What does my design process look like, when given a random assignment? This was the challenge recently given to me as a panel member of General Assembly Chicago's recent event, "Design In Motion." With a prompt and only a few days' time to ideate a potential experience from NBC that would help increase viewership of US Olympic Racewalking Team televised events-- but no additional information regarding users, business objectives, project timeline, available budget, technology and resource constraints, etc. --I set out to create a mid-fidelity, static, first-iteration design concept that could serve as a communication tool to gather quick feedback and validation from stakeholders and end users.

1. Design in Motion:
Olympic Design Prompt
Prepared by:
Jayne Spottswood
jayne.spottswood@gmail.com
06/28/2016

2. Project Overview
You are a UX designer at NBC. The marketing team has been working on increasing public viewership
and engagement on Racewalking, one of the least popular Olympic events. They have enlisted the help
of your design team to tackle this problem.
● What are the key considerations and questions you would ask to tackle this problem?
● What kind of solution would you build out on the NBC website/app/livestream service to increase
viewership on one/many of these events?

3. Key Considerations
● The 2012 London Summer Olympics was one of the most-watched events in U.S. television
history, with more than ⅔ of all Americans watching at least part of the games.
● Many people don’t perceive Racewalking as a legitimate sport because it is very hard to judge
objectively, and television cameras only add to the scrutiny.
● In addition, many people perceive Racewalking as “silly,” because of the hip motion required to
compete in accordance with race requirements.
● For these reasons, raising awareness of televised Racewalking events may not be sufficient to
increase viewership.

4. Key Questions
● What kind of experience could potentially appeal to the large variety of television viewers that
have previously tuned in to the Olympics?
● How can this new experience improve users’ lives, and promote event viewership in a contextually
relevant way?
● How can it reinforce the notion that Racewalking is a legitimate sport?
● How can it help drive a more positive public perception of Racewalking?
● How can it raise awareness of US Racewalking team athletes, and create user empathy for them?
● Which aspects of human psychology could be leveraged to help increase viewership?

5. Proposed Design Solution
A native mobile app for iPhone and Android phones, that includes the following features:
● Integrated 3rd party data from Google Maps and TripAdvisor
● Ability to sync with Apple Health and Google Fit, as well as Android- and iPhone-enabled
smartwatches
● Ability to choose a walking goal-- either direct route or sightseeing, plus fitness tracking
● Ability to connect with friends, share data, and compete against each other
● US Olympic Racewalking athletes as virtual trainers
● Information on when Racewalking athletes are scheduled to compete, with links to viewing info &
apps

6. Why This Solution?
● Walking may be one of the simplest ways to work out, and is a great way to explore one’s
neighborhood and community.
● People walk for many reasons, but currently, multiple apps are needed to support the variety of
reasons someone could choose to walk.
● Racewalking athletes as personal trainers serve two purposes:
○ To serve users as a virtual coach, providing evidence-based walking fitness advice and
encouragement, and
○ Assumption-- To instill a psychological desire for reciprocity, so users feel more inclined to
check out their trainer’s televised events on NBC.
● Friendly competition will leverage game design to drive user engagement.

7. Why This Solution? (cont)
● Native app ability to leverage 3rd party data integration/syncing potentially allows for easier
development of information-rich features.
● Assumption-- depending on walking program selected, walking could be more or less athletic,
potentially strengthening the user’s correlation between intense walking and fitness/sports.

8. 1st Iteration Design Concepts - Walk Out

9. Proposed Next Steps
● Validate outstanding assumptions:
○ Does virtual training from an Olympic Racewalking athlete make a user more
likely to watch their athlete race?
○ Does this app encourage the perception of high-intensity walking as a legitimate
fitness/sporting activity?
● Experiment to determine if proposed functionality resonates with users, and
determine any missing or extraneous features.
● Determine feasibility to build app with recommended 3rd party data
integration/syncing, given project timeframe.

10. Thank You!