Hi Tennis Team,
Sorry to get this follow up to you so late, I’ve been overwhelmed with work the passed two weeks.
I wanted to send you a follow up regarding our conversations about the app. My goal is to synthesize your department’s needs and uses into technical judgments to guide the software team. When you have time, please review these considerations and let me know 1.) if there is anything incorrect, and 2.) if anything is missing
Findings:
The primary use of the prototype application by the tennis department is the coaches’ scheduling page. This page has the most impact on the day-to-day work done tennis staff, and is integral for daily workflows. The biggest weaknesses with the existing calendar page are:
- Lack of integration with other calendars (courts, club automation, google, rippling), and the data entered must be manually duplicated into other applications.
- Notifications about scheduling changes are being ignored by coaches because they are not detailed enough.
- The user interface is difficult to navigate and data entry is not ideal
- Coaches do not get enough information on the calendar view. They should be able to see the entire calendar (but not information related to other coaches’ pay/hours worked).
The tennis mastery page is a good idea, but the execution is lacking. This page exists because of broader Farm and Forge goals to track and use data. Much of the lesson planning goals are happening out of the app in spreadsheets and text messages. With better UI and integrated input from tennis staff, something like this page will be helpful and see significant use.
The practice matches page is important and well-used, but could see significant improvement. The UI is a hindrance, with too much unneeded information. Ideally, much of the information in this page would be automated (when the calendar says that a practice match has or will occur, create a new practice event on this page with some fields already filled in), and a notification would tell the appropriate users that it is time to put in the practice information. The way visiting summer students appear on this page may need to be re-thought with tennis department input.
The Community and after-school tennis pages are not used. This information is tracked in a spreadsheet. This page could be useful following improvements to match the tennis department workflow.
The other pages and feature do not see active use by the tennis deparment because they do not offer business value or impact their daily workflows.