Mobile Application Development for the United States Figure Skating Association

Abstract

This project is about researching how to build and develop a mobile application for the skating community that interacts with events and information from the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA), which does not yet have one official place for information. Many USFSA members have to score through different websites and social media accounts to find specific information. Having one application has made it an easier, more organized, and accessible way to access all types of information and help the figure skating community come closer together. The main objectives for having an app are User Growth, Engagement, and Brand Awareness. Having all these types of content in one location will help skaters, fans, coaches, and more have easy access to information. The research will include the type of design needed to make the application user friendly, software programs needed to create the app, IOS and google play versions, etc. The mobile application prototype will be created using design softwares such as Figma, Canva, and Adobe photoshop. I used human-centered design when designing the app and took into account factors such as the business needs (how to make it commercially successful), empathy (Is the design focused on the people?), creativity (what creative ways are there to solve users' issues?), or user friendliness. This paper looks at the development of other sports apps and how they have helped improve engagements with their own members to be more involved in their sport and connect fans from around the world. This paper will also look into the effect mobile applications have had on our society.

Link to prototype: https://www.figma.com/proto/A71WK8vAOqIOnqninagQna/USFSA-APP?node-id=9675%3A2 6&scaling=scale-down&page-id=32%3A192&starting-point-node-id=9675%3A26