Product DesignSports Tech & Family2024

Athlete Journey

A mobile sports-record platform built around one simple idea: a child’s sporting development is more than a collection of events.

https://app.athlete-journey.com

Project Overview & Metadata

Role

Lead UI/UX Designer

Platform

Mobile Experience (iOS · Android)

Target Users

Parents, Younger Children (<15), Older Children (15–18)

Key Responsibilities
4 Scope Areas
Refining UX & Interaction ModelParent / Child Permission ArchitectureMobile Information ArchitectureUI Design

01

Problem Definition

Challenge

Designing an experience where the same information could be created, viewed and managed differently depending on who was using the product; balancing family control, child independence and a simple mobile experience.

Key Pain Points & Complexities

Family Permission ModelParental Control vs. Child IndependenceThree Distinct User TypesSeparated Household CoordinationOlder Child Data ProtectionParent Information OverloadMobile Experience Simplicity
02

Strategic Foundation

Product Thinking

Approached as a continuous sporting journey rather than isolated features, connecting training, goals, milestones, rewards, competitions, journals, trophies and achievements.

Core Relationship Lifecycle
Training & EventsGoals & MilestonesJournal ReflectionProgress & StatsTrophy CabinetSporting Journey
Foundation

Family First

Family account generates a shared Family Code to connect parents and children with tailored levels of ownership across households.

Focus: Single Connected Family
Governance

Adaptive Independence

Permissions adapt dynamically as athletes mature, transitioning from full parent control for younger children to protected data ownership for teens.

Focus: Parent-Managed → Shared → Child-Owned
Experience

Connected Journey

Unifies daily training, mindful reflections, statistics, and trophies into an ongoing developmental journey rather than isolated event entries.

Focus: Activity → Reflection → Progress → Achievement

Target Users

  • Parent

    Full family control, management of younger child records, schedule overview, and co-parent coordination via Family Code without information overload.

  • Younger Child (under 15)

    Parent-managed experience where parents hold full control to add, edit, and delete sporting records while children engage under guided supervision.

  • Older Child (15–18)

    Increasing ownership where the child creates and manages their own records, with protected data that parents cannot edit or delete.

Core Goals

  • Connect training, goals, reflection, progress and achievements into one journey

  • Make a complex family permission model feel simple and understandable

  • Support multi-parent access, including separated-parent households

  • Give parents overview without creating information overload

Constraints

  • Child online privacy and data ownership boundaries

  • Differentiating permission tiers across three distinct age groups

  • Streamlined mobile interaction suitable for pitch-side use

  • Synchronization across multiple family devices

03

Architecture & Information Architecture

Ecosystem & Information Architecture

Treating Family Management as a foundational family/account layer that orchestrates permissions and access, while the core sporting modules capture everyday athletic progression.

Information & Entity Relationship Flow
Family AccountFamily CodeParent & Child ProfilesTraining & EventsJournalStatisticsTrophy CabinetSporting Journey
Family & Account Layer

Governs household membership, account synchronization, and permission levels.

Family AccountFamily CodeParent/Child ProfilesFamily Management
Core Sporting Experience

Captures the athlete’s athletic development loop, milestones, and reflections.

Training & EventsGoals & TargetsJournalStatisticsTrophy CabinetAchievementsCalendar
04

User Journey & Workflows

User Flow & Permission Hierarchy

Foundation Layer

FAMILY ACCOUNT

The primary structural container for the entire household, establishing data boundaries and billing.

FAMILY CODE

Family Code — connects parents and children to the same family account.

Multi-Parent & Separated Households:

Explicitly supports separated parents: both Parent 1 and Parent 2 can use the same Family Code to connect to the family account and track their children's sporting journey independently.

Family Account → Family Code → Parent 1 / Parent 2 / Child accounts
Parent Oversight

PARENT

Full family control
  • Full administrative control over family settings
  • Both parents can link to the family via shared Family Code
  • Can add, edit & delete all younger child (<15) sporting records
  • Can add records to older child (15–18) timeline
  • Can edit/delete only parent-created records on older child timeline
  • At-a-glance overview without information overload
Under 15 · Supervised Participation

YOUNGER CHILD

Parent-managed experience
  • Parent has full control over the child's sporting records
  • Parent can add, edit, and delete training, events, goals & trophies
  • Connected via Family Code without needing standalone credentials
  • Child accesses a simplified view of upcoming training & achievements
Ages 15–18 · Shared → Child-Owned

OLDER CHILD

Increasing ownership
  • Child can create and manage their own sporting records
  • Parent can still add records to child's timeline
  • Parent can edit/delete records created by the parent
  • Parent cannot edit or delete records created by the older child
Key UX Contribution

Core UX Contribution: Child-created records are protected. Parents can view and contribute, but cannot overwrite or delete entries made by the older child.

Underlying Experience Model

SPORTING JOURNEY

01
ACTIVITY

Everyday training sessions, practice drills, competitions, and calendar events.

02
REFLECTION

Journal reflections and coach feedback that capture the qualitative story behind the statistics.

03
PROGRESS

Quantified performance metrics, statistics, personal bests, and ongoing target tracking.

04
ACHIEVEMENT

Tangible Trophy Cabinet unlocks, milestones, and personal celebrations.

05
SPORTING RECORD

A connected, lifelong developmental history linking training to overall achievement.

05

Architectural Rationale

Design Decisions

01 Make the Family the Foundation

The family account acts as the primary anchor, generating a Family Code that connects parents (including separated parents) and children into one shared ecosystem with tailored ownership levels.

02 Design for Changing Independence

Adaptive permissions scale as children grow: parent-managed for younger kids (<15), transitioning to shared ownership for older teens (15–18) where parents cannot edit or delete child-created records.

03 Turn Goals into an Ongoing Journey

Connects everyday training, milestones, and competitions into an evolving developmental narrative rather than isolated, disconnected calendar entries.

04 Capture the Story Behind the Statistics

Integrates qualitative journaling and reflections alongside match statistics to capture athlete mindset, effort, and personal growth behind the numbers.

05 Make Achievements Tangible

A digital Trophy Cabinet and milestone recognitions celebrate continuous effort, dedication, and personal breakthroughs beyond formal match medals.

06 Give Parents Overview Without Information Overload

Provides an at-a-glance parent overview summarizing schedules, recent reflections, and achievements across children without micro-management clutter.

06

Impact & Results

Outcome

Final experience connects training, goals and milestones, reflection, progress and achievements into one sporting journey; key UX contribution was making a complex permission and information model understandable.

Family-First Architecture with Family Code

Support for Separated-Parent Access

Parent-Managed younger child (<15) control

Protected Older-Child (15–18) data ownership

Activity → Reflection → Progress → Achievement loop

At-a-glance parent overview without overload

Final Reflection

A child’s sporting development is more than a collection of events. The key UX contribution was making a complex permission and information model feel simple, understandable, and natural — giving young athletes growing ownership while keeping parents meaningfully connected.