Training athletes, not data scientists
An ambitious project to design the Catapult One (C1) player experience helping amateur athletes understand their data as they aspire to become professional sports players in their field.
Where do I fit in?
As a UX designer just new to the company, I served as the connective tissue between user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. My role is to ensure that every design decision for catapult one is grounded in research, empathy, clarity, usability and sustainability.
TL;DR Design the product and make sure people are happy with it!
What is “Catapult One”
Catapult One is a sports performance tracking system designed for individual athletes and coaches, especially in team sports like soccer, American football, rugby, and lacrosse. It brings elite-level analytics—once reserved for pro teams—into the hands of everyday players.
GPS Tracking Pod & Vest: Athletes wear a FIFA-approved pod and vest to capture movement data during training or matches.
Performance Metrics: Tracks key stats like total distance, sprint distance, top speed, and intensity to help players improve.
Heatmaps & Positioning: Visualizes player movement to analyze field coverage and tactical positioning.
Training Plans: Offers curated workouts and recovery tips from top-tier coaches.
Progress Analysis: Lets users benchmark against personal bests and monitor trends over time.
TLDR; When you play your sport you get numbers and graphs
🛠️ Project timeline & Workflow: “C1 Design”
I mapped out this double diamond diagram for the C1 team across two key phases: Discovery and Production to communicate to our stakeholders the original ask and the impact design was going to make. Double diamond provided us with enough structure and flexibility to give us direction and make adjustments as needed. I have used this model in the past and use it when there is a vacuum on design direction. Very useful to use in a pinch!
📅 The C1 timeline
September + October: Discovery (Early-stage research and concepting)
November + December: Finalization, approvals, and dev sprint execution
We had a tight timeline to turn this around by the end of the year as products were scheduled to hit storeshelves in January the following year. Understanding this there was not much wiggle room to spread out the work. We had to work methodically on what could be accomplished in the short term to yielding long term accomplishments.
🔄 Double diamond by the book
We had a short timeline to complete this product so had to use Double diamond off the shelf (and it worked great!)
Research kickoff – Initial discovery and user research (interviewing athletes)
Team alignment – Syncing design goals with collaborators shareholders (my bosses boss 😎)
Design kickoff – Level setting with the business on what our design was going to bring (AKA C1’s design requirements drafting)
Stakeholder approvals – Go or no-go on the proposed designs to send to dev to actually build C1
??? - Getting the work done! 🛠️
Delivery – what we set out to accomplished and brigning it together on time
👥 Team Involvement
Early Phase (Sep–Oct): Drew M., John S., Mary M.
Later Phase (Nov–Dec): Expanded team including Casey D., Chris S., Chris M., McCormick D., Ruth S.
🔭 C1 discovery
We had a clear understanding from the business about what they wanted and we had a tech demo of the C1 wearable device and the data points it captured
1. Context
Understand lifestyle
2. Solutions brainstorming
Here
3. Shared vision (users & stakeholders)
The mind map reflects a strong balance between school, family, and personal interests, indicating a well-rounded lifestyle.
You’re not just focused on academics or sports—there’s space for relationships and recreation
👥 Relationship Insights
3. Family as a Support System
Listing specific family members (Dad, Mom, Siblings, Grandparents) shows that family relationships are distinct and meaningful.
This could point to different roles or influences each person has in your life—emotional, logistical, or motivational.
4. Friends as Activity Catalysts
The direct link between “Friends” and “Activities” implies that friendships are often formed or strengthened through doing things together.
This could be a design opportunity if you're building something that encourages social bonding through shared tasks or challenges.
⚙️ Just build the damn thing!
We had a clear understanding from the business about what they wanted and we had a tech demo of the C1 wearable device and the data points it captured
1. Context
Understand lifestyle
2. Solutions brainstorming
Here
3. Shared vision (users & stakeholders)
The mind map reflects a strong balance between school, family, and personal interests, indicating a well-rounded lifestyle.
You’re not just focused on academics or sports—there’s space for relationships and recreation
👥 Relationship Insights
3. Family as a Support System
Listing specific family members (Dad, Mom, Siblings, Grandparents) shows that family relationships are distinct and meaningful.
This could point to different roles or influences each person has in your life—emotional, logistical, or motivational.
4. Friends as Activity Catalysts
The direct link between “Friends” and “Activities” implies that friendships are often formed or strengthened through doing things together.
This could be a design opportunity if you're building something that encourages social bonding through shared tasks or challenges.
🚀 C1 delivery
discuss the delivery here
1.
🎯 Did we hit or miss the mark?
discuss the delivery here
1.
🛠️ Research as requirements
This section will talk about how we leverage research to build requirements