USA Today Sports Media Group Platform Design
Role: Creative Direction, UX Design
Category: Product Design, UX Design
I was in charge of redesigning the platform for USA Today Sports Media Group. The USA Today Sports Media Group (SMG) is a digital sports media company that operates a network of websites covering a variety of sports, leagues, and teams. Anchored by its most popular site, For The Win, SMG's portfolio includes MMA Junkie, Golfweek, wire sites for all NFL teams, most NBA teams, and dozens of college programs, as well as sites dedicated to sports betting and niche interests such as motorsports and outdoors. The goal was to create a cohesive design that could accommodate any of the publications within the SMG umbrella.
To achieve this, I collaborated with the editorial team and key stakeholders to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement in the existing platform. I then developed a comprehensive design system that incorporated consistent branding, typography, and color schemes across all publications, while still allowing for individual site customization. We approached this overhaul with a true 'mobile-first' mentality since an overwhelming majority of our traffic came from mobile devices.
The redesigned platform featured intuitive navigation and less vertical scrolling, ensuring a seamless user experience across devices. Additionally, I designed a number of unique features and modules, such as live scoreboards and custom article layouts, to enhance the site's functionality and user engagement.
Throughout the project, I worked closely with the development team to ensure that the design vision was implemented seamlessly and efficiently. The end result was a dynamic and visually striking platform that not only met the needs of the individual SMG publications, but also positioned the brand as a leader in the sports media industry.
An article 'summary' widget that sits above the fold was created in various formats for short and long-form articles. These widgets incorporated the site's brand colors in creative ways to give each publication a cohesive look. ↓
Widgets promoting other content such as 'related articles' have been given a horizontal scrolling treatment to condense the vertical height of articles and provide an easier reading experience. The content in these widgets can be repurposed with other content categories such as lists, galleries, or 'Golfweek's Best' course rankings as shown below.↓
Related articles are presented in a traditional vertical stack only at the conclusion of the article to serve as an 'anchor' and signal to the user that they have reached the end of the article. Excess information such as bylines, time stamps, and share counts have been stripped away to reduce clutter, leaving only the headline and thumbnail image. This gives the article stack a cleaner, more stremlined look while creating a more pleasant reading experience.↓
© Evan Russell 2023