World Cup Starting XI
U.S. Soccer Federation
Interactive app feature to increase fan engagement around the World Cup.
The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) wanted an interactive feature in their flagship app that could spread via social media to promote engagement prior and during the Men’s and Women’s games at the FIFA World Cup.
CHALLENGE
Design & Develop a feature accessible from the Landing Screen where users can choose their Starting XI predicted players and pitch formation for each game of the World Cup and share it on Social Media.
SOLUTION
ROLE
Design Manager
TIMELINE
7 Months
SCOPE
Mobile
Scaled design operations by implementing new methodologies, reusable templates, and libraries to streamline workshops and analysis.
Aligned stakeholder and cross-team expectations by translating client needs into actionable design objectives.
Provided creative direction and defined project timelines to ensure a cohesive end-to-end product vision.
Established clear metrics to measure design impact and drive business outcomes.
Mentored designers through iterative feedback, fostering confidence, growth, and design excellence.
Key Responsibilities
The Process
To ensure a successful feature, we tailored our design process to balance speed and quality. We began with workshops to align on goals and KPIs, conducted competitive analysis to identify opportunities, and defined the MVP based on user needs. Rapid iterations of wireframes and UI refinements, paired with prototypes and user testing, ensured a smooth launch—delivering a user-centered solution that met business goals.
WORKSHOPS
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
IDENTIFY MVP
WIREFRAMES (UX)
BRANDING (UI)
Initial Insights
Developed a comprehensive discovery workshop template to streamline discussions and ensure coverage of key areas, including Definition of Done, KPIs, user pain points, market opportunities, and business goals.
ALIGNING ON EXPECTATIONS
The lead designer and I collaborated to define key focus areas and our approach for case studies. We conducted re on features that supported player search and selection, as this posed the biggest challenge for users.
IDENTIFYING GAPS
Crafting the Experience
I implemented weekly feedback sessions with design, development, and product teams to drive quick iterations and maintain momentum within a limited timeline.
QUICK ITERATIONS
I created a flow library with standardized shapes and symbols for common interactions, enabling the team to efficiently visualize and iterate on user flows across various use cases.
STREAMLINED WORKFLOWS
By defining user flows early, we enabled developers to structure the backend in parallel, ensuring seamless integration with the final UI.
JUMPSTARTING DEVELOPMENT
Driving Iteration & Testing
EARLY VALIDATION
From user flows, we developed wireframes and prototypes, testing them internally to gather feedback and visually demonstrate user interactions. This process fostered discussions that refined and shaped the feature’s development.
Cohesive Design Language
Building on the foundational elements I established when designing the app a few years prior, I developed a comprehensive design system library with variable properties, components, color palettes, typography, and spacing guidelines. Aligned with the Federation’s brand, this system ensured consistency and maintained design integrity across the project.
DESIGN SYSTEM
I coordinated resource allocation and managed the team to meet tight deadlines. I allocated a designer to focus on animations, ensuring they stayed in the loop with the rest of the team to maintain design consistency. This approach enabled efficient collaboration and the timely delivery of high-quality output.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
The Result
Success & Impact
APP ENGAGEMENT
The app saw a 500,000 unique visitor increase within the first month of the feature's release with Starting XI being the most used app feature.
PROCESS SCALABILITY
Product Owners and Managers felt more empowered to ensure each step of the design process is done by adopting my ticket outlines, templates, and design process steps across their features.
ACCOUNTS CREATED
20% increase of loyalty accounts created during World Cup cycle with 10% increase in paid accounts to unlock special backgrounds.
DESIGN PROCESS
Design cycles and iterations became faster due to increased awareness and clear direction of tasks and deliverables, ensuring the team stayed aligned and focused on key priorities.
social media engagement thrived
versatility of system
Personal Retrospective
SCALABLE PROCESSES
The project highlighted the importance of building scalable processes from the ground up, even if they take time at the beginning because this sets the foundation for future growth, ensuring that the team could maintain efficiency and consistency as the product and team expanded.
BALANCING NEEDS
Balancing the designer’s growth with tight deadlines required prioritization and strategic delegationmwithout compromising business goals. This experience honed my ability to balance competing interests and deliver a unified solution.
tl;dr
Through mentorship on best practices and guidance on process, we developed a unique and interactive feature that allowed U.S. Soccer fans worldwide to share their Starting XI predictions for all Men’s and Women’s games. Upon release, app engagement surged, reaching 500k unique visitors in the first month. Additionally, I successfully shared our process and templates with other teams, leading to positive results across the organization.