Golf Tour Player Portal
Our client is a Europe-based global leader in professional golf, organizing world-class tournaments and shaping the sport’s future through innovation and excellence. It aims to enhance its digital platforms to provide a seamless, engaging experience that reflects its prestigious reputation.
UX/UI design, user research
My Role
4 months
Timeline
Tools
The problem
The golf tour members faced challenges managing their tour-related activities through disparate systems, which were fragmented, difficult to use, and did not communicate with each other. This leads to great inefficiencies and frustration. The key issues are:
Lack of seamless services and integrated experience. Multiple platforms are being used so there is little convergence, no single source of truth, which leads to confusion.
The current UI and UX is outdated and does not deliver an engaging experience.
Lack of a centralized communication channel. The client relies on multiple scattered channels to send updates and tour information which makes it difficult for players to manage messages and stay organized, leading to missed updates and inefficiencies.
Objectives
Our goal was to create a cohesive digital experience that integrates all necessary functionalities into one platform, simplifying the management of tour activities and enhancing user satisfaction.
One powerful platform for all: Design and develop a digital solution that addresses the specific needs and preferences of tour members and other user groups involved.
Modern and pleasant experience: Refresh and update the old UI and UX for an intuitive, helpful and enjoyable digital experience.
Empathize
In this stage, we focused on understanding users' needs, challenges, and behaviors through research. By conducting interviews, surveys, and analyzing existing workflows, we gathered insights from players to identify specific pain points in tournament management, communication, and overall user experience.
User interviews
To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the diverse needs and challenges faced by different user groups, we conducted in-depth user interviews, including tour players, player managers, tour staff and other player-related users. This inclusive strategy allowed me to gather a holistic view of the current pain points and expectations for the new digital experience.
Tour player
Professional athlete who competes in various golf tournaments around the world. Highly skilled and dedicated. Manager their schedules, performance tracking, and logistical arrangements.
Player manager
Responsible for overseeing and managing the careers of professional golf players. Their work involves meticulous planning and coordination, handling schedules, travel arrangements, financial management, and communication between players and tour organizers.
Staff/Admin
Ensure the smooth operation of golf tournaments. Responsibilities for organizing event logistics, managing player relations, overseeing financial transactions, and publishing essential content related to the tour.
Caddie
Essential partner to the professional golfer, providing support both on and off the course.
Topics I focused on:
Persona
After the user interviews, I created four detailed personas representing each user group. These will guide us to develop a tailored and effective solution in the following steps.
Competitive analysis
To ensure that our design was both innovative and aligned with industry standards, I conducted a competitive analysis involved examining existing sports management platforms and competitor apps to identify best practices, gaps, and opportunities for differentiation.
Key takeaways
We consolidated several critical insights from the analysis that we think we could learn from to develop our experience.
Opportunities for differentiation
We also identified several key opportunities for differentiation. These insights will allow our design solutions can addresses gaps in the market and provides superior value to users. We want to leverage these opportunities to set our experience apart from competitors and meet the specific needs of our target audience
Define
In this stage, we defined our scope and long-term product plan based on insights from the previous phase. We established clear objectives to guide our solutions effectively and ensure alignment with user needs.
How might we statement
We did HMW activities to transform the problems into “How might we” statement to guide solution ideation.
How might we …
For Players
HMW centralize all necessary information so players don't have to hunt around for details?
HMW ensure players receive personalized and timely notifications to keep them informed?
HMW provide an easy-to-use interface for players to manage their schedules and finances?
HMW reduce the volume of emails players receive from the tour?
HMW simplify the process of finding contacts, hotels, transport, and visa information?
For Player Managers
HMW provide a centralized platform to manage multiple players through one login?
HMW streamline the process of accessing and updating key player details?
HMW enable efficient communication between managers, players, and tour staff?
For Tour Staff
HMW create an easy-to-use content management system for tour staff to manage and publish content?
HMW automate regular tasks to improve efficiency and reduce manual workload?
HMW provide tools that reduce the need for spreadsheets in data management?
HMW enable staff to impersonate players/managers to aid support processes?
HMW track player engagement effectively to ensure better communication and support?
For Caddies
HMW centralize all event-related information so caddies can access it on the go?
HMW ensure caddies receive real-time updates and notifications about last-minute changes?
Define MVP scope - players
To ensure a focused and impactful launch, we narrowed the MVP scope to prioritize the Player user group. While our research identified needs across multiple roles, we determined that addressing Players’ core challenges first would provide the most immediate value. This approach allowed us to build a strong foundation while keeping the experience streamlined and scalable for future expansions.
Refreshed User Interface
Modern, intuitive, and visually engaging design.
Enhanced Tournament Tools
Manage registered tournaments, access tour details, and book practice rounds.
Manage Membership
View membership status, apply, renew, and cancel in one place.
Unified & Secure Access
A seamless login experience with role-based authorization.
Finance Center
Track prize money, manage payments, and handle financial transactions.
Tournament Management
View, register, prepare, and withdraw from tournaments easily.
Message Hub
A centralized communication system for updates and important information.
Define future roadmap
After narrowing the MVP scope to focus on Players, we outlined a long-term roadmap to expand the platform for all user roles. Future stages will introduce features tailored for Player Managers, Tour Staff, and Caddies, addressing their specific needs and streamlining operations across the ecosystem.
Build a solid foundation tailored for Players, ensuring a seamless, intuitive experience that addresses core pain points.
Extend the platform to Player Managers and Tour Staff Admins, allowing better player coordination and administrative control.
Expand support to Caddies and Support Staff, further streamlining logistics and operational processes.
Enhance features for personalization, live match performance.
Sitemap
Ideate and Prototype
After we defined the scope and key features to develop for the MVP, I finally moved into design phase to realize all ideas into visuals. From low-fi to high-fi designs, I went through iterative process with my team and clients to take in feedback and make timely updates.
Wireframe
I first created low-fidelity wireframes to outline the basic structure and layout of the app and iteratively refined it based on feedback from stakeholders and user.
Style guide
Before creating the high-fidelity prototype, I developed a visual style guide and UI kit using Figma, which is crucial for ensuring a cohesive and branded user interface. Based on our client’s brand guidelines, we consolidated the key elements and defined the principles and components specifically for digital experiences.
Hi-fi screens
After multiple iterations based on user feedback, I refined the high-fidelity screens and prepared the prototype ready for usability testing to validate its effectiveness and identify any final improvements.
Login
Finance center
Register tournaments
Message
Manage tournaments
Manage membership
Test & Iterate
In this stage, we conducted usability testing on the initial high-fidelity prototype to evaluate its functionality and user experience. By observing real users, we identified areas for improvement and iterated on the design, making targeted refinements meet our objectives.
Usability testing
Participants
8 users
Platform
Teams
Approach
Moderated usability testing with real-time observation.
Goals
Evaluate Navigation
Validate Task Completion
Assess Visual Hierarchy
Identify Pain Points
Testing findings
100% users finds the refreshed UI is clear and nice.
100% users agree the navigation across the app is easy.
87% users completed given tasks easily with no extra guidance.
25% users expect more robust support features for tournament list and message center.
37% users find booking practice round feature too hidden.
Revised High-Fidelity Prototypes
After usability testing, I consolidated key findings and refined the prototype for final delivery. Improvements focused on address issues user had problems during the testing and optimizing key interactions based on user feedback.
Easy and secure access
The app offers an easy and secure login experience, eliminating the need to jump between different platforms. With role-based authorization, users can access the specific tools and information relevant to their role, whether they are players, managers, or staff. This will reduce the complexity and frustration we learned from our user research, and enhance overall user experience and efficiency.
View and register for tournaments at fingertips
With just a few taps, users can access a comprehensive list of upcoming tournaments, view detailed information and schedules and participation history. Players can also register themselves easily for tournaments, addressing the gap that existed in the old solutions.
Manage my tournaments
This solution simplifies tournament management by providing players with a centralized hub for all their tournament-related needs. They can access up-to-date information, manage schedules, and book practice rounds—all in one place, eliminating the need to switch between platforms.
Finance center at fingertips
The module consolidates all finance-related information in one convenient place, streamlining the financial management process for users. Users can easily link their credit card and bank account, manage prize money, pay fees, and handle other financial transactions seamlessly. We intended to reduce the pressure on players who have busy schedules, enabling them to efficiently manage their finances without the need to navigate multiple platforms.
Omni-channel for notification and communication
The message center addresses one of the biggest pain points our users faced—managing a flood of emails and scattered information. It consolidates all necessary communication into a single, cohesive hub, ensuring users stay informed with key alerts and updates without being overwhelmed. By centralizing messages, alerts, and updates in one place, users can easily access important information and stay on top of their schedules, tour details, and any changes.
Manage membership
Players can easily view their membership status, apply, renew, or cancel—all in one place. The app streamlines membership management, making every action simple and hassle-free.
My Reflection
Designing the MVP was a journey of prioritization, iteration, and collaboration. By focusing on Players, we addressed their most pressing challenges while creating a strong foundation for future expansions. Usability testing was crucial in refining the experience, revealing key improvements like better tournament filtering and enhanced practice round booking visibility. Close collaboration with development and stakeholders ensured a smooth transition from design to implementation, aligning the product with real user needs. The successful MVP launch not only validated our approach but also set the stage for a scalable, future-ready solution that will continue to evolve and support all user roles.
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