ESPN Fantasy
Weekly Celebration Recap
As an ESPN Fantasy user with a fantasy team, it is difficult to find matchup results at the conclusion of a matchup. Fans work hard on their team each matchup all season long. Everything leads up to the conclusion of a matchup and ESPN Fantasy does not do a good job capitalizing on that moment to inform fans and cultivate excitement. Winning should be a celebratory moment. How do we fix that?
Company
The Walt Disney Company
Line of Business
ESPN
Product
ESPN Fantasy App
Role
UI Design, UX Design, Product Stategy
ESPN Fantasy
Weekly Celebration Recap
As an ESPN Fantasy user with a fantasy team, it is difficult to find matchup results at the conclusion of a matchup. Fans work hard on their team each matchup all season long. Everything leads up to the conclusion of a matchup and ESPN Fantasy does not do a good job capitalizing on that moment to inform fans and cultivate excitement. Winning should be a celebratory moment. How do we fix that?
Company
The Walt Disney Company
Line of Business
ESPN
Product
ESPN Fantasy App
Role
UI Design, UX Design, Product Stategy
ESPN Fantasy
Weekly Celebration Recap
As an ESPN Fantasy user with a fantasy team, it is difficult to find matchup results at the conclusion of a matchup. Fans work hard on their team each matchup all season long. Everything leads up to the conclusion of a matchup and ESPN Fantasy does not do a good job capitalizing on that moment to inform fans and cultivate excitement. Winning should be a celebratory moment. How do we fix that?
Company
The Walt Disney Company
Line of Business
ESPN
Product
ESPN Fantasy App
Role
UI Design, UX Design, Product Stategy
Problem Statement
Fans find it difficult to find their matchup results at the conclusion of a matchup period.
Problem Statement
Fans find it difficult to find their matchup results at the conclusion of a matchup period.
Don't know final results
Don't know final results
Matchup results buried
Matchup results buried
Uneventful matchup conclusion
Uneventful matchup conclusion
Unaware matchup ended
Unaware matchup ended
Not sure where to find results
Not sure where to find results
"Hold up, did I win or lose my matchup last week?!" Did it finish?
"Hold up, did I win or lose my matchup last week?!" Did it finish?
"Hold up, did I win or lose my matchup last week?!" Did it finish?
"Where do I find my final matchup results from last week?"
"Where do I find my final matchup results from last week?"
"Where do I find my final matchup results from last week?"
"Pretty annoying I have to go digging for my results."
"Pretty annoying I have to go digging for my results."
"Pretty annoying I have to go digging for my results."
"Figured winning would be more exciting than this."
"Figured winning would be more exciting than this."
"Figured winning would be more exciting than this."
👎
The fan had to take 5 different steps on 3 different screens just to find their final results from the previous matchup period. That's too much friction.
How Might We?…
How might we make it easier for fans to find their final matchup results at the conclusion of each matchup period?
How Might We?…
How might we make it easier for fans to find their final matchup results at the conclusion of each matchup period?
Surface matchup results better
Surface matchup results better
Make it fun (It's a game after all)
Make it fun (It's a game after all)
Make it exciting & eventful
Make it exciting & eventful
Make it personalized
Make it personalized
Wireframes
Let's reduce friction as much as possible
Wireframes
Let's reduce friction as much as possible
Home Screen
Full Sheet
Modal Overlay
By immediately surfacing fans matchup results in a modal upon opening the app, we significantly reduce the number of steps it took to answer the most important question for fans after the conclusion of a matchup period…"Did I win?"
Before
After
Ideation
Winning should be exciting so how do we make that happen?
Ideation
Winning should be exciting so how do we make that happen?
confetti
champagne spraying
sound effects
Motion and animation
strobe lights
cheering crowd
siren
Color & vibrancy
crack of the bat + crowd
basketball net swish
trophy + medal
foam finger
Dynamic, custom headlines
🎉
Confetti is associated with some of the most significant moments and athletes in sports history, winning especially. I wanted to bring those celebratory elements into the experience to replicate that moment and evoke those positive emotions fans feel when winning.
Leveraging the unique brand identities of ESPN Fantasy
Star Yellow
The star yellow is a persisent brand color that is used across each ESPN Fantasy sport logo and this felt natural to apply to the confetti as well.
Star Yellow
The star yellow is a persisent brand color that is used across each ESPN Fantasy sport logo and this felt natural to apply to the confetti as well.
Sport Brand Colors
Each Fantasy Sport has it's own brand identity color so I leveraged that to brand the celebration experience to each sport.
Sport Brand Colors
Each Fantasy Sport has it's own brand identity color so I leveraged that to brand the celebration experience to each sport.
Reserve confetti for special winning moments only.
Confetti is reserved for wins only to maintain it's rarity. This makes fans feel like it's special and they had to work to earn it. This gives the fan a surge of positives vibes they come to crave.
Reserve confetti for special winning moments only.
Confetti is reserved for wins only to maintain it's rarity. This makes fans feel like it's special and they had to work to earn it. This gives the fan a surge of positives vibes they come to crave.
Reserve confetti for special winning moments only.
Confetti is reserved for wins only to maintain it's rarity. This makes fans feel like it's special and they had to work to earn it. This gives the fan a surge of positives vibes they come to crave.
🎉 Win 🏆
🧻 Loss 💩
Contextual messaging fosters a competitive yet lighthearted experience that keeps users engaged
Personalization was important to this feature. I collaborated with Product Managment partners to write an extensive list of headlines that would constantly change each time the fan saw this experience. The funnier and snarkier they were, the more it resonated with fans.
Contextual messaging fosters a competitive yet lighthearted experience that keeps users engaged
Personalization was important to this feature. I collaborated with Product Managment partners to write an extensive list of headlines that would constantly change each time the fan saw this experience. The funnier and snarkier they were, the more it resonated with fans.
Wins
" Hands down, you're the G.O.A.T"
"You da real MVP"
"Print it and put it on the fridge"
"Can't be stopped, won't be stopped"
Losses
"Ouch, that one hurt"
"Lost by the skin of your teeth!"
"Did you even try this week?"
"Sheesh, tough loss"
I noticed that fans were looking for a way to easily share their matchup results with others
After initial launch, I noticed a lot of fans were taking screenshots of their matchup results screen and sharing to social very frequently. Even Chris Pratt shared his matchup results against Chris Evans on his Instagram account! ESPN Fantasy did not offer a great way to do this. So, I informed our partners about the opportunity there was here and pitched the concept of generating personalized artwork for each fan to share for bragging rights.
I noticed that fans were looking for a way to easily share their matchup results with others
After initial launch, I noticed a lot of fans were taking screenshots of their matchup results screen and sharing to social very frequently. Even Chris Pratt shared his matchup results against Chris Evans on his Instagram account! ESPN Fantasy did not offer a great way to do this. So, I informed our partners about the opportunity there was here and pitched the concept of generating personalized artwork for each fan to share for bragging rights.
Things we noticed about fan behavior:
Fans found the witty messaging very entertaining
Fans found the witty messaging very entertaining
They screenshot the screen to share or brag
They screenshot the screen to share or brag
Shareable artwork, personalized to each fan
After analyzing user behavior and activity, I intentionally designed the artwork to include the elements that I noticed excited fans most. The witty messaging especially created a lot of buzz.
Seemlessly integrated sharing while emotions are at its peak
The first step was to introduce a "Share Matchup" CTA. Sharing brings up the fans native share sheet where they choose how and where they want to share.
Seemlessly integrated sharing while emotions are at its peak
The first step was to introduce a "Share Matchup" CTA. Sharing brings up the fans native share sheet where they choose how and where they want to share.
Monetization opportunities became very obvious
Shortly after launch, it became clear there was a great opportunity to monetize this feature to generate revenue. I worked closely with my product partners and Miller Lite to bring to life a strong ad partnership. The whole experience was branded to Miller Lite, down to the confetti and messaging. This resulted in a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal that has Miller Lite coming back year after year.
Monetization opportunities became very obvious
Shortly after launch, it became clear there was a great opportunity to monetize this feature to generate revenue. I worked closely with my product partners and Miller Lite to bring to life a strong ad partnership. The whole experience was branded to Miller Lite, down to the confetti and messaging. This resulted in a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal that has Miller Lite coming back year after year.
Multi-million dollar deal
Multi-million dollar deal
Multi-year returning partnership
Multi-year returning partnership
The Impact
The most shared in-app content by fans
Fan reception of the feature has been impressive, yielding more than 2 million shares within the first 6 months. It remains the most shared in-app content in the ESPN Fantasy app today. On top of all of that, we made fan's matchup results much more discoverable, bringing it to them rather than the other way around. It started out as a simple way to inform the fan of their matchups results. From there, more opportunities blossomed with sharing capabilties and multi-million dollar ad partnerships.
The Impact
The most shared in-app content by fans
Fan reception of the feature has been impressive, yielding more than 2 million shares within the first 6 months. It remains the most shared in-app content in the ESPN Fantasy app today. On top of all of that, we made fan's matchup results much more discoverable, bringing it to them rather than the other way around. It started out as a simple way to inform the fan of their matchups results. From there, more opportunities blossomed with sharing capabilties and multi-million dollar ad partnerships.
#1
most shared in-app content
#1
most shared in-app content
29.5%
of all in-app shares
29.5%
of all in-app shares
2M+
shares in first 6 months
2M+
shares in first 6 months