Jennifer Garnett

The users of League Assist* are busy adults who play recreational sports in their free time. They are mobile smart phone users and users of technology on the go. They are marginally technology-savvy; they are regular users of the web and already utilize some web-based tools to organize information, but appreciate easy-to-use tools that simplify tasks for them and save them time. They currently spend anywhere from 1 to 6 hours a week using multiple tools (TeamSnap, Facebook, Google Docs, Trello, and more) working on individual player and league-wide information, and would appreciate a tool that will organize and simplify information for them, allowing them to spend less time inputting and manipulating the information they need, and allowing them to do so from their mobile device.

 

This application was requested by the Board of Directors of my roller derby league. There are 5 members of the Board of Directors and 9 additional members of the full board, as well as 6 coaches and over 80 players. I will source usability testing participants from this group.

 

Roller derby leagues are skater owned and managed, and therefore, it is important for each player to take on part of the management responsibilities of the league. These leagues have unique requirements for the participation of their members, and need an easy way to track and view player information such as attendance, participation in league-wide events, and player eligibility status.

 

League Assist is a mobile application which will provide players, coaches, and management staff the ability to organize the team/league’s information, and to view quick snapshots of important league, team, or individual information as well as the ability to generate and view reports. This would allow them to manage required participation and eligibility of the players in the league.

 

There is a huge need for an application like this within the derby community. The problem is somewhat unique to roller derby leagues because of their participation requirements. Because the requirements can be so complex, there is not currently an all-in-one solution to manage all of the pieces. Currently, the league I play for uses at least three separate tools to track this information, and there is no easy way of generating and sharing the data “on the fly.” I would choose this project because I know it would be a very useful tool for my league and other leagues to aid in their league management process.

           

           My strategy for addressing this problem would be to research the need for an application like this. I would ask users (both inside and outside of my league) if this is a product they would want to use and what features they would like to have. I would conduct a thorough investigation into the problem including: researching technical and design considerations, creating detailed user personas, SME interviews as needed, existing product analyses, branding/identity creation (including logo design, color theory and typography), storyboarding, and prototype creation, and usability testing/feedback, which would be used to refine the prototype further. Some important considerations will be:

• management of sensitive data - who will have access and how will the information be protected?

• carefully considering the application design

  • providing appropriate affordances according to Norman’s Design Principles (Norman, 2013)

  • 13 principles of display design (Wickens, et al., 2004)

  • Fitts’s Law

• Understanding the users’ requirements, prototyping, and testing (many iterations)

 

The final result would be the creation of a mobile application that addresses the needs of the user as related to roller derby league participation management.

 

I will primarily be working alone on my project, but may bring in programming support if it is needed for the final product.

 

 

 

References:

 

Wickens, Christopher D., John D. Lee, Yili Liu, and Sallie E. Gordon Becker. An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering. Second ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 185–193.

 

Norman, Donald A. Design of Everyday Things. S.l.: Mit, 2013. Print.

 

 

 

*Possible alternate title: League Whip. A “whip” is an assist move in roller derby play.

 

 

 

Click below to download PDF of League Assist: M1