Player Profiles
Helping young football players showcase their talent
The Challenge
While the platform was widely used by coaches and parents, player engagement remained low. Players – who make up the largest user group – lacked dedicated features that addressed their needs. We saw an opportunity to change that by creating a space where they could take control of their own football journey.
Our Solution: Player Profile
We created an interactive Player Profile Universe where athletes could:
- Showcase their best highlights – Players could upload and update their best game footage directly from the Veo Editor.
- Curate their clips – They had full control over which clips to feature, tagging them to highlight different aspects of their playing style.
- Share their profile – A personalized link made it easy to share their profile with scouts, recruiters, and coaches.
- Complete the picture – Beyond video clips, players could add a short bio, favored positions, playing style, and graduation year – creating a comprehensive and compelling player resume.
Our Approach
Through research, we discovered that players have different motivations – some play for fun, others aim for a professional career, and many seek college recruitment opportunities. We focused on the college recruitment segment, designing a feature that would give players the best possible chance to showcase their skills and connect with scouts.
Video-First Approach
Since our target audience was players seeking college recruitment, it was crucial to understand the needs of those using video material and data to secure a spot in a college program. Through interviews with players, parents, and coaches, I gained deep insights into the recruitment landscape. One key takeaway was that college admission can be expensive, making football a valuable opportunity for securing scholarships. This high-stakes environment reinforced the importance of showcasing talent effectively.
Analyzing our data, it became clear that video was the most compelling way to demonstrate a player’s skills. Prioritizing video at the forefront of player profiles became a strong design direction for us, ensuring recruiters could quickly assess a player’s abilities.
Telestration
Another critical aspect of the design was making it easy for recruiters to identify the right player in a clip and understand what the footage was highlighting. To address this, we introduced a telestration feature that allowed users to mark themselves on the pitch with a single click.
Through our research, we identified a need for guiding recruiters’ attention throughout a clip. Instead of persistent overlays, which recruiters often find distracting, we opted for a simple approach: pausing the video to apply telestration before resuming playback. This solution provided clear emphasis while maintaining a smooth user experience and minimizing technical complexity.
Abilities
To further enrich the clips, we introduced ability categories based on insights from our interviews, which highlighted a strong demand for this feature. Initially, we made ability tagging a mandatory step when adding clips or highlights to a profile, as we believed it would enhance recruiters’ evaluations.
However, further testing revealed that this requirement created too much friction for users. As a result, we shifted to an optional model, making it an enhancement rather than a barrier, ensuring a smoother and more user-friendly experience.
The Impact
The Player Profile significantly increased player engagement on the platform. It provided young athletes with a powerful tool to take charge of their recruitment journey, making it easier than ever to get noticed. Our work also highlighted the potential of this initiative – showing that, with further investment, it could become an essential part of the player experience and a game-changer for aspiring college athletes.
