Redefining the way talents in sports are being
sourced.
Introduction
Sports scouting has been done the same way for years, but it’s not very effective for everyone. Young athletes are struggling to get noticed, especially if they don’t have the resources to attend big events or if they come from less-known places. That’s why this project focuses on GameChanger, a new social media platform built specifically for athletes to show off their skills, connect with scouts and coaches, and level the playing field for everyone, no matter where they’re from.
The Big Idea
I want to create a platform that lets athletes, scouts, and coaches find each other more easily. This isn’t just a place to upload a profile or a highlight reel—this is where athletes can track their progress, engage with the sports community, and get discovered by scouts without needing to spend thousands on traveling or fancy events.
My role
As the Lead Product Designer for GameChanger, I took charge of the entire design process, ensuring the platform met the needs of both athletes and scouts. I began by conducting in-depth research, speaking directly with athletes, scouts, and coaches to understand their frustrations and what they wished a platform like this could offer. From there, I designed intuitive wireframes and interactive prototypes, focusing on making the app simple to use for both uploading content and discovering talent. Throughout the process, I organized user testing sessions to gather real-world feedback and used that to refine the design, ensuring everything felt seamless.
My goal was to create an experience where athletes could easily showcase their skills and scouts could efficiently find the talent they needed.
My tools
Figma, Slack, Figjam, Google docs
Project timeline
Here’s how the project will unfold: The project basically took 4 months.
Target audience
The app is ideally designed for women within a certain age bracket but further research showed that other close friends or support systems might need it.
- Athletes: From high school stars to semi-pros, anyone looking to get discovered
- Scouts: Sports agents and team scouts who need a better way to find hidden gems.
- Sponsors & brands: Companies looking to partner with rising sports stars.
How we know It’ll work
We’re measuring success by:
- User growth: How many athletes sign up every month.
- Engagement: How many videos are uploaded and watched.
- Scouting conversions: How many athletes are discovered and signed through the platform
We’ll also track revenue through premium subscriptions and brand sponsorships.
Problem to solve
Here’s the truth: A lot of super-talented athletes are missing out on life-changing opportunities,
I found out that a lot of super-talented athletes are missing out on life-changing opportunities simply because they don’t have a way to get noticed. Either they live in small towns, or they can’t afford to go to expensive camps and showcases. On the flip side, scouts are tired of wasting time and money flying all over the world to find new talent.
Core question
How can we create a system that makes
it easier for scouts and coaches to find
athletes, no matter where they’re from?
How do we make sure athletes can
showcase their skills in a way that
scouts will find useful?
The big idea - Gamechanger
We want to create a platform that lets athletes, scouts, and coaches find each other more easily.
This isn’t just a place to upload a profile or a highlight reel—this is where athletes can track their progress, engage with the sports community, and get discovered by scouts without needing to spend thousands on traveling or fancy events.
Build a profile
Athletes can create a personalized profile where they can showcase their abilities. They can upload videos, track performance stats (like speed or strength), and highlight their most significant achievements, giving scouts a clear picture of their skills. The profile acts as a virtual sports résumé, updating in real time as the athlete improves or adds new accomplishments.
Share highlight reels
Instead of sending out DVDs or emailing coaches, athletes can easily upload short clips that show their best moments in action. Whether it’s a last-minute goal, a game-winning shot, or a personal best in track, these clips give scouts a quick, visually impactful way to see what the athlete is capable of.
Get noticed by scouts
Scouts can search for athletes using filters like location, age, sport, or specific performance metrics (like speed, height, or position played). This way, even athletes from smaller schools or underrepresented regions can get discovered without needing to attend expensive showcases or tournaments.
Track progress
Athletes can monitor their own development with performance analytics. They’ll be able to track their key stats over time—like running speed, goals scored, or strength benchmarks. This allows them to see how they’re improving and what they need to work on, while also giving scouts up-to-date information about their progress.
For scouts
Personalized dashboard: Scouts get a dedicated space where they can view and manage potential recruits. They can filter based on specific attributes (e.g., height, speed, skill level), much like searching for a candidate on Linkedin. This saves time by letting them focus only on athletes that meet their criteria, ensuring they find the right fit without endless scrolling through irrelevant profiles
Performance data: Scouts get access to real-time stats on athletes, like sprint speeds, endurance levels, scoring averages, or any other key metrics relevant to their sport. This data is automatically updated, helping scouts make informed decisions quickly and effectively without needing to see the athlete in person right away
The Process: From idea to
reality
Understanding the Problem
The first step in building GameChanger was digging into what’s broken. Athletes and scouts? They’re stuck in the past.
Athletes, especially those in smaller cities or lower divisions, had almost no chance of getting noticed unless they forked out crazy amounts of money to attend showcases. Meanwhile, scouts were wasting hours chasing down leads, sorting through endless footage, and relying on outdated, inefficient methods just to find one solid player. Talking to both groups made one thing crystal clear: athletes needed to be seen, and scouts needed a faster, smarter way to find talent.
The whole process was messy, outdated, and totally inefficient. And that’s the gap GameChanger was built to fill—giving athletes a platform to showcase their skills while giving scouts a LinkedIn-style way to quickly find exactly who they’re looking for.
Checking out the competition
Competitors analysis showed that what’s missing is a space designed specifically for athletes to showcase themselves and for scouts to find them without wasting time.
To make GameChanger stand out, I had to take a good look at what’s already out there. Platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and even traditional sports recruitment sites are doing their thing, but none of them really nail the needs of both athletes and scouts in one place. LinkedIn? Too professional, and athletes don’t have the freedom to show their game. Instagram? Sure, athletes post clips, but scouts are sifting through a sea of random content with no real data to back it up. Then there are the sports-specific platforms, but they’re either too niche or outdated, making it hard for athletes outside the mainstream to shine.
Although, there are no direct competitors. I was able to analyze some platforms that offer parts of what GameChanger does but don’t quite nail it in the same way.
1. LinkedIn
While it’s a great platform for professional networking, it’s not built for sports. Athletes can’t showcase their skills in a way that speaks directly to scouts, and there’s no system for tracking performance metrics or stats. It’s too rigid for the fast-paced, highlight-driven world of sports talent.
2. Instagram
Many athletes use Instagram to share their highlight reels, but it’s not a platform designed for discovery. Scouts have to wade through endless posts, and there’s no way to filter talent by specific criteria or see performance stats. Plus, it lacks credibility as a scouting tool.
3. Hudi
Now, Hudl does focus on sports and allows athletes to share highlight videos, but it’s mostly team-based and geared towards coaches. The focus here is on sharing film with your own team or coaches rather than marketing yourself to scouts or brands. It’s also heavy on traditional team sports like football and soccer, leaving out a lot of athletes from niche sports.
4. BeRecruited
This is more of a direct competitor, as it focuses on connecting athletes with college scouts. However, it’s limited mainly to college-level recruiting and doesn’t offer the same level of performance data or analytics that GameChanger brings. It also lacks personalization for scouts and doesn’t offer the same global reach.
GameChanger is in a league of its own. It’s not just about uploading a highlight reel—it’s a full platform where athletes can track their progress, and scouts can filter and find talent based on real-time data. Plus, it’s built for athletes across all sports, from the mainstream to the niche.
Validating my insights
Interviewing about 20 athletes, scout and coaches showed that it can really be difficult scouting for talents and being seen by experts.
I started by interviewing athletes, scouts, and coaches to get to the heart of their frustrations. Athletes—especially those from smaller regions—felt overlooked and couldn’t afford to attend big showcases to get noticed. Scouts, on the other hand, were drowning in outdated methods, spending way too much time filtering through irrelevant talent. These interviews confirmed a critical problem: the need for a direct, efficient connection between athletes and scouts.
Mapping pain points and goals
What I found was simple: athletes were struggling to get noticed, and scouts were wasting time hunting for talent. Both needed an easier, more efficient way to connect.
For athletes
Visibility was their main issue. They wanted to be seen but didn’t have the resources or platforms to properly showcase their skills.
For scouts
It was all about efficiency. They needed a streamlined way to find exactly what they were looking for without spending hours in search.
These stories formed the backbone of GameChanger’s core features,
ensuring everything was designed with the user in mind, and of
course, profitability of Gamechanger.
Defining user personas
With those insights, I created two key personas to guide the design.
User story
Making the app work for athletes and scouts.
I mapped out the journey for both athletes and scouts to ensure GameChanger met their specific needs. Athletes wanted an easy way to showcase their talents and track their progress, while scouts needed a streamlined process to find and evaluate talent efficiently. By designing intuitive features like profile creation, video uploads, and performance data filtering, I created a seamless experience that connects both groups, making talent discovery easier and faster for everyone involved.
Athlete user story
Profile creation
As an athlete, I want to easily create a profile where I can showcase my stats, videos, and achievements so scouts can quickly see what I’m about.
Highlight reel upload
I want to be able to upload highlight videos and performance clips without a ton of hassle, so I can keep my profile up to date and increase my chances of getting noticed
Tracking progress
I want to see how many scouts are viewing my profile or interacting with my videos, so I can track my progress and know what’s working.
Scout user story
Talent search
As a scout, I want to filter athletes by specific criteria (e.g., position, location, stats) so I can quickly narrow down my search to find the right fit.
Performance insights
I want access to real-time performance data like speed, goals, or wins, so I can make data-driven decisions and avoid wasting time on unqualified prospects.
Profile review
I want to bookmark or save athletes’ profiles for future reference, so I can easily come back to them when I’m making recruitment decisions.
These steps align with the needs of both athletes and scouts, providing a
clear picture of how GameChanger is solving their problems.
Brainstorming and storyboard
Making sure I visualize the entire journey.
Once I had clarity on user goals, it was time to brainstorm. My team and I used storyboarding to visualize the entire journey—both for athletes and scouts. I broke it down: from profile creation, to scouts searching for talent, to athletes tracking their progress. This helped me see how the product would actually work in real-world scenarios and refine the flow to make it feel seamless.
Developing a strategy
With the vision in place, it was time to craft a strategy to bring it to life through UX and growth.
- User experience strategy: The app had to be easy to use, period. For athletes, it was about creating profiles quickly and uploading highlight reels without any hassle. For scouts, the focus was on search filters that allowed them to drill down into specifics—like speed, stats, and performance metrics—at the click of a button.
- Growth strategy: We decided to attract athletes by partnering with schools, sports academies, and local sports organizations, offering them a free platform to get noticed. For scouts, we created a freemium model, allowing them to try the platform with limited access and upgrade if it worked for them.
Design goals
Simple, intuitive user interface
The platform must be easy to use for athletes with varying levels of tech access, particularly those in underserved regions. A clean, intuitive UI allows users to create profiles, upload videos, and engage with the platform effortlessly,.
Seamless video uploads and optimization
Since athletes will rely on highlight reels to showcase their skills, the app should make video uploads as smooth as possible, optimizing videos for low-bandwidth environments.
Localized search capabilities
Scouts should be able to filter talent based on location, performance stats, and skill sets. The search system must support geographic filters to enable the discovery of athletes from underserved regions, helping scouts find talent globally.
Personalized dashboards for scouts
Create a personalized experience for scouts, where they can save athlete profiles, track progress, and compare data easily. The dashboard should feel like a tailored workspace for filtering, saving, and reviewing potential recruits.
Strong mobile-first design
Since many athletes in underserved areas may only have access to mobile phones, the app should be designed primarily for mobile use, ensuring that all key functionalities—profile creation, video uploads, and interactions—are optimized for small screens.
Secure and transparent data management
Athletes’ performance data and personal details must be securely handled to protect privacy. The design should ensure transparency in how data is used and give users control over what scouts can access, building trust between athletes and the platform.
System architecture
Simple and fast for building connections
I designed the app to make connecting with talent easy and fast. The user flow prioritizes key actions like creating profiles, discovering talent, sharing highlight videos, and messaging coaches or athletes with minimal steps.
To avoid overwhelming users, additional features like in-depth analytics, collaboration tools, or training resources are tucked away but easily accessible when needed. This setup ensures that users can focus on building their sports careers without distractions.
Low-fidelity wireframe
Early vision taking shape
At this stage, the focus was on laying down the foundation for the app’s structure and functionality without worrying about the finer details. Using basic sketches and wireframes, I aimed to create a clear outline of how the user interactions would flow—from onboarding to profile creation, and everything in between.
Brainstorming /sketching
Low-fidelity wireframe
Challenges we’ll face
Understanding that every product faces a number of challenges when used in the real would.
Security: We’ll need to protect athletes’ data, especially since it involves personal info and performance stats
Content moderation: With athletes uploading videos, we’ll have to make sure the content is sports-related and appropriate. We plan to use a combination of AI and human moderators.
User experience (UX)
We designed GameChanger to be as easy to use as your favorite social app. The sign-up process is smooth, and we made sure uploading highlight videos is as simple as posting on Instagram.
Athletes: Easy uploads, clear navigation, and all their important info (like stats) is front and center.
Scouts: A dashboard where they can search and filter by specific metrics like height, age, and performance stats. The idea is to make it as efficient as possible so they spend more time finding talent and less time scrolling.
Project takeaways
A better understanding of concepts when applied in the real world.
This project allowed me to:
- Gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of postpartum mental health and how trauma can deeply affect a woman’s emotional recovery.
- Design with empathy by always centering the user’s emotional needs and creating safe spaces for their healing
- Develop a niche mental health solution, offering a service where women can find community and professional support tailored to their unique struggles.
- Create a product that educates and empowers both women and their support systems, ensuring that mental health is prioritized just as much as physical recovery in the postpartum experience.