FIRST DOWN BOX - 2018
CONTRIBUTIONS: PHYSICAL PRODUCT DESIGN | USER RESEARCH | BRANDING
MEDIUM: CARDBOARD | PRINT
TIMELINE: 4 MONTHS
THE PROBLEM
During my time with the NFLPA (NFL Players Association), I noticed that the organization was having an issue with connecting to younger players, particularly rookies. This is an issue as rookies are the future of the NFL. So when our intern class was assigned a final capstone project, we asked the question:
How might we engage rookie players, as they are inducted to the league, with the NFLPA in a way that is personal and memorable?
DISCOVERY: WHY ROOKIES?
Rookies are the future of the National Football League in addition to the Players Association but they have very little knowledge of the services that the NFLPA provide
They do not know that the NFLPA as an entity are fighting for their rights when the NFL pushes back on their needs
Rookies are also the "eyes and ears" in that they observe and process the culture across the different teams
Rookies do not reach out to the NFLPA until they retire and need financial information despite the constant efforts to engage with them over social media, phone, and email
Our initial mockup of the First Down Box prototype
RESEARCH: WHAT DO ROOKIES WANT FROM THE NFLPA?
Interviewing Former Rookies
When coming up with our new idea, we decided to talk to a few former rookies including:
Canaan Severin - New York Giants
Myles Garrett- Cleveland Browns
Eric Smith- Miami Dolphins
We found that these players do not check their emails or texts often because most of their day is spent in training. So a lot of the previous efforts to reach out by the NFLPA were not being seen and was in a way, a waste of resources. They mentioned that Twitter was a big method of contact between players as well as engagement with fans. We had a unique challenge we were facing:
"How might we engage with young men, normally in or fresh out of college, who have extremely busy rigid schedules?"
Contextual Inquiry: What were we already doing as an organization?
Before solidifying any plans for an idea from our interviews, we decided to interview player managers what efforts were already being made to engage rookies. We found that:
There is lots of white paper
The packets are too long (some over 15 pages)
Paper is easily lost by the players and bland to look at
Packets are not personal
Collecting Data from Partner Services and Events
We also found that Partner Services would put together a sponsorship package to send to players as well but it was not exclusively addressing the NFLPA but rather the different brands or sponsors involved.
Looking at additional data, we found that rookies were amongst the lowest in attending NFLPA events as well as going to the company website as a resource.
Swag is a big sell for rookies. So we created this design for a shirt as part of the box with the NFLPA logo and tagline. Additionally, we included the year the rookies were drafted, something we would modify in the design annually for the real product.
IDEATION: FROM IDEAS TO CONCEPTION
Initial Ideas
We began thinking about how we wanted to approach this product. We thought about many different mediums to approach the issue including a:
Mobile app
Website with information about the NFLPA
But we realized the medium of an app or website would continue the same problem that the NFLPA was already having as an organization: giving new players another place where they had to check information.
Knowing our Users
Our users are rookie players, who by nature of the sport that they play, are tactile. They understand what they can see, touch, and hold.
We realized that for our particular challenge, we had to intersect the physical and digital experience for the best engagement. Even the name, First Down Box, is tied to the physical play within football that commences the game.
Flash of Insight
The idea of the box came about when we looked at how social media companies like Facebook engaged with their interns, who were around the same age as our rookies. Facebook interns were given a lot of swag in a box including things like stickers and t-shirts.
These were physical objects tied to the Facebook brand.
This gave us ideas on where to move forward with our product. We began conceptualizing physical items we could put in a box that could still be tied to existing resources within the NFLPA.
PROTOTYPING: BUILDING THE BOX
We constructed a physical mockup of our product so that people could touch and feel the box for themselves. We used simple materials like paper, spray paint, cardboard, and branded items we already had. The final box contains:
Custom designed T-Shirt
NFLPA Membership Card
Personal letter from DeMaurice Smith (Executive Director of the NFLPA)
Strideline branded socks
NFLPA Rookie Guide – tips for rookies to survive their first year in the league
Vouchers from corporate partners – Lyft, Cole Hahn, Fanatics, EA sports, etc.
The Trust flash drive – Important documents all players need, especially financial after retiring from the league
Physical prototype of the First Down Box using elements like paper, spray paint, and cardboard. We also used branding materials we had access to such as the Trust key shaped flash drive and fanatics branded socks.
EVALUATION: REFLECTIONS, FEEDBACK, AND FUTURE ITERATIONS
So what did we learn and able to implement from our prototype?
A lot of materials to implement the delivery for this box were already in place. So costs would not be as large as we initially expected
People were really engaged with our idea. We received many questions during our final presentation about implementation into the organization
What improvements can still be made?
We had to consider that the digital portion of the experience would require another project proposal for our IT team
More interviews with former or current Rookies might be useful considering how often their experiences vary, depending on the team they are signed onto
We should add a "come visit our office" section to the Rookie Guide so that players will have a physical space to tie the NFLPA's services with
BONUS*
If you would like to view the presentation we made to senior managers and directors within the NFLPA, the PowerPoint is attached below: