(Re)designing an existing experience for a new audience
brief
The goal of this project was to (re)design an experience. The experience we focused on did not necessarily have to be flawed; we just had to alter it in some way. Our design process was based on the principles of experience design outlined by Abraham Burickson in his book Experience Design: A Participatory Manifesto.
context
Final Project of ARTG5600 Experience Design Studio 1 during the Fall 2025 semester.
tools and methods
- Research & Synthesis:
- Experience Mapping
- Rapid Prototyping
- User Testing Workshops
- Visual Design
team
Zach Marino — Creator
timeline
6 weeks
insights
Casual viewers and football enthusiasts alike derive value from the shared experience and identity that comes with sports. Getting resistant sports watchers to buy-in requires an intermediary experience that amplifies the shared experience with friends.
deliverables
I created a card game called Fantasy Sportsball — a card game for your friends who don’t like football. It’s a fusion of fantasy football and bingo, where players draft cards relating to different parts of the football-watching experience. Players earn points based on the cards they choose, and the loser has to do a punishment!
the challenge
I love baseball. Not just because sports are sports, but because there is much more at play than what is happening on the field. Behind the sheer skill it takes to hit a baseball, there is a world of statistics, business, and broadcasting at play that is arguably more interesting than the game itself. I chose to redesign the experience of watching sports because I want a new audience to appreciate the deeper aspects of sports. But first, I had to answer an important question:
Why do people watch sports in the first place?
Luke Scotchie is a friend of mine and an incredible sports writer, who wrote minor league human-interest stories for Boston.com.
the research
I did five semi-structured interviews where I asked respondents: “Why do you engage with sports?” Of my five interviews, four directly said it was because of the sense of community it created. The fifth respondent acknowledged it was a major factor as well. My respondents ranged in their enthusiasm about sports, from casual watchers to people who interact with sports for their job. Using this and other insights from my interviews, I created an experience map of how people get into sports →
Diagram starts with "Catalyst"
the outcome
After a 22-idea rapid prototyping session, The idea I pursued is a game that is a mix of bingo and a football draft. Players would draft different cards with events that can happen during the broadcast and get points for how many times they occur. As I was telling people about my project, they kept mentioning to me how, despite not caring about football, they were still participating in fantasy football leagues with their parents. I combined that comment with bingo to create my concept.
the testing
To test the game, I developed an evaluation plan and tested with two people over two football games. I had two major unknowns with my project, besides the obligatory “is it fun to play?”:
Point Balance: What is the ideal point balance for the cards, such that the game is interesting without one or two cards that steamroll the others?
Attention Balance: What is the correct balance of monitoring your cards while still watching the game, spending time with your friends, eating, going to the bathroom, etc.?
Both participants found that the card game made watching football more engaging, however several of the point values needed to be rebalanced.