GOLAZO – MOBILE APP
Helping fans stay updated, engage in meaningful football conversations and strengthen connections
OVERVIEW
Missing a match makes it harder for fans to join conversations. Golazo bridges this gap with contextual match insights and creating more avenues for discussion through chat rooms.
ROLE
UX & Visual designer / Independent project with collaborators
DURATION
8 weeks, 2025
DISCOVERY
PHASE>What sparked Golazo?
One day, while scrolling through LinkedIn, I stumbled upon this chart. It showed a sharp rise in people searching for ways to meet new friends, how to connect with others, and combat loneliness.
Rising search trends for ‘how to meet new people’ and ‘where to make friends’
While social connections are declining across the board, research shows a steeper decline among men, who report having fewer close friends than ever before.
15% of men report having no close friends—five times higher than in 1990.
And regarding emotional support, only 1 in 5 men say they’ve received it from a friend in the past week.
Comparison of close friendships and emotional support in 1990 vs. 2021 across genders
>The psychology behind male friendships
👀
Men are more likely to engage in friendships based on shared activities like sports and projects
- Jacob M. Vigil's Study on Friendship Preferences (2007)
⚽️
Sports serves as a center for many male social activities - drinking beer while watching the game, going to a sports bar, going out on a sports course/field/court.
Sneak peek: What the Solution Looks Like
Sneak peek: Design system documentation
Sneak peek: Findings from user testing
Broad problem statement
Men are finding it harder to maintain friendships, with fewer feeling emotionally supported. Research shows they often bond through shared activities like sports, but changing social habits are making these connections more difficult to sustain.
DEFINE
PHASE>Explored fan behavior to understand what fuels soccer conversations and what holds them back.
Responses from interviews
Empathy map documentation
😫 FRUSTRATIONS
Sharing beyond the game
Fans talk soccer not just for the game but to share emotions, perspectives, and strengthen friendships.
Hard to catch up with matches
Many miss games due to work, school, or time zones, making it tough to contribute to discussions.
😁 HAPPY ENGAGEMENT
Missing key stats
Users forget crucial stats during calls, making debates frustrating when they can’t back up their points.
Trigger sharing
Users share content when it’s controversial, humorous, or relevant to a friend’s team.
>Identified two fan types and how they engage in discussions.
TWO ARCHETYPES:
Jordan 🧑🏽🎓
Jordan struggles to stay informed when he misses a match.
He needs a quick way to catch up on key highlights, or else he feels left out of discussions.
Chris 🚴🏽
Chris, on the other hand, wants deeper insights into player ratings and performance metrics.
He also gets frustrated when he forgets key stats, making it harder for him to contribute meaningfully during debates.
From journey mapping, I identified key opportunity areas and translated them into user stories. These stories shaped “How Might We” statements.
>Mapped opportunities and translated them into user stories to guide ideation.
BUILDING BLOCK /
Setting the stage with onboarding
Before diving into conversations, users need a way to personalize their experience by selecting their favorite teams and leagues.
Design Rationale
Placing key user selections early in onboarding makes users feel more invested, making them less likely to abandon the flow (Commitment bias).
Expected Outcomes
Fewer drop-offs – Early engagement steps can decrease onboarding abandonment rates by 20-30%.
Better personalization – Apps that personalize content upfront see a 15% increase in daily active users.
FEATURE 1 /
Enhancing conversations with Smart Suggestions
“Smart Suggestions” analyzes shared posts to recommend key clips and match insights, helping users catch up and join conversations effortlessly.
Underlying problem
Users struggle to engage with shared posts when they miss matches, making conversations feel disconnected and harder to follow.
>What I Learnt from Usability Testing
100% of participants understood the post’s context and felt ready to join conversations.
Avg. task completion: 1m 16s (inflated by video watching).
Users expected a text summary alongside video suggestions to match similar AI apps’ experiences.
FEATURE 2 /
Send posts to the right friends instantly
Users share posts based on friends’ team allegiances. This feature suggests relevant friends, making sharing instant and engaging.
FEATURE 3 /
Locker Room: seamless group calls for fans
Football fans love group calls for banter, but scheduling is a hassle. The Locker Room makes joining seamless.
FEATURE 4 /
Structured feed: key highlights in one place
A centralized feed delivers essential match updates, helping fans catch up instantly and stay in the loop.
Underlying problem
Missing a match makes it harder for fans to stay informed. They need quick access to key moments without endless scrolling.
>What I Learnt from Usability Testing
Avg. task completion: 2m 01s – Users quickly identified the missed match, watched highlights, and absorbed key stats.
3 out of 4 participants interacted with the “Match of the Week” post first, showing its strong visibility and relevance.
FEATURE 5 /
Bookmark Sharing: Never Forget Key Match Insights
Underlying problem
Football discussions often rely on recalling key stats, but users frequently forget details like player performances or match insights.
Expected Outcomes
Avg time to complete the task was 10.6 sec
Participants expected bookmarks would be shared in chat. Even though they thought it was a helpful feature.
Post-Usertesting improvements
Screenshots from a few testing sessions on Zoom
Key areas for improvement
❌
Smart Suggestions
Users were unclear about the button’s purpose and expected a text summary with video suggestions. Some mistook “Send” for “Play.”
⚠️
Bookmarks in Calls
Participants expected shared bookmarks in chat and preferred the bookmark button in the bottom nav for easier access.
Enhancing discoverability with Coach Marks
To boost adoption, I added coach marks with a modal introduction and a tooltip to guide interaction for quick understanding.
Better Affordance and Mental Model alignment
Adjustments align with familiar platforms like Twitter and Instagram. The send icon follows common conventions, text summaries clarify AI expectations and an interactive state improves collapsible function visibility.
Users expected bookmarks in chat, not in the call. I added a chat-sharing button and changed “Share” to “Present” for clarity.
Improving bookmark sharing
Users expected the bookmark button in the bottom bar, like in WhatsApp. Moving it from the top improved visibility and ease of use.
Making Bookmarks Easier to Access
Utilized design systems and variables for consistency
Semantic color roles [Tested for WCAG Standards]
Primitive color tokens
Semantic typography variables [Sizing convention: T-shirt sizing]
Variables are assigned to their matching text style
Primitive numerical scale variables
Button components with interactive states
Input field component
Navigation buttons
Multi-purpose cards
Precise component measurements
Input field specs
Validating my solution (Hypothetical)
🤝
Feature Engagement Rate
Track how often users interact with Smart Suggestions. A high engagement rate would indicate users find these features useful.
📈
Post Sharing Rate
Tracking the number of posts shared by users. A higher rate would indicate that suggested content is relevant and engaging enough to spark conversations.
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