scenario modelling tools.
- Colour-coded data visualisations for quick insights.
- Drag-and-drop widgets to customise dashboards.
Testing & Validation
Refining through feedback.
Our team conducted usability testing with 15 participants using prototypes to evaluate the user experience. We gathered qualitative feedback and task completion metrics to identify pain points and areas for improvement. After each testing session, we iterated on the designs to refine the interface and enhance usability based on real user insights.
Key findings revealed that the personalized setup screen was too cluttered, leading us to simplify the UI with larger buttons and progressive steps. Users also found switching between the native app and UEFA TV disruptive, so we implemented a unified navigation system with a persistent bottom menu. Additionally, gamification elements were unclear, prompting us to add tooltips that explain prediction games and badges, ensuring a more seamless and engaging experience.
Results & Impact
Measurable Outcomes.
The onboarding success rate improved from 45% to 60%, while 30-day retention increased by 20%. Content engagement also saw a significant boost, with a 35% increase in UEFA TV video streams and match highlights viewed. Through a user-centered approach that combined UX research, iterative design, and user testing, the enhanced UEFA Native App and UEFA TV platforms now deliver a seamless, engaging, and personalized experience. This redesign has strengthened UEFA’s connection with football fans worldwide, driving higher engagement and retention.
