Transforming Youth Soccer Talent Scouting
Talento Today is a social networking and talent scouting app in the youth soccer domain. Conceptualized for the European market, Talento Today aims to bridge the gap between scouts from clubs and aspiring youth soccer players.
CHALLENGE
At least 30 million children in Europe - and even more worldwide - share the dream of becoming professional soccer players. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of these young athletes never get the opportunity to show their talent due to outdated, tech-bare scouting systems in place that prevent coaches from widespread exposure to talent.
OBJECTIVE
Design a scouting platform for aspiring youth soccer players, their coaches and potential scouts, which will let the players showcase their talent in a safe and engaging environment, whilst facilitate an easier scouting experience for scouts through relevant, curated information on players.
MY ROLE
Define product strategy, drive UX from research till final hand-off
10,000 users onboarded in the first 3 months
The MVP version of the app launched and saw over 10,000 independent users download and use it within the first 3 months
Increased player engagement within academies
Increased use of the app by players to upload videos as opposed to using other social media platforms
Talento Today's Vision
Talento Today aimed to be the go-to source for scouts to find standardised, authentic player data. The aim was to eventually be the 'Amazon' of youth soccer players, through which scouts can fulfill their club's requirements.
Uncovering Hypotheses
The European soccer ecosystem was a comparatively new territory, which made it important to understand the key stakeholders, their challenges and aspirations.
"Players don't lack talent, they lack the network."
Despite high level of skill in players, it is difficult for them to be noticed without connections.
Parents send e-mails to soccer clubs, without any luck.
Throughout this process, there is a high chance of player safety being compromised if videos are shared without understanding the legitimacy of the scout.
The broken link between players and scouts
Both stakeholders aim to connect with the other, as long as they match the requirements. However, there was a gap in the scouting system which prevented this connection from taking place. Players being enrolled in a football academy may bridge this gap. However coaches also find it challenging to prove their track record of training players who eventually get scouted.
How are soccer players scouted?
A scouting requirement is usually generated by by head of scouting at a soccer club which trickles down to the team of scouts. At the same time, players and parents also try multiple avenues to gain visibility in front of scouts.
Entities that support a player's journey
While scouts remain the most ‘official’ pathway into pro clubs, there also exists a supporting ecosystem that is directly or indirectly involved in a player’s soccer journey.
SOCCER SCHOOLS
Primary institution that an aspirant joins to further their training
ADVERTISERS/BRANDS
Linked to pro clubs. Help with outreach and fuelling the soccer economy
YOUTH PRO CLUBS
Often joined by players in addition to an academy for exercising their talent at a competitive level, more potential avenues to be scouted
AGENTS
Individuals who approach or are approached by players and their parents for scouting opportunities
Validating Hypotheses
Interviews and surveys helped uncover insights from real players, parents, coaches and scouts. As the primary language of the target audience was German and Dutch, secondary research and translation help was obtained wherever interviews and primary contact was not possible.
Leon
Player
Age: 14
GOALS
Be noticed by scouts from a reputable club
Sharpen his soccer skills while balancing academics and personal life
CHALLENGES
Does not know methods to reach scouts
Posts on social media platforms but hasn’t been noticed
Hasn’t received a response to his emails sent to clubs
Luis
Coach
Age: 31
GOALS
Ensure the success of academy
furthering the career of playersKeep players engaged so they train consistently
CHALLENGES
Does not have a way to show track record of successful scouting
Players get demotivated at times and may drop out from the academy
Paul
Scout
Age: 37
GOALS
Spend less time accessing relevant player information
Find players which exactly match the club’s requirements
Ensure the club’s success
CHALLENGES
Has to scour through irrelevant information to get to relevant data
Unable to document all observations while scouting
Faces difficulty in creating organized reports
Beyond Scouting Aspirations
To support their journey to being scouted, players also value other forms of support to maximize their performance such as optimal diet and physiotherapy
Despite having the support of coaches, ways for players to advance in their training are often unclear
Scouts rely heavily on disparate and analog tools to make their observations, especially when they are on the move
Scouts also seek to understand intangible qualities such as teamwork, attitude and leadership skills
Players at a soccer academy also form friendships and like to interact with one another outside of their training
SO HOW MIGHT WE
ensure a safe environment for players to share their talent and be scouted?
RECAP OF THE PROBLEM
Players share their videos on social media where their information might be compromised
Players do not know the scout's credentials when the scout approaches them
HOW WE SOLVED THIS:
Secure spaces for soccer academies where players share and react to videos
A system of requesting to join a team to view players and videos
HOW MIGHT WE
curate holistic player profiles to aide the scout's decision-making?
RECAP OF THE PROBLEM
Scouts have to scour through irrelevant data to view player talent
The credibility of player information is unknown for scouts
HOW WE SOLVED THIS:
PLAYER APP
A player profile with videos by the player and from the coach, performance ratings given by the coach and a section with player statistics.
COACH APP
Periodic ratings given to the player, to highlight the player's strengths and growth to the scout
HOW MIGHT WE
make it easy for the scout to compare player information?
RECAP OF THE PROBLEM
Scouts use multiple modes, mostly analog, to document player data, resulting in potential loss of the data
Compiling all information to report to head of scouting can be a tedious task
HOW WE SOLVED THIS:
Ability for the scout to review player details, add notes and shortlist players
Single place for viewing all saved players and relevant information
IT'S NOT ONLY ABOUT GETTING SCOUTED
How can players improve and remain motivated throughout their journey?
RECAP OF THE PROBLEM
Players may feel demotivated at times when they are not getting invites to scouting trials
Players need tertiary information that could help with their professional journey
HOW WE SOLVED THIS:
PLAYER APP
Players can respond to challenges created by their coach to keep them engaged during breaks.
COACH APP
Coaches can award badges for challenges to players, that are visible to scouts
PLAYER APP
Articles to help players remain updated on tips to stay at the top of their game
DESIGNING FOR YOUTH PLAYERS
An engaging yet secure platform for users of ages 8-16 years
Player Privacy and GDPR
Since the application was being launched in the EU, GDPR regulations needed to be strictly followed. Special attention needed to be given to the GDPR principles that revolved around transparency, consent and clarity of information.
Content needed to be simplified while still making additional information available to users.
Explicit options need to be given to users to withdraw their consent or remove data they shared.
The service needed to be transparent about how user information collected was going to be used.
Aesthetics and Sensibilities
Careful thought went behind ensuring that the visual language is engaging and dynamic for young players, while still invoking the feeling of professionalism and security to the parents, coaches and scouts.
Early Validation
An Iterative Process
The first release of the app was launched in both the App Store and Play Store. Once implemented, Mixpanel (event-based analytics) and Firebase (for A/B testing some features) were integrated to gather real time user feedback. Qualitative feedback was also gathered from the client and iterations were made in the application to enable effortless onboarding and seamless interactions.
