Nike Football
Nike Football
In 2014, Nike introduced the Nike Football app, a comprehensive digital platform designed to enhance the experience of soccer enthusiasts. The app featured exclusive product releases, personalized news and product feeds, training programs, and a social feature, providing users with a unique and diverse experience. As a result of its success, the app's features were integrated into the Nike and Nike Training apps, ultimately leading to the retirement of the Nike Football app in 2017.
I am passionate about football and would love to see the app flourish again. When I played at the premier club youth level, I often wished that I had better resources available to help me develop as a player and reach my full potential. Nowadays, there are more programs for athletes to choose from. However, none of them have the same swag or popularity as the Nike football app once had.
I redesigned the Nike Football mobile app.
Duration: 2 Months
Tools: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe XD
Project Type:
UI Design, IOS Mobile Design, Brand Design, UX + Market Research
Problems
The app had issues with its social feature not being well-designed and other parts of the app not being frequently updated. This resulted in the app feeling more like an advertisement rather than a useful tool. Additionally, there were low levels of user engagement, little new content, and difficulty retaining users.
Nike has incorporated certain elements into their newer apps, such as the ability to promote and sell products and offer various training programs. That affects the features that can be used.
At the time, not everyone was equally comfortable or familiar with using technology, and the competitive culture among athletes was not as intense as it is now. With the advancement of technology and the increasing competitiveness among athletes, there is now a higher demand for advanced training and programs from these users and athletes.
Solutions
The new app will prioritize functionality and a clear sense of identity. It will be tailored to a specific group of athletes, soccer players, by providing unique and specialized training programs. The social feature will be redesigned to provide a distinct user experience. The app will be different from other Nike apps, but it will still clearly convey the Nike brand.
The app will provide users with fresh, high-quality content that is relevant to their interests. User feedback will be actively solicited and incorporated into updates, and the app's social feature will be redesigned to facilitate greater interaction among users. The goal is to keep users engaged and coming back to the app by providing them with a better and newer experience with each update.
The app will offer a range of content that varies in difficulty level, allowing users to challenge themselves. Each workout program or training exercise will be unique and will offer multiple levels of difficulty, so users can progress and improve as they become more skilled. This way, users will have the ability to keep pushing themselves and reach their full potential.
Goal
The goal for the Nike Soccer app redesign is to create an intuitive and immersive user experience that will enhance the way soccer players track their progress and stay connected with the sport. By incorporating cutting-edge technology and innovative design, we aim to provide a comprehensive platform for players to achieve their goals and stay motivated on the field.
The Nike Football App had many features that were designed specifically for footballers of all ages. Some of the features are highlighted below.
Research
Features
For this particular project, the scope of my research was restricted to online sources. This included information from past user reviews and discussions, older app ratings and update descriptions, and historical threads on various websites. The research material was gathered from the internet, which allowed me to gather information about the app and its history, but it may not have been the most comprehensive or recent data available.
-
Customizable News Feed
Follow your favorite players, products, and teams to get special stories and content from Nike based on your preferences.
-
Personal Store
Later integrated into the new Nike App, users had their store feeds influenced by their purchase history, and interests.
-
Exclusive Offers
Users would get invites to special events and exclusive products via the app that would be influenced by their interests.
-
Training Sessions
Similarly to the new Nike Training App, the Football App had workout plans and training videos for their users from professional partnered athletes. Users could track their workouts and exercise through the app.
-
Football Pro Genius
Nike’s technology with AKQA featured special brain training for users to improve the mental aspect of their game. Featured activities included awareness and reflex activities, decision making games, as well as mental warm-up + focusing activities. The app would analyze user data and give them a score at the end of the session.
-
Social
In the app users could register crews (a number of users to form a group) as well as training grounds (any soccer field). In the app users could also schedule pick up games at different locations and times.
Competitors
The soccer community offers various training programs focusing on tactics, physical fitness, and mental preparation. High-level programs utilized by professional clubs are considered among the most advanced and elite in the field. However, they may not be suitable or accessible for players at lower skill levels or different stages of development and are usually not free. This opens up opportunities for the Nike football app.
Here are some examples of highly-rated programs from around the world. Note that all programs are targeted toward athletes of different levels.
Users
Limited information about the discontinued app is available as it was retired four years ago. The data obtained from these sources is not extensive but it can still be useful. Social forums such as Reddit have some old conversations about the app, which can provide insight into its past performance and user experience. Some historical ratings and reviews can be found online, but it is not a comprehensive data set.
Here’s some insight from the information gathered.
Users were asking if anyone was using the app to organize pickup games or training sessions, but most responses were links or references to other platforms. This suggests that while the app had users, they were not using its features and instead were looking for alternatives. It may indicate that the app was not meeting their needs for social and training features.
Some of the reviews for the app were similar across different versions and regions. The app received low ratings due to the lack of new content and inadequate support for certain features. This indicates that users from various locations had similar complaints and that the app was not providing a satisfactory experience in terms of content and features.
Some users were unaware that the app had been retired, and they often asked what had happened to it. This indicates that some users were not highly invested in the app.
I analyzed information to find shortcomings in the previous app to understand the user’s needs. The users are a diverse group of players with varying skill levels and motivations. They all share similar goals in terms of development and performance, and each user will want a unique experience catered to them.
To guide my design process, I created 3 distinct user personas. I made sure to keep my own bias out of the design, and instead focused on the needs of a new generation of athletes. The user personas include information such as the age, skill level, goals, behaviors, motivations, and pain points of the users.
Personas
Ideation
Starting the ideation phase, I decided to split it into 3 sprints. This would allow me to focus on one or two things at one time and really dig into the design process.
The app needs to meet our user’s goals and take away their pains. The features have to give users a challenge. The training programs must be able to fit into their schedules. The social feature has to be consistent and interactive. Keep the users motivated.
Sprint 1: Defining features and opportunities
Phase 2: Nike branding and IOS guidelines
Phase 3: Individuality
Nike branding and ecosystem
IOS design regulations
Distinct color and look
Unique features
Personalization
Brain training
Workout videos and programs
Social feature
Free training programs
Personalized feeds
It is important to understand how the user will use the app. Highlighting features and options in a way that is clear and simple helps to create a seamless and intuitive user experience, making it easier for users to achieve their goals within the app without having to press too many buttons.
User Journey Map
Sprint 1 aimed to identify features and opportunities where the app could excel compared to other programs. The brain training feature was retained as it was popular and unique. The app will offer diverse, personalized, and challenging training activities that are different from their other programs for free with the aim of attracting a wide range of users. Additionally, the social feature will be improved to enable more social interaction which no other program offers.
Sprint 2 focused on the IOS design and Nike branding and ecosystem. Their IOS apps all have distinct designs and aesthetics to them, so keeping that consistent throughout all apps is important.
Sprint 3 builds upon the progress and outcomes of the first two sprints. The main objective of this sprint is to establish the identity of the app. This includes giving users the ability to customize their profiles and creating a consistent, unique design throughout the app. The goal is to give the app a distinct look and feel that sets it apart from other apps, making it more recognizable and memorable to users.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
The low-fidelity prototype, built in Adobe XD, demonstrates the various pages that users would interact with on a regular basis. The design is influenced by the existing Nike brand design and app ecosystem, and it was created by experimenting with different styles and layouts to find a unique and simple design.
UI Design
Nike’s latest product, the Nike Football App aims to challenge the newest age of ballers. Equipped with state-of-the-art brain training technology, expertly crafted workout programs, and a social platform for you and your crew to conquer the pitch.
These high-fidelity mockups showcase the new and improved design of the app. Fitting into the Nike ecosystem, the app keeps some of its unique and recognizable features and improves upon them.