In the world of live sports, event-based digital products are developed on a cyclical basis. Soon after a National Champion is crowned, the March Madness Live team at Turner Sports must start all over to deliver a high-stakes suite of apps that is in market for 3 short weeks. But the hardest part isn’t when we design or ship. It’s figuring out how to get started and sell our stakeholders on a strategy. This case study will share how the March Madness Live team moved away from “business as usual” process and used UX strategy to get buy-in on what their products should achieve for fans (and the business) when the Madness starts all over again in March. We’ll share some lessons learned when using UX strategy as a way to “show your work” in order to quickly focus a product team, make sense of a ton of data, and create a strategic, compelling case to stakeholders.

1. Making Sense of the Madness:
UX Strategy to Kick Off March Madness Live

2. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

3. Data
Editorial
Turner
Executive
Management
Native
Development
Design/UX
NCAA
Ad Sales
Marketing
Ads
Legal
Sponsors
Research
CBS
Product
Operations
Turner
Network
Sales
Product
Technology
Turner TV
Networks
Web
Development
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

4. Data
Editorial
Turner
Executive
Management
Native
Development
Design/UX
NCAA
Ad Sales
Marketing
Ads
Legal
Sponsors
Research
CBS
Product
Operations
Turner
Network
Sales
Product
Technology
Turner TV
Networks
Web
Development
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

5. What do you DO all year?
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

6. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

7. March Madness Christmas
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

8. March Madness Christmas
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

9. March Madness Christmas
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

10. March Madness Christmas
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

11. What do you DO all year?
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

12. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

13. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

14. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

15. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

16. How do you get started?
April July
March
2015
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
Product
Strategy
May
You are
here
Recap &
Analysis
Gather Data
June
?
Execution
Go Live
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

17. Recap & Analysis
March 2014 - May 2014
Beloved data, user research &
lessons learned
!
Desktop eye tracking study!
Audience segmentation study!
Push IO analytics reports!
Market analysis & trends!
Refined business goals & objectives!
Stakeholder interviews !
App store reviews!
Customer service reviews!
Vendor recaps!
Competitive analysis!
Usability study!
Analytics reports!
Product & feature evaluation!
Product brief development!
Product roadmap!
Apple & Google conferences for OS/
platform updates!
Product design sprints
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

18. How do you get started?
April June
March
UX Strategy
July
2015
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
Product
Strategy
May
You are
here
Recap &
Analysis
Gather Data
Execution Go Live
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

19. 1. Create a map of what the team is doing
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

20. Recap & Analysis
March 2014 - May 2014
Beloved data, user research &
lessons learned
!
Desktop eye tracking study!
Audience segmentation study!
Push IO analytics reports!
Market analysis & trends!
Refined business goals & objectives!
Stakeholder interviews !
App store reviews!
Customer service reviews!
Vendor recaps!
Competitive analysis!
Usability study!
Analytics reports!
Product & feature evaluation!
Product brief development!
Product roadmap!
Apple & Google conferences for OS/
platform updates!
Product design sprints
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

21. 1. Create a map of what the team is doing
Qualitative Inputs Quantitative Inputs
2014 Lessons Learned
App Reviews
Customer Service Reviews
Vendor Recaps
Competitive Analysis
Usability
Product & Feature
Evaluation
2014 Analytics / Performance Metrics
Eye tracking
Audience Segmentation
Push IO analytics / reports
Market trend analysis
Business Inputs
Business Goals and objectives
Business Model
Target customer(s)
Value Proposition to Customer,
Business, Clients, Stakeholders
Essential capabilities needed
to deliver value proposition
Business Strategy
Brand Strategy
Stakeholder Interviews
Briefs
Platform by platform docs
Recommended features
T-shirt LOE by feature
ACTIVITIES
Leadership team review briefs
Roundtable discussions
Perform additional research
Create evaluation criteria
Score all features
Defend and kill sessions
Prioritize all work
New Products
New Platforms
New Features
Significant
adjustment to a
feature
Feature Analysis
Tweaks
Evolutions
Product Vision
Portfolio Analysis
Market Analysis
24 month roadmap
Additional review/
discussion needed
Product Recommendations
2015
Analysis
Completed activity
or artifact
2014
Gather
Data
Analysis
2015
PRODUCT
STRATEGY
Strategic Outputs
KEY
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

22. UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

23. 1. Create a map of what the team is doing
2. Create a central dashboard for all your data
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

24. 2. Create a central dashboard for all your data
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

25. Recap & Analysis
March 2014 - May 2014
Beloved data, user research &
lessons learned
!
Desktop eye tracking study!
Audience segmentation study!
Push IO analytics reports!
Market analysis & trends!
Refined business goals & objectives!
Stakeholder interviews !
App store reviews!
Customer service reviews!
Vendor recaps!
Competitive analysis!
Usability study!
Analytics reports!
Product & feature evaluation!
Product brief development!
Product roadmap!
Apple & Google conferences for OS/
platform updates!
Product design sprints
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

26. 2. Create a central dashboard for all your data
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

27. 1. Create a map of what the team is doing
2. Create a central dashboard for all your data
3. Show your work
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

28. 3. Show your work
2015
(Targeting)
2015
(Still Considering)
2016
(Looking Ahead)
Description of feature Description of feature Description of feature
Pros / Cons Pros / Cons Pros / Cons
Supporting Research Supporting Research Supporting Research
Customer Service Reviews
Usability / Eyetracking 2014 Analytics / Performance Metrics
Stakeholder Interviews Competitive Analysis
Audience Segmentation
2015
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

29. 3. Show your work
Design/UX
Marketing
Everyone has
an opinion
Data
Legal
Turner
Executive
Management
Editorial Native
Development
NCAA
Ad Sales
Ads
Sponsors
Research
CBS
Product
Operations
Turner
Network
Sales
Product
Technology
Turner TV
Networks
Web
Development
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

30. 3. Show your work
2015
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

31. 3. Show your work
Product Design Sprints
Day 1: Understand
Day 2: Diverge
Day 3: Decide
Day 4: Prototype
Day 5: Validate
2015
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

32. Lessons
Learned
1. Create a map of what the team is doing
2. Create a central dashboard for all your data
3. Show your work
• Align the troops
• Data-driven decision making
• Communicate our vision
• Credibility
• Transparency in process
• Cart before horse
• Cross-team adoption
• Overwhelming
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

33. On our way…
April June
July March
UX Strategy
2015
PRODUCT
ROADMAP
Product
Strategy
May
Recap &
Gather Data Analysis
You are
here
Execution Go Live
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin

34. Thanks!
Lisa Estrin
UX Lead, Turner Sports
lisa.estrin@turner.com
@lisaestrin
MARCH
MADNESS IS
HEREEEEEEEEE
UX
Strategy
to
Kickoff
March
Madness
Live @lisaestrin