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Case Study

Courtify

AI-Powered Basketball Training Application

Basketball training today can often be expensive, inconsistent, and dependent on access to specialized coaching or equipment. For many amateur and aspiring players, it's challenging to track their progress and improve their technique without structured guidance, making skill development out of reach.

Courtify hero preview

Overview

Courtify is a mobile app designed to revolutionize basketball training through AI-powered shot tracking. By offering real-time feedback, personalized training plans, and detailed progress analytics, Courtify delivers high quality coaching experience that is available to players at any skill level, making high-quality coaching more accessible.

Research

Uncovered key pain points through mixed-method studies with players.

Ideation

Generated user-centered concepts to streamline training.

Prototyping

Built interactive prototypes to simulate real sessions.

Testing

Validated flows through usability tests and iteration.

Iteration

Refined UX based on feedback and performance insights.

Key Challenge

How might we make basketball training more affordable, data-driven, and accessible for players at all skill levels?

Research & Insights

To better understand the needs of our users, we conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals of varying basketball skill levels. Each team members conducted 3 interviews. Our goals were to:

  • Gauge user interest in a mobile training app
  • Explore ways to offer personalized training regimens without high costs
  • Understand how to keep users motivated—especially through gamification or competitive features

We also ran a competitive analysis of existing basketball training tools and followed up with early usability testing evaluations to validate common pain points.

From this research, we found that many players struggled with inconsistent coaching, lacked tools to track progress, and were looking for more engaging ways to improve their skills. These insights shaped our central challenge:

How might we make basketball training more accessible, data-driven, and affordable for players of all skill levels—while keeping it engaging and motivating?
View Full Research Report

Common Research Themes

Shooting Form
and Accuracy

Most users wanted to improve their shooting form and accuracy and track their progress over time

Data
Confidentiality

Users emphasized the importance of keeping their data confidential and wanted to see credible sources

Emergent
Technology

Many users were positive about using new technologies like AR/VR for training.

“I really want to work on my shooting form and see how I've improved over time with the app.”
“It's important for me keep my data confidential and know that it's coming from credible sources.”
“I feel good about using new technologies like AR/VR for training. It sounds exciting and innovative.”

User Personas

To better align our solution with real user needs, we created personas representing our target audience. These personas helped guide design decisions and feature prioritization. Two examples are:

Portrait of Katie Scott
Year:
Sophomore
Major:
Biology

She enjoys outdoor activities and has played many different sports growing up. Over the past few months she and her friends have developed an interest in basketball. She plays around 2–3 times a week and looks to improve her form and game knowledge.

Katie Scott (She/Her)

19 years old, University of Washington

Goals

  • Main goal is fitness and improving her game so she can be better overall and gain better game sense.
  • Wants to improve her form and maybe play more competitively in the future.

Needs

  • Wants something motivating and collaborative, allowing her and her friends to improve their form and game strategies together.
  • To become proficient at basketball so she can confidently offer advice and tips to new players.
  • Prefers a solution that doesn't take too much time away from actually playing basketball.
Portrait of Damian Curry

Professional basketball player

Damian, a top NBA player, feels his shooting skill is lagging behind younger players. Frustrated with trainers' limited data and specific help, he's seeking new training methods. With ample resources, he's interested in leveraging next‑generation technology and data analysis for improvement.

Damian Curry (He/Him)

31 years old, Portland Oregon

Goals

  • Main goal is to get better at his overall craft and become a player that shoots at a higher consistency. Aiming to fully utilize this application to enhance his personal training regimen.

Needs

  • Looking for an application that can help him achieve his personal goals quickly and effectively.
  • Aims to improve his shooting efficiency and enter the next season with higher confidence in his shot consistency and overall performance.
  • Needs a personalized and strict application that allows high‑level training without the burden of manually tracking his data.

See attached storyboard for visual examples of user journeys and app impact.

View Storyboard

User Journey Map

I created a user journey map for Katie, a recreational basketball player, to better understand her experience with Courtify across different stages—from initial discovery to post-training reflection.

By mapping her touchpoints, emotional highs and lows, and design opportunities, I was able to identify key pain points like camera angle setup, confusion around analytics, and feelings of isolation during training. These insights directly influenced our design decisions, leading to clearer onboarding, simplified analytics, and features that encourage community support.

This map helped me prioritize solutions that support both usability and motivation, especially for casual users who want to feel guided and encouraged as they improve.

Katie is a bright sophomore studying Biology at the University of Washington. She enjoys outdoor activities and plays basketball 2–3 times a week with friends. Recently she's looked to improve her form and game knowledge so she can become more involved in the sport's culture.

Expectations

  • Develop game sense and improve form
  • Have fun training alone or with friends
  • Try out different forms of sports technology

Deciding to Use / Setting Up

Touchpoints

  • Reads reviews and finds the concept interesting
  • Concerned about credibility and data privacy
  • Creates account and sets preferences; long onboarding

Figuring Out Best Use

Touchpoints

  • Sets up in driveway with hoop; struggles with camera angle
  • Wants clear guidance for ideal placement
  • Looks for a personalized training plan

Utilizing Application

Touchpoints

  • Sees shots tracked and receives quick feedback
  • Feels flows are simple and customizable
  • Enjoys curated training regimens

Analytics / Gamification

Touchpoints

  • Analytics page is confusing at first glance
  • Understands what to work on but wants variety
  • Seeks more transparent, jargon‑light insights

Reflecting on Experience

Touchpoints

  • After a few hours, notices better accuracy and speed
  • Enjoys sessions with friends and community feel
  • Willing to review and help others with similar goals
Low 😞EmotionsHigh 😄
Deciding to Use / Setting Up
  • 😊Excited
  • 😐Skeptical
  • 😞Concerned
Figuring Out Best Use
  • 😡Frustrated
  • 😐Trying
Utilizing Application
  • 😊Liking UI
  • 😊Enjoying
Analytics / Gamification
  • 😞Overwhelmed
  • 😊Interested
  • 😐Confused
Reflecting on Experience
  • 😊Satisfied
  • 🤩High

Opportunities

  • Clear onboarding process
  • Transparent credibility and data privacy

Opportunities

  • In‑app guidance for camera setup
  • Personalized training plan

Opportunities

  • Simple, intuitive UI
  • Curated training suggestions

Opportunities

  • Transparent analytics with less jargon
  • Add social features with friends

Opportunities

  • Community to help each other
  • Surface credible reviews

Design Requirements

Our design goals represent the core characteristics our solution must satisfy. These requirements are grounded in user research and shaped by the needs of our persona archetypes. They guide the functionality, experience, and impact of the Courtify application.

  • Help train people to improve their shooting form and accuracy
  • Inform users of game mechanics and form for better engagement in games
  • Motivate people to engage with physical activity
  • Provide access to personalized training regimens without cost
  • Educate and improve players' knowledge and confidence about basketball
  • Allow users to see how they have improved over time (analytics)
  • Analyze what aspects work best for individual users for a personalized experience
  • Showcase the use of credible sources
  • Store and keep data private and confidential, only accessible for the user on analytics page(s)

Initial Sketch

Early paper sketches helped validate core flows and screen groupings before committing to digital wires. Click to zoom.

Courtify initial paper prototype sketches

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

I started with to explore layout and user flows. Translated into wireframes focusing on training session setup, virtual court configuration, and stat review. These wireframes helped me map out key interactions—like starting a training session, setting up the virtual court, and reviewing session stats—while keeping the design flexible for future iterations. Below is an example for one wireframe flow.

Digital Wireframes

These wireframes illustrate the user journey through a mobile app—from account creation to personalized training. Each screen represents a step in onboarding and engagement.

This wireframe outlines the user flow of a training app, from selecting skill levels to completing sessions and viewing performance stats. It showcases how users engage with training modes, matches, and progress tracking.

This wireframe sequence guides users through setting up and completing a training session, from profile overview to session results. It highlights key steps like visual cue setup, camera access, and performance feedback.

Final Design

Our high-fidelity prototype brings together all the core features of our application, which are shaped by continuous research, testing, and iteration throughout the quarter. Every design decision— from layout to user flow—was directly influenced by the insights we gathered during our process.

Information Architecture

To support intuitive navigation and reduce friction, we created a clear information architecture (IA) and task flows that organize Courtify's core features—training setup, shot tracking, analytics, and progress review. Our IA maps out top-level modules and subcomponents, helping users quickly locate relevant tools whether they're running drills, reviewing performance, or engaging socially.

The Home screen serves as the central hub, branching into:

  • Training — beginner, intermediate, and advanced drills
  • Analytics — session-based and cumulative performance data
  • Friends & Leaderboard — social engagement and competition
  • Virtual Setup & Help — onboarding and support
  • Authentication — account creation and login

Usability Study

To evaluate the effectiveness of Courtify's UI, we conducted remote usability testing with three participants of varying basketball experience. Each user interacted with the prototype on their own device via Zoom, completing tasks such as onboarding (personalized profile creation), AR court setup, session analysis, and community engagement.

Our goal was to observe how users navigated key flows—including profile setup, post-session analytics, and match discovery—and to identify usability pain points through open-ended interaction followed by structured post-task questions. Key objectives included:

  • Evaluating task completion without guidance
  • Identifying confusion in navigation or layout
  • Gathering feedback on setup clarity and data presentation

High-Fidelity Prototypes

Our final prototype integrates core features shaped by continuous research and usability testing. Designed for basketball players of all levels, it emphasizes intuitive flows, visual clarity, and motivational feedback. Key screens include onboarding, training setup, real-time guidance, and performance analytics—delivered through a clean, accessible interface.

High‑fidelity mockups, first set

Showcases the polished UI of the Courtify app, highlighting key user flows like account creation, sign-in, and settings management. It reflects the final visual design, interaction patterns, and accessibility considerations.

High‑fidelity mockups, second set

Screens for Courtify showcasing training insights, performance stats, and personalized session flows.

Reflection

This project taught me the importance of balancing technical feasibility with user motivation. I learned how to iterate quickly, test early, and design for both casual and competitive users.

One of the biggest challenges was translating Courtify's broad vision into a focused, inclusive experience within tight time constraints. With only a few weeks after research, I had to make strategic decisions about which features to prioritize and how to present them clearly.

Given more time, I would have explored deeper user research and more advanced interactions to support a wider range of player needs. Still, I'm proud of how intentionally I approached each stage—from crafting intuitive wireframes to refining onboarding flows and designing analytics that feel empowering.

This project strengthened my ability to balance functionality with accessibility and taught me how to make digital experiences not just usable, but genuinely motivating.