AccessFan

Changing the Game for Club Management

About project: Web app; 2022 /
Deliverables: 1; 2
My Role: Research, UX Design, UI Design

AccessFan

Changing the Game for Club Management

About project: Web app; 2022 /
Deliverables: 1; 2
My Role: Research, UX Design, UI Design

TL;DR

A summary of what is in this case study

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We worked with Phobia to develop a new onboarding flow. A user is shown pictures of common phobias and we use the microphone to detect which ones make them scream, feeding the results into the matching algorithm.

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Find love in the face of fear.

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Find love in the face of fear.

Kick-Off: The AccessFan Story

AccessFan is a comprehensive user management platform built for Argentine sports clubs. Originally launched in Mendoza and now expanding nationwide, it provides a unified system for controlling user access, processing memberships, selling tickets, and building member loyalty. Recognizing the importance of mobile access, we emphasized a robust and intuitive mobile experience. This case study examines the UX/UI design process behind AccessFan, highlighting the challenges, solutions, and positive outcomes.

The Toughest Match: Balancing Needs

Developing a platform from the ground up, with no direct competitors offering the same combination of features, presented unique challenges. Many clubs were struggling with inefficient membership management and outdated ticketing systems, leading to administrative overhead, long queues at venues, and frustrated fans. Our primary goal was to create a robust yet user-friendly system for both administrators and members, projecting a 15% increase in ticket sales and a 10% improvement in member retention through a superior mobile experience. To achieve these business goals, a user-centered design approach, incorporating extensive research and iterative prototyping, was essential.

We focused on understanding the specific pain points of club managers regarding membership tiers, payment tracking, and event ticketing, while ensuring an intuitive experience for members to manage accounts, purchase tickets, and interact with their club. A key challenge was the need for a white-label system to accommodate each club's unique branding and operational requirements. This required a flexible, scalable, and customizable approach to both design and implementation.

The Game Plan: Our Solution

Our approach prioritized the needs of the platform's users: club staff and members. Intensive research, including one-on-one interviews with club managers, stakeholders, and members, revealed valuable insights into their workflows, needs, and frustrations. We analyzed this data, using key themes to guide our design. For example, many club managers expressed frustration with the time-consuming process of manually reconciling membership payments, directly leading to our focus on an automated payment processing system within AccessFan.

A key design decision was the creation of a white-label system. To accommodate each club's unique branding and operational requirements, we designed adaptable templates and style guides. This approach allowed clubs to maintain their individual brand identities within the platform while still benefiting from AccessFan's core functionality.

Sketching, wireframing, and prototyping allowed us to translate research data into tangible designs with clear user flows, a robust information architecture, and intuitive navigation. These prototypes allowed us to simulate the user experience and test different design solutions with representative users, gathering feedback to actively identify any pain points or friction in the user experience. This iterative process directly resulted in key design improvements. For example, user testing of the mobile ticketing flow revealed difficulties locating purchased tickets, prompting a redesign of the ticket display for improved prominence and accessibility. We also incorporated microinteractions, like smooth transitions between app sections, to further enhance the user experience.

Executing the Strategy: Implementation

The development and deployment of AccessFan was strategically executed in three distinct stages: core functionality (member subscriptions and ticketing for matches and events), AccessFan Tickets Only (standalone ticketing for non-club users, launched in 2023), and the marketplace feature (for member loyalty and merchandise sales, launched in 2024). This phased approach allowed us to manage risk, gather user feedback at each stage, and ensure a stable and successful platform.

During implementation, a close collaboration with the development team proved crucial when a technical limitation arose regarding the integration with a specific payment gateway. By working closely with the development team, we were able to adapt the design slightly to accommodate this limitation without compromising the user experience.

During each development stage, we conducted rigorous usability testing with the interactive prototypes to observe real users and identify usability issues early. For example, testing revealed usability challenges related to payment processing across both membership subscriptions and ticket purchases. Specifically, users expressed confusion with the initial payment plan options for memberships, prompting us to simplify the selection process with clearer language and visual cues. Furthermore, analyzing user data revealed a high abandonment rate during the ticket purchase process, specifically at the payment step. This insight prompted a redesign of the checkout flow, including a change of payment gateway. The redesign resulted in a significant increase in conversion rates.

The Final Scoreboard: Results

AccessFan has proven to be a success, with widespread adoption across Argentina. Over 70 clubs, both large and small, have integrated the platform into their operations. Nearly one million tickets have been sold through AccessFan, and the platform boasts over 10,000 active memberships as of 2024, with steady monthly growth.

Beyond these figures, AccessFan has significantly improved club staff efficiency, with clubs reporting an average reduction of 30% in administrative tasks related to membership and ticketing. This allows staff to dedicate more time to other important aspects of club operations, such as fan engagement and community outreach.

Extra Time: Looking Ahead

The importance of understanding user needs in the design of effective management tools is clearly demonstrated by AccessFan's success. By prioritizing the needs of both clubs and their members, we created a platform with a substantial positive effect on the Argentine sports community.

Following the successful launch and testing of the core features, AccessFan Tickets Only (the standalone version for non-club users) was launched in 2023. This broadened the service’s reach and provided ticketing solutions to a wider audience. In 2024, the marketplace feature was introduced, providing clubs with an important addition for maintaining member loyalty and selling merchandise.

This expansion presented new challenges, such as developing effective solutions to combat scalping and unauthorized ticket reselling. These challenges are explored in a separate case study focused on AccessFan Tickets Only.

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Less traffic: 25%
Page load times: 10x
Higher infra costs: 15%
Legal fees: $1.2M

Conclusion

The AccessFan project has achieved its primary goal of validating the market need for a dedicated soccer match ticketing platform. By addressing common pain points such as lack of transparency, limited availability, and complex interfaces, AccessFan has built a reliable and user-friendly service that resonates with its target audience.

The successful user tests and positive feedback confirm the effectiveness of the design and implementation strategies employed. However, users have also highlighted areas for improvement and additional features, paving the way for the next major project. This future initiative will focus on creating dedicated platforms for individual clubs, integrating e-commerce capabilities, and offering an even richer set of features tailored to enhance the fan experience.

Overall, the AccessFan MVP has laid a solid foundation for continued growth and innovation, ensuring that the platform evolves to meet and exceed the expectations of its usersss.

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AccessFan

Changing the Game for Club Management

AccessFan

Changing the Game for Club Management

TL;DR

This is the title 2

This is the title 2

This is the title 2

Kick-Off: The AccessFan Story

The Toughest Match: Balancing Needs

The Game Plan: Our Solution

Executing the Strategy: Implementation

The Final Scoreboard: Results

Extra Time: Looking Ahead

Title

Reflections

Reflections

Conclusion

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Changing the Game for Club Management

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