The Team

Our team of six brought together a diverse range of disciplines, allowing us to approach the Sky Sports brief through a variety of lenses, balancing human behavior, visual storytelling, and product logic.

The Challenge

Sky Sports presented us with a wide-reaching brief: expand their digital footprint and ensure long-term engagement with underserved audiences. While the data showed a 26% rise in younger female viewers, this audience remained elusive on Sky’s own platforms.

Our Strategic Choice

Early in the project, our team made a pivotal decision to focus specifically on women under 35. We recognised that this wasn't just a "missing" audience, it was an audience engaging as mere social spectators with untapped potential.

Team Dynamics and My Contribution

Our group operated with a flat structure; we purposefully chose not to designate a leader at the start, allowing roles to emerge naturally based on the project's needs.

My Contribution

• Facilitating Discussions: As someone comfortable leading discussions, I found my rhythm in helping the team navigate our internal meetings. I focused on keeping our brainstorming sessions productive and flowing.

• Architecting the Core Concept: Thriving in research and ideation, I helped brainstorm the core features that became the backbone of our final solution

• Advocating for consensus: We made every major decision through a democratic voting system. Within this process, I worked to ensure everyone in the team was heard, and no opinion was discarded without thought.

1. Discovery - Uncovering the "Social Spectator"

🎯 Focus: Turning research data into a clear direction (Week 1-3)

To understand why women under 35 were drifting away from traditional platforms, we spent the first three weeks deep-diving into their digital and social habits. Our research was a collaborative effort involving:

Secondary Research

Analysing industry trends to identify the gap between interest in women’s sports and actual platform engagement. Immersing ourselves in Reddit, Twitter, and football forums to see where and how the "unofficial" conversation was happening.

Primary Research

Conducting interviews and surveys to hear directly from our target demographic about their barriers to entry.

Breaking the "Analysis Paralysis"

By mid-week, the sheer volume of data left the team feeling "stuck in a rut." Recognising that our momentum was stalling, I suggested we create a "Rescue Timeline." By breaking our remaining tasks into smaller, time-boxed sprints, we were able to regain our focus and move from discussion into action.

2. Synthesis & Definition - Getting to the 'Aha' Moment

🎯 Focus: Turning research data into a clear direction (Week 4)

After three weeks of research, we had a mountain of data but no clear path forward. We spent this phase distilling our findings into a tangible strategy:

• Affinity Mapping: We collaboratively grouped hundreds of research notes to identify the core themes: safety, lack of knowledge, and social isolation.

• The Persona (Sarah): We developed "Sarah" to represent our Social Spectator - someone who loves the energy of the game but feels like an outsider to the "inner circle" of fandom.

• Need & Vision Statements: We defined our "North Star" - creating a safe, inclusive entry point where "Sarah" could build her confidence alongside others.

Leading with Fairness: Sticker Voting

With six designers and no designated leader, opinions were naturally diverse. To keep our decision-making objective, we implemented a Sticker Voting system. I focused on ensuring this stayed democratic. If someone’s idea fell into the minority, we made sure we paused to understand the "why" behind their perspective before we committed to a final path.

The 'Aha' Moment

By the end of week 4, we had successfully gotten out of our rut and now had defined our Key Insights and Design Principles