Digital Pool

Team

My Role - Prototyping, Product Design

Piper Yu - Wireframing, Prototyping

Emily Tsai - IA Model, Prototyping

Christoper Clark - Design System

Sean Tinio - Wireframing

Tools

Figma

Timeline

April 2024 - September 2024

Overview

Digital Pool is a startup that connects pool players to tournaments of all levels, from local pool halls to international conventions and everything in between.

I led the design for the mobile app’s tournaments page. A quintessential part of the app that enabled users to easily browse upcoming tournaments.

Step 0: Context

Embracing what made Digital Pool special.

Before Digital Pool, most tournament information was scattered across random Facebook pages. People were drawn to Digital Pool because it consolidated all tournaments onto one website.

Before Digital Pool

After Digital Pool

Step 1: Identifying the Problem

However, users were having problems with finding tournaments that suited their specific needs.

Slack User -

I’m going to be in Dallas next week, can I see what 9-ball tournaments are happening then?

Slack User -

How do I find Snooker events near me?

Slack User -

I only want to play 9-ball.

Slack User -

It would be cool if I could just whip out my phone and browse tournaments near me lol

Why were people having trouble navigating the current tournaments page on the Digital Pool website?

Vague filter

you can only filter tournaments by upcoming, in progress, and completed

Not intuitive

for casual browsing

Not accessible

for primary user base of 50-60 year old pool players

Digital Pool was already planning on creating a mobile app, this was a perfect opportunity to update the current tournaments page.

Step 2: Starting Somewhere

We had to start from scratch.

I did a lot of internal testing and reached out to multiple colleagues to get their feel of the product as I built various iterations.

No Filter

It is hard to find a filter that is compatible with a swiping carousel.

Not Intutive

Users wanted to casually browse tournaments whenever wherever.

Not Accessible

It is impossible to imagine people willingly swiping through 250+ tournaments.

Rudamentary Filter

This filter is not specific enough. Users want to search how much dues or payouts are.

Not Intutive

Hard to use when filtering through 250+ tournaments.

Not Accessible

The buttons are too small for people with poor vision.

Step 3: In the Works

After a design system was established, the design process became a lot more efficient.

Better Filter

A slide up filter allows for more room to put more filters.

More Intuitive

This filter makes sense when sifting through hundreds of tournaments.

Not Very Accessible

The card view for tournaments is small, hard for people with bad eyesight to read.

Project Manager -

Lets implement Google M3, but make it uniquely Digital Pool.

Step 4: Final Designs

Finishing touches...

Clear Filter

Polished the filter to better suit user needs.

Very Intuitive

Easy to use.

Very Accessible

Easy to browse.

Step 5: Takeaways

What difference did (and will) I make?

Projected to reach 6000+ active users.

Maximized a 4-week window, delivering a hi-fi prototype 2 weeks early.

Projected to increase tournament attendance by 40%.

Let's Collaborate!