Sport vision Discovery Research
Understand fans and their needs to create products that habituate fans to Stan Sport.
OBJECTIVE
20x 60-minute moderated interviews obsessive, banteres and sports fans participants who supported Football, Rugby, AFL, F1 and Tennis
AI-moderated sessions focused on what it means to be a sports fan (N=24) and statistics (N=27) from Australia, UK, US,
METHOD
UX Research: Notetaking & Synthesis paired with Head of Design, and an external researcher and facilitator.
MY ROLE
FINDINGS: Sport Customer NEEDS
[1] Devotion begins with sHarED stories
Being a fan is a source of identity, comfort and belonging
For many fans, passion begins in childhood, or is sparked by witnessing a jaw-dropping sporting event. Sport provides connection and following a team or sport is often woven into life stories.
For highly obsessed fans, sport is often solo pursuit. Following games becomes a personal ritual, prioritised amidst a busy schedule.
Stories are a social currency
Diverse content and storylines deepen engagement, fuel passion and reinforces bonds with family, friends, and their wider communities.
Fans seek out and share momentous highlights to relive key moments, alongside coach insights, athlete stories, behind-the-scenes access, team news, injury updates, and statistics or trivia to stay connected with loved ones and fellow avid fans.
“I’m emotionally connected to the team...I feel like I know the team. At some level I’m part of the team. I want to win. I want the team to win.”
— Bec, Arsenal Fan
“FA CUp FINAL WAS One of the first games I REMember watching [as a child]… the noise and the atmosphere in the stadium ... the tribalism of the fans the noise and the atmosphere of the games is really appealing'”
— Richard, Liverpool Fan
[2] Routines begin with pre-match hype & end with post-match Analysis
Fans prepare for a game with news, updates and pre-game analysis
Before an event, fans actively seek updates. They check news, conditions, team line ups, player injuries, stats and odds. Some read & google search, whilst others indulge with video or audio previews, press conferences, interviews, analysis from pundits and behind-the-scenes insights and monitor commentary & content creation on social media.
How sports fans catch-up hinges on their team’s performance.
Wins drive longer replays and deeper engagement with interviews, analysis, and social content, while losses lead to disengagement, shorter highlights, or muted viewing to avoid negativity. Help them move on alternate options when they lose.
Fans avoid spoilers to recreate watching live
Many fans actively avoid results before watching replays, to mimic the emotional highs and lows of a match as if it were live. They do this through digital disconnection and outsourcing setup to avoid spoilers. Fans want explicit spoiler and notification control.
Fans seek varying perspectives as part of their post match analysis
Comparing their own opinions against pundits and punters reveals nuances, confirms or disproved expectations, provides context, and fuels discussion, banter, and entertainment.
“You watch the game and you want to know watch what other people think of the games, analysis of the game... so it's almost like watching it multiple times through different lenses".”
— Jason, Cricket Fan
“if they've had a really big win or… an important win, I will normally try to immerse myself in the after game experience … If they lose, I will just switch off and that's it. I want to move on to something else”
— Gerry, Aston Villa Supporter
[3] Modalities BEYOND WATCHING A game
Offer focused and passive viewing options
Whilst often sports fans immerse themselves in one game, there are many different modalities sports fans use to keep up, including:
Watching multiple games at once on TV, Laptop and/or mobile, often with a primary game and secondary
Background watching whilst at work or doing household chores
Following along passively with live scores or play-by-play
Features that enhance the viewing experience can support accessibility needs
We spoke to 2 users with accessibility needs. Features like play-by-play, notification management and live-scores can serve fans with disabilities while also helping those multitasking, following multiple games, seeking context, or tracking scores when a game is live.
“You watch the game and you want to know watch what other people think of the games, analysis of the game... so it's almost like watching it multiple times through different lenses”
— Jason, Cricket Fan
“if they've had a really big win or… an important win, I will normally try to immerse myself in the after game experience … If they lose, I will just switch off and that's it. I want to move on to something else”
— Gerry, Aston Villa Supporter
[4] Experiencing atmosphere bridges the gap to not being there
Fans crave atmosphere of a stadium.
Capture the atmosphere of live competition with multiple camera angles, immersive sound, ad-limitation and crowd and arena footage to reproduce the excitement of being there.
Fans also seek out virtual crowds - following polls, threads on reddit and x, and exhanging messages in group chats during live.
Offer content such as
Behind-the-scenes content such as interviews with athletes, footage during changeovers and breaks such as players talking to their coaches or umpires, or player rituals and warm-ups
Mic'd-up players
Hearing the energy and noise of the crowd
Multiple camera angles
Footage live from the crowd to "see what's going on" and gain an "up close and real time" feel from the venue.
Fan-created content of a fan's experience of going to a game.
Messaging live in group chats with friends, family or collegues
“…you see that behind the scenes interaction, whether they're sitting down, having a drink, talking to their coach and asking the umpire, or it could be an argument or interaction with a fan... It feels like you're actually there a little bit more..”
— Richard, Tennis Fan
“Good to see the crowd as well. Normally there's ratbags in there being drunk and being stupid. But it also gives you a sense that you're there.”
— Participant 7, Rugby Fan
OUTCOMES
Opportunity Tree
We synthesised an opportunity tree with insights from moderate testing, app-reviews and a broad competitor analysis to inspire Stan Sport Roadmaps going forwards.
We had planned to move forwards with vision concepts, but the Winter Olympics and Australian Open ramp-up - alongside a company restructure — required reprioritisation of design resources. As a result, the project was paused before concept ideation began.
REcommendations to inform 25/26 roadmap AND BEYOND
List of recommendations including quick wins, and key priorities to inform the 2025/26 roadmap and the future of sport in 3 years.
WATCH CYCLE: informS content strategy work
Selfishly, it was awesome to have deepened my understanding of sports fans habits, needs and motivations. It armed me to make better design decisions in content strategy work and concepting a new details page for sports.
Sports Obsessive Viewing Habits - Research
Continuous discovery research to understanding habits of sports fans. I supported the notetaking and synthesis of 20 Moderated Interviews & 50 AI Interviews - to unearth opportunities to shape and accelerate the Stan Sport Experience Strategy.