Improving the Fantasy Football experience for Sky Sports.

Sky Sports Fantasy Football already had an established audience, but the experience needed to work harder for both returning players and people joining for the first time.

Experienced players wanted quick access to detailed player data, transfers and team-management tools. New players needed clearer onboarding, simpler budgeting guidance and a faster route into the game.

The product also needed to feel unmistakably connected to Sky Sports and work as a companion to live football rather than as an isolated fantasy game.

The challenge was not simply redesigning the interface.

It was making the product easier to enter without removing the depth that made people return.

Rather than beginning with screens, the team aligned around the problems affecting retention, satisfaction and new registrations.

I worked with product, research, engineering, marketing, advertising and Sky Sports stakeholders to combine existing research with collaborative workshops. Together, we explored where players were struggling and what would make the experience feel faster, clearer and more rewarding.

The research highlighted several recurring needs:

• Easier access to player data.
• Clearer guidance around budgets and team selection.
• Faster team management and transfers.
• Simpler navigation.
• More engaging ways to compete with Sky Sports pundits.

This created a shared direction before detailed design began.

The product needed to support different levels of confidence without becoming two separate experiences.

New players needed a clear route through registration, budgeting and selecting their first team. Experienced players needed to move quickly between player data, transfers, fixtures and league information.

The work included:

• Simplifying onboarding and initial team selection.
• Improving transfer and team-management journeys.
• Making player information easier to access.
• Restructuring navigation around frequent tasks.
• Developing the “Pick the Ultimate 11” experience.
• Aligning the visual language more closely with Sky Sports.
• Designing mobile interactions suited to use during live matches.

The aim was to reduce effort without reducing the challenge of the game itself.

I moved from low-fidelity concepts to detailed prototypes, using research sessions to test ideas with both internal and external participants.

Rapid prototyping allowed the team to identify problems early, compare possible approaches and build confidence before development. The designs were also shared regularly with stakeholders, helping maintain alignment across a broad group of contributors.

I worked closely with the remote development team throughout delivery, combining detailed handover with regular conversations and reviews rather than treating design as complete once files had been supplied.