Overview
Who’s an athlete? Everyone who runs, bikes, or plays any sport for fun or professionally. An estimated 1.6 million amateur and 12,000 professional athletes are in the U.S. alone. They’re members of teams and clubs or compete individually. Each sport differs, but athletes at any level share the same goal: to support the sport they love.
The preferred place for this is online. SoftServe gave a hand to one such U.S.-based social media platform with a unique approach. Our client wanted to help amateur and professional athletes become sports legends.
Challenge
Their vision was to create a social media platform where athletes could discuss everything about their sport, including training techniques, performance, and successes. In addition, our client wanted to provide athletic performance data collection when few high-quality tools for such an undertaking were available.
As the backend platform development phase began, our client’s IT team realized a website wasn’t enough. The platform required a mobile app and a trusted technology partner to guide them through the creation process.
They turned to SoftServe for this crucial technology extension — but the relationship wasn’t new. We had worked previously with the client and delivered quality results.
Planning and implementation
Our initial project goal was to launch and deploy a minimum viable product (MVP) as proof of concept. The MVP had to offer sufficient features to attract early adopters and validate further product development. It also had to be done quickly in the cycle to allow for iteration.
Client familiarity facilitated a fast build. The mobile app made it easy for users to search and view athlete scouting reports, receive roster status updates, and give team members shoutouts all on the go.
Core features included:
- An instant, overall athlete performance snapshot
- Scouting reports, rosters, player information, videos, and photo highlights
- Update notifications
- Send skill props to athletes
Results
SoftServe’s experts reduced development timelines, decreased time to market, and optimized the software development lifecycle (SDLC). As a result, the partnership provided our client with an average overall cost reduction of 27%.
Our client wasn’t the only winner. Users now had the option of a mobile app to share their sports passion and use the platform to build legend stories. Sharing and receiving social validation from other athletes and fans became easier and more convenient. Users created deeper connections with teammates, coaches, other teams, trainers, and recruiters.
Are you charged with a similar challenge for your social media platform? Don’t sweat it. Let’s talk!