A Unified Product Experience

Over five years ago, NBC Sports unified golf accounts across GolfNow, GolfPass, and Compete, giving golfers a single login. This alignment enabled us to share data across the products to streamline the user’s journey from booking, to competing, to earning rewards, and more. 

However, profile management remained fragmented across products, with inconsistent information architecture, navigation, and visual design. This inconsistency led to user confusion, weakened trust, reduced efficiency, weaker brand perception, lower adoption, and higher support costs, highlighting the need for a unified profile experience. 

Role: Lead UX Researcher

Methodologies: (mixed-method) Card sorting, prioritization surveys (MaxDiff and Drag & drop), and usability tests

Duration: 2 months

Contributions: Design, Product and Data Analytics

Goal: Identify which profile information matters most to users and how it should be organized across products. Align user expectations with business priorities to reduce redundancy and complexity. Inform a unified, streamlined profile experience that adds clarity, consistency, and value.

Matching Information Architecture With Users’ Mental Model

To kick off the project, we needed to solve our dilemma

“If we take all items from all profile pages across our products, how would users organize them?”

Thanks to research, it was a no brainer how to answer that question. Card Sorting!

To meet tight deadlines, I quickly designed and launched a two-week card sorting study to inform initial profile redesign concepts. Collaborating with the Senior Designer and three Product Managers, we compiled all profile items to test. Using an open card sort, users could create and name their own categories, revealing natural mental models and guiding a design that aligned with their expectations.

Study Details

Tool: UserZoom

Quota: 30 participants (golfers)

Study Type: Unmoderated Open Card Sorting

Cracking the Code: Unveiling the Patterns in Our Card Sorting Study

With the results in hand, it was time to analyze the data!

The analysis showed that categories with multiple items had a 68.4% agreement among participants, indicating strong consensus on core groupings. However, when looking at overall item placement within a single category, the agreement dropped to 36.9%.

This suggests that while users agreed on core groupings, there was much less consensus in organizing the entire set of items, revealing varied mental models. Additionally, the data highlighted which items users struggled to categorize.

68.4% agreement level

36.9% agreement level

To complement the card sorting exercise, I included follow-up questions probing which items users found ambiguous or difficult to categorize. Analyzing these responses provided insight into users’ mental models and cognitive processing, guiding evidence-based decisions on renaming or reorganizing items to improve clarity and reduce cognitive load.

Items users thought were unclear or difficult:

Data Management: Participants were unsure if this referred to their account or the game

Points: Confusion over whether these were game points or rewards

Round Invites: Unclear if invites came from friends or other players

Friend Requests: Debated whether this fit under profile or notifications

From Findings to Designing

The card sorting study revealed key patterns in how users grouped items for the unified profile page:

  • Payment and Membership: Users consistently grouped payment and membership-related items under the category "Account," reflecting its core role in account management.

  • Rewards and Incentives: Items like gift cards, points, and rewards were grouped under "Rewards," showing users see these as connected benefits.

  • Game Performance and Course Interaction: Stats, scores, and course-related items were grouped as "My Game," indicating users link these to personal performance.

  • Reservations and Social Connections: Rounds, reservations, and friends were often grouped under "Reservations & Friends" or "Community," emphasizing the connection between social and logistical elements.

These insights helped us structure the new profile page to align with users' mental models and create an intuitive experience.

Initial Mockups

Profile view

Full profile view

Desktop view

Perfecting the Profile Page

In the next phase of research, after the card sorting activity, I developed and conducted a survey to gain deeper insights into how users interact with profile features and what content they prioritize. This helped shape a more user-centric content strategy.

The research identified the most valued features, informing design decisions and guiding development priorities. The study incorporated techniques like drag-and-drop tasks and MaxDiff analysis.

The Results

Study Details

Tool: UserZoom

Quota: 100 participants (golfers)

Study Type: Unmoderated Prioritization Survey

In the MaxDiff activity, the participants were presented with a set of items from our initial profile page mockup. For each item, they were tasked to select either very important or not important based on their level of importance for each item of the profile page.

This analytic approach has revealed the participants' prioritization of items in the profile section. Analysis shows that most participants consider "Stats & Scores," "Favorite Course," and "Golf Frequency" to be the most important features. Conversely, "Suggested Friends," "Personal Quote/Description About Myself," and "Course Reviews I’ve Written" were deemed least important.

In the Drag & Drop activity, participants were tasked with ranking the same items from the previous card sorting exercise. They were asked to drag and drop each item into a list, starting with 1 for the most important element of the profile page, and assigning subsequent numbers to indicate decreasing significance.

This activity provided us with a clear hierarchy of how users prioritize different aspects of their profile page. By rating the importance of these items relative to one another, participants revealed which elements they consider essential and which they view as less critical.

Key Insights from Top 3 Options

  • Profile Picture and Name: Many respondents emphasized the necessity of these for personal identification and recognition by others.

  • Stats & Scores: This feature was highlighted for its role in tracking performance and enabling comparison with others.

  • Golf Frequency: Respondents valued this to understand how often a golfer plays.

Insights from Least Important Items

  • Suggested Friends: The majority of respondents found this feature the least important, preferring to make connections naturally.

  • Course Reviews I've Written: Many respondents showed a lack of interest in this feature, considering reviews less relevant or potentially biased.

  • Friends: Information about making new friends through the platform was deemed insignificant to the golfing experience or profile information.

To conclude the survey, we asked participants to suggest any high-priority features or improvements not listed. While most responded with "none" or "nothing comes to mind," a few notable themes emerged:

  • Equipment and Personal Preferences: Participants suggested tracking golf equipment, favorite clubs, and "What's in your bag?" Some also mentioned favorite pro players and course-related tips.

  • Social and Community Features: Suggestions included scheduling golf outings, tracking wins among friends, adding badges, and user activity tracking.

  • Course and Gameplay: Responses highlighted course ratings, weather conditions, and personalization options like favorite courses and shopping recommendations.

  • User Experience Enhancements: Some requested more customization options, including golf highlights, favorite gear, and matching golfers based on handicaps or preferences.

These insights helped guide potential future features and improvements to the platform.

Bringing Insights to Life

With a clear understanding of what users prioritize in their profile pages, our team was ready to apply these research insights to the second iteration of the mockups.

This updated version of the mockups focuses on prominently featuring the elements that users identified as most important, such as Stats & Scores, Profile Picture/Name, and Golf Frequency.

On the other hand, items that were rated as less important by participants in the earlier studies have been either removed or given lower priority in the overall layout.