Background
The International Football Association Board was founded in 1886, and since that time it has been decision-making body governing the Laws of the Game of association football. The organization puts great emphasis on the accessibility of these Laws, their correct understanding and moreover their consistent application globally.
Until 2019, all IFAB publications were analog. Of course there were pdfs of these documents, but they were still book-based. Since we had a good relationship with the client (IFAB had been a client of MAMF since 2016), we started talking about bringing their services into the 21st century.
Until 2019, all IFAB publications were analog. Of course there were pdfs of these documents, but they were still book-based. Since we had a good relationship with the client (IFAB had been a client of MAMF since 2016), we started talking about bringing their services into the 21st century.
Team and my role
As Lead Designer, I led and managed the project with the UX/UI team. I was also directly involved in UX and UI design at various stages of the product.
This included delegeting the tasks to UX team, being in constant contact with the Product Owner remotely or by flying in to IFAB HQ in Zurich, the Dev team in Warsaw and all the contractors who helped us with the work.
This included delegeting the tasks to UX team, being in constant contact with the Product Owner remotely or by flying in to IFAB HQ in Zurich, the Dev team in Warsaw and all the contractors who helped us with the work.
Business goals
During our meetings, we had lengthy discussions and workshops to help establish a roadmap and clarify business goals.
Referee platform
During our meetings, we had lengthy discussions and workshops to help establish a roadmap and clarify business goals.
Roadmap
Discovery
The first step was to audit version 1.0, see what went wrong and what worked, gather all the user feedback, dig through that data and see what worked and what didn't.
The result of this process was the conclusion that we needed to completely redesign the UX to make the app more user-friendly and better looking.
We used the following data sources during the initial reaserch phase:
The result of this process was the conclusion that we needed to completely redesign the UX to make the app more user-friendly and better looking.
We used the following data sources during the initial reaserch phase:
Users
After search and analysis we divaded our users into 3 groups.
UX Development
While designing user flows and user experiences, we had 3 major design iterations that focused mostly on how to use the reader.
Testing
We used A/B testing and qualitative research throughout the process.
UI Development
Since the app was part of IFAB's 2020 rebranding plan, and work on the app began long before the branding work, we based the entire UI on atomic design, which allowed us to later globally manage graphical changes to entire elements of the app.
This was very important for the whole process.
This was very important for the whole process.
In the final version we’ve used colors, fonts and components that were inline with whole new branding.
Pivot
In March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, suspending football for months and forcing IFAB to reprioritize projects. The IFAB History project was put on hold.
Later that year, it was decided that IFAB would no longer be responsible for the VAR process and referee training. FIFA took over the projects from IFAB and cancelled the e-learning platform and its integration with The IFAB App in October 2020.
Later that year, it was decided that IFAB would no longer be responsible for the VAR process and referee training. FIFA took over the projects from IFAB and cancelled the e-learning platform and its integration with The IFAB App in October 2020.
Summary
• We completely rewrote the MVP of the app, improving almost everything that needed improvement and adding new features.
• We delivered a product that has over 250000 downloads and an average rating of 4.5.
• We met client's business goals that were not affected by the pivot -> professionals and fans around the world are using the app as their primary source of knowledge about soccer rules, and the IFAB brand is gaining more global recognition because of it.
• We delivered a product that has over 250000 downloads and an average rating of 4.5.
• We met client's business goals that were not affected by the pivot -> professionals and fans around the world are using the app as their primary source of knowledge about soccer rules, and the IFAB brand is gaining more global recognition because of it.