UI / UX Design
Courtside
Born from my own experience growing up around the game, Courtside was designed to solve the real problem of empty courts and missed connections. It’s more than just finding games, it’s about building a community for players.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Basketball
Client :
Personal Project
Project Duration :
8 weeks
Defining the Problem :
Basketball has always been a big and meaningful part of my life. I grew up playing the game and later coached youth players and teams across western Canada. But even with that background, I often ran into the same frustrations, showing up to an empty court ready to play, games that didn't match my skill level, or never knowing when or where people were actually playing. Talking with other players confirmed that this wasn't a unique experience. This is a widespread problem that keeps people from playing as much as they'd like.
Through interviews and secondary research, I found two consistent issues: lack of reliable information and wasted time trying to find games or players. This became the beginning of Courtside: an app to make pickup basketball more accessible, organized, and community oriented.
Designing the Experience :
Once the pain points were clear, my focus shifted on designing a flow that felt familiar but fresh, almost like exploring a social feed. I wanted to keep the main idea in mind and present it clearly, but also offer enough features to cover players from casual to competitive. Since I've spent most of my life around basketball, I knew players needed information quickly: where is the game, who is playing, and what is the skill level or type of game to expect? Courtside's ground zero started with sketching simple wireframes that explored different ways of presenting the information that I found necessary for the users. After multiple iterations of the same idea, I moved into mid fidelity prototypes to test how users would navigate the flows. My goal of balancing simplicity for casual players, and detail for competitive players stayed true throughout this phase and gave me a good foundation to move onto the next step. Accessibility and directness guided my decision making which made sure Courtside could be used by the entire basketball community.
Iterating Through Testing :
Even though I kept my design vision clear, user testing revealed areas that needed improvement within the app. Users wanted essential game details as soon as they look at the screen: time, skill level, and number of players. They didn't want it to be a hassle to gather all the information they needed. Taking from my experience coaching and playing, I realized that reducing friction was key. Basketball is fast paced, played don't want to waste time figuring out logistics, so the app should offer that. I iterated the interface, reorganizing game cards, simplifying navigation, and highlighting the most important information upfront.
These refinements ensured that the app was intuitive for casual players while still serving the more competitive ones. This process of taking feedback and making the necessary changed reinforced a principle I have as both a designer and a coach: Read the court, read the user, understanding the situation at hand and figuring out how to navigate it is everything.
Delivering the Solution :
The final Courtside app brings players together by making pickup basketball easy, organized, and accessible. Players can see real time court activity, check skill levels, and join games easily. Courtside removes the guesswork and frustration I experienced and witnessed growing up playing and coaching. Beyond the logistics, Courtside encourages community and engagement, helping players of all levels participate confidently.
This project reinforced my belief that good design, similar to good coaching, is about guiding people, anticipating their needs, and creating an environment where they can succeed. By combining research, iteration, and user testing, I delivered a solution ,that I am not only proud of, but that's also intuitive, user focused, and solves a real problem I personally care about.
UI / UX Design
Courtside
Born from my own experience growing up around the game, Courtside was designed to solve the real problem of empty courts and missed connections. It’s more than just finding games, it’s about building a community for players.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Basketball
Client :
Personal Project
Project Duration :
8 weeks
Defining the Problem :
Basketball has always been a big and meaningful part of my life. I grew up playing the game and later coached youth players and teams across western Canada. But even with that background, I often ran into the same frustrations, showing up to an empty court ready to play, games that didn't match my skill level, or never knowing when or where people were actually playing. Talking with other players confirmed that this wasn't a unique experience. This is a widespread problem that keeps people from playing as much as they'd like.
Through interviews and secondary research, I found two consistent issues: lack of reliable information and wasted time trying to find games or players. This became the beginning of Courtside: an app to make pickup basketball more accessible, organized, and community oriented.
Designing the Experience :
Once the pain points were clear, my focus shifted on designing a flow that felt familiar but fresh, almost like exploring a social feed. I wanted to keep the main idea in mind and present it clearly, but also offer enough features to cover players from casual to competitive. Since I've spent most of my life around basketball, I knew players needed information quickly: where is the game, who is playing, and what is the skill level or type of game to expect? Courtside's ground zero started with sketching simple wireframes that explored different ways of presenting the information that I found necessary for the users. After multiple iterations of the same idea, I moved into mid fidelity prototypes to test how users would navigate the flows. My goal of balancing simplicity for casual players, and detail for competitive players stayed true throughout this phase and gave me a good foundation to move onto the next step. Accessibility and directness guided my decision making which made sure Courtside could be used by the entire basketball community.
Iterating Through Testing :
Even though I kept my design vision clear, user testing revealed areas that needed improvement within the app. Users wanted essential game details as soon as they look at the screen: time, skill level, and number of players. They didn't want it to be a hassle to gather all the information they needed. Taking from my experience coaching and playing, I realized that reducing friction was key. Basketball is fast paced, played don't want to waste time figuring out logistics, so the app should offer that. I iterated the interface, reorganizing game cards, simplifying navigation, and highlighting the most important information upfront.
These refinements ensured that the app was intuitive for casual players while still serving the more competitive ones. This process of taking feedback and making the necessary changed reinforced a principle I have as both a designer and a coach: Read the court, read the user, understanding the situation at hand and figuring out how to navigate it is everything.
Delivering the Solution :
The final Courtside app brings players together by making pickup basketball easy, organized, and accessible. Players can see real time court activity, check skill levels, and join games easily. Courtside removes the guesswork and frustration I experienced and witnessed growing up playing and coaching. Beyond the logistics, Courtside encourages community and engagement, helping players of all levels participate confidently.
This project reinforced my belief that good design, similar to good coaching, is about guiding people, anticipating their needs, and creating an environment where they can succeed. By combining research, iteration, and user testing, I delivered a solution ,that I am not only proud of, but that's also intuitive, user focused, and solves a real problem I personally care about.
UI / UX Design
Courtside
Born from my own experience growing up around the game, Courtside was designed to solve the real problem of empty courts and missed connections. It’s more than just finding games, it’s about building a community for players.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Basketball
Client :
Personal Project
Project Duration :
8 weeks
Defining the Problem :
Basketball has always been a big and meaningful part of my life. I grew up playing the game and later coached youth players and teams across western Canada. But even with that background, I often ran into the same frustrations, showing up to an empty court ready to play, games that didn't match my skill level, or never knowing when or where people were actually playing. Talking with other players confirmed that this wasn't a unique experience. This is a widespread problem that keeps people from playing as much as they'd like.
Through interviews and secondary research, I found two consistent issues: lack of reliable information and wasted time trying to find games or players. This became the beginning of Courtside: an app to make pickup basketball more accessible, organized, and community oriented.
Designing the Experience :
Once the pain points were clear, my focus shifted on designing a flow that felt familiar but fresh, almost like exploring a social feed. I wanted to keep the main idea in mind and present it clearly, but also offer enough features to cover players from casual to competitive. Since I've spent most of my life around basketball, I knew players needed information quickly: where is the game, who is playing, and what is the skill level or type of game to expect? Courtside's ground zero started with sketching simple wireframes that explored different ways of presenting the information that I found necessary for the users. After multiple iterations of the same idea, I moved into mid fidelity prototypes to test how users would navigate the flows. My goal of balancing simplicity for casual players, and detail for competitive players stayed true throughout this phase and gave me a good foundation to move onto the next step. Accessibility and directness guided my decision making which made sure Courtside could be used by the entire basketball community.
Iterating Through Testing :
Even though I kept my design vision clear, user testing revealed areas that needed improvement within the app. Users wanted essential game details as soon as they look at the screen: time, skill level, and number of players. They didn't want it to be a hassle to gather all the information they needed. Taking from my experience coaching and playing, I realized that reducing friction was key. Basketball is fast paced, played don't want to waste time figuring out logistics, so the app should offer that. I iterated the interface, reorganizing game cards, simplifying navigation, and highlighting the most important information upfront.
These refinements ensured that the app was intuitive for casual players while still serving the more competitive ones. This process of taking feedback and making the necessary changed reinforced a principle I have as both a designer and a coach: Read the court, read the user, understanding the situation at hand and figuring out how to navigate it is everything.
Delivering the Solution :
The final Courtside app brings players together by making pickup basketball easy, organized, and accessible. Players can see real time court activity, check skill levels, and join games easily. Courtside removes the guesswork and frustration I experienced and witnessed growing up playing and coaching. Beyond the logistics, Courtside encourages community and engagement, helping players of all levels participate confidently.
This project reinforced my belief that good design, similar to good coaching, is about guiding people, anticipating their needs, and creating an environment where they can succeed. By combining research, iteration, and user testing, I delivered a solution ,that I am not only proud of, but that's also intuitive, user focused, and solves a real problem I personally care about.