QUICK OVERVIEW
DESIGN BRIEF
EMPATHIZE
RESEARCH
PROTOTYPES
USER TESTING
RESULTS

Red Bull Fans First

This solo project was a collaboration between SMC’s IxD program and Red Bull’s Media House.

The Problem

Red Bull sponsors 500+ athletes, which has a great impact on their brand visibility. Many extreme sport fans consider themselves fans of Red Bull because of their interest in these sponsored athletes.

The problem that I discovered is that Red Bull is missing opportunities to acquire athlete fans from social media. Red Bull is also missing athlete-centric navigation on the Red Bull TV App. In short this means that if a user is discovering the Red Bull TV app from an athlete-centered perspective, they will not easily find the content they want.

The Solution

Athletes First is a redesigned user flow and app design update that drives Red Bull athlete fans from social media to the Red Bull TV app via deep linking to quality athlete content. Once on the Red Bull App, the user now has a very easy time finding and following their favorite athlete’s content and discovering new related athlete content. This creates a circle of discovery and engagement for Red Bull athlete fans.

Social media linking

With Athletes First, Red Bull sponsored athletes can now link their social media to their athlete profiles on the Red Bull website landing page.

These athlete profile pages act as a location for deep linking to content on the Red Bull TV app for current users and a place to promote the app to new users.

Athletes now on the Home Screen

Once the user has entered the Red Bull TV app, they can now scroll through the top athletes to discover their content.

This new home page section is the start of the athlete-centered navigation.

find athletes also on the discover page

With the added athletes' sections on the discover page, users can now easily find content created with their favorite athletes.

The athletes' profiles icons show their profile photo, name, and the sport they are sponsored in.

New Athlete Profiles

Athlete profiles have been added as a landing page for athlete centered users. Here the user can star and follow that athlete, as well as discover all the content that athletes is seen in.

Also the user can turn on notifications so that they can be notified when new content from their starred athletes is released.

Athletes links from video content

Each video now has links to show the athletes who starred in it. These newly added links create a cycle of discovery, giving users the ability to discover new athletes.

In turn, this creates a space for finding and connecting between athletes' content and their fans.

FULL CASE STUDY
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Design Brief

Create new and engaging connections with young consumers, more often in a mobile-native experience with Red Bull’s current and new touchpoints.

My Role

UX Research
UI Design

Gaining Understanding from Red Bull Users

In order to gain a better understanding of people’s perception of Red Bull, and their social media habits, I surveyed 15 random college students.

When analyzing the findings, I discovered a positive correlation between following athletes on social media, and likelihood of sharing on Instagram immediately after going to an event.

I also discovered a correlation between interest in extreme sports and energy drinks, and the likelihood to follow 15+ athletes on social media.

Survey Findings

Surveyed 15 people ages 18-30.

13 out of the 15 said they “personalize” their accounts by following people and things that they like.

10 out of the 15 follow famous athletes on instagram.

5 out of the 15 surveyed said they followed 10+ famous athletes on social media

“Instagram does it better because they show all the content that the person is featured in”
~Silja

Learning From Users

I interviewed 3 users and 1 domain expert to test the current Red Bull TV app and deepen my understanding of what it’s like to be a fan of Red Bull, and a sports and adventure influencer. I also conducted a social media journaling study with one of the users for the duration of a week.

Key findings

Instagram is the dominant platform for discovering sports and gaming inspiration.
Users were interested in certain athletes but found it hard to discover their content.

When interviewing Eylene, an adventure influencer, she helped me to understand the nature of relationships between companies and sponsored athletes. Eylene loves when companies have honest female representation and help to amplify their collaboration.

Researching Current Red Bull touch points

Heuristic Evaluation of the Current Red Bull Native App & Website

I conducted a heuristic evaluation of some of Red Bulls touch points, and discovered some discrepancies between their web application and their native app.

Athlete-centric user flows on the website are absent on the mobile app.

Feature Analysis

YouTube Viewing Patterns

I studied other viewing patterns from platforms such as YouTube. YouTube’s recommendation algorithm drives users to keep watching. I believe the Red Bull app could benefit by implementing something like this for athletes' content.

Looking at the Big Picture

My research on athlete fandom led me to discover the term “Fluid Fans”.

Fluid Fans are a rapidly growing segment of sports culture, and sports journalists are calling them “the fans of the future”. This term encapsulates how younger generations define loyalty and what it means to be a sports fan.
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Fluid Fans value individual athletes over teams. They build connections with athletes through digital touch points.
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I believe that Red Bull, with its focus on the individual athlete, is in a unique position to satisfy and acquire these new Fluid Fans.

Athlete Research

I tracked 36 Red Bull sponsored athletes to see how they are using Instagram to promote their collaboration.

There were a few issues that I discovered: some athletes were linking to Red Bull pages that were in different languages, with no option for translating. Some links were broken because of spelling errors on the Red Bull side. In addition, the lack of promotion of the Red Bull TV app contributed to a low discovery rate from social media.

8 out of the 36 athletes linked to Red Bull videos on YouTube from their Instagram.

13 out of the 36 stated that they were “Red Bull athletes” in their Instagram bios.

8 out of the 36 link to their Red Bull athlete profile pages on the Red Bull website.

Persona

Visualizing Fans First

I started my prototyping process by sketching the user flows from instagram and creating new athlete user flows for the Red Bull TV app.

High Fidelity Prototype

My higher fidelity prototype went through rapid iterations, as testing revealed what worked and didn’t work. I started with just one flow, and as I would test it, I realized things were missing, so I kept building pages that had to be there. The user flow is specifically geared around somebody interested in rock and ice climbing.

Wireframe Prototype

High Fidelity Prototype

Putting the Fans First prototype to the test

I tested with a variety of users, and discovered that the Red Bull TV app could benefit from deep-linking and interstitial pages to help drive users into the app. My testing also revealed that users are likely to click Instagram bio links, and see these as dynamic and worth re-visiting over time. Most importantly, once users were in the app, they naturally gravitated towards athlete-centric navigation flows.

Results and Final Thoughts

I recommend that Red Bull create athlete-centric navigation on the Red Bull TV app. Red Bull could start by organizing the content around athletes, because the content is already there. As an easy first step, alongside each video, Red Bull could link to the athletes participating in the video. This would allow app users to continuously navigate and engage with more content.

Deep linking can also provide a crucial bridge from social media, and users expect that the deep linking should be smart enough to take them to the specific content they were seeking.

Full PDF case study available on request.