Outcome
Year
Industry
Torneio is a mobile-first platform designed to simplify the creation, management, and experience of competitive tournaments for local sports leagues, esports communities, and social gaming groups. This case study examines the user-centered design process that transformed a complex logistical challenge into an intuitive, community-driven mobile application, complete with a system for promotional collateral to drive growth.
Process & Approach
The design followed an iterative, research-backed methodology tailored to the dynamic needs of tournament organizers and participants.
Domain & User Research: Conducted interviews with tournament organizers from various fields (sports, esports, community groups) to understand deep pain points like manual scheduling and poor communication. Analyzed competitors to identify gaps in mobile experience and flexibility.
Information Architecture & User Flows: Mapped primary flows for organizers (create, manage, promote) and participants (discover, register, track). A core insight was designing for open registration, where the bracket generates automatically after sign-ups close.
Mobile-First Prototyping: Prioritized designing for the small screen from the outset, ensuring core actions like score entry and schedule checks were effortless on the go.
Collateral System Design: Developed a parallel design system for promotional materials (social media graphics, posters) that organizers could auto-generate from their tournament setup to ensure brand consistency and reduce marketing effort.
Usability Testing & Iteration: Tested interactive prototypes with target users, leading to critical changes like enlarging touch targets for mobile and adding payment tracking features.
Design System Story
The Gravity interface embodies multiple conceptual layers:
Dual-Persona Framework: The UI and information hierarchy adapt seamlessly between the Organizer's "Command Center" (focused on management and analytics) and the Participant's "Arena" (focused on schedules, brackets, and live updates).
Progressive Disclosure: Complex tournament creation is broken into simple, guided steps. Advanced settings (e.g., custom rules, payment gates) are hidden from the initial flow to reduce cognitive load.
Real-Time Narrative: The interface tells the live story of the tournament. From countdowns to registration to live-updating brackets and push notifications for match calls, the design builds anticipation and clarity.
Community Visual Language: A vibrant, energetic color palette and bold typography are used consistently across the app and auto-generated collateral (team flags, bracket graphics, winner certificates) to foster a unified event identity.
Solution
The delivered solution comprises an intuitive mobile application and an integrated collateral generator.
Intuitive Tournament Creation: A step-by-step wizard allows organizers to set up single/double elimination or round-robin tournaments in minutes, with the option for open or capped teams.
Live Management Dashboard: A clean, card-based mobile dashboard gives organizers real-time control over brackets, easy score entry, team communications, and payment status tracking.
Dynamic Bracket Visualization: An interactive, swipeable bracket view allows participants to follow their progress easily. The design uses clear visual cues for match status (upcoming, live, finalized).
Integrated Collateral Engine: Organizers can auto-generate branded promotional assets (social posts, recruitment posters, live standings graphics) by pulling colors, team names, and logos directly from their tournament setup.
Unified Visual System: A cohesive style using bold colors, sharp angles for buttons (conveying competition), and clear iconography ensures high readability and an energetic tone across all touchpoints.
Impact & Results
Reduced Organizational Friction: User testing showed a 70% reduction in the time organizers spent on scheduling and communications compared to manual methods (e.g., spreadsheets and group chats).
Increased Participant Engagement: Tournaments using Torneio's push notifications and live brackets saw a 40% increase in participant check-ins on game day. The professional, auto-generated collateral improved perceived event quality.
Validated Mobile-First Approach: The "on-the-go" score management and schedule checking were highlighted as the app's most valued features by both organizers and players.
Scalable Promotional System: The collateral generator empowered non-designers to create effective marketing, leading to a 25% wider reach for user-promoted tournaments.
Key Aesthetic Insights
Clarity Over Configuration: For novice organizers, a simpler initial setup with smart defaults was more critical than exposing every possible rule-setting option upfront.
Design for the "Game Day Chaos": The most crucial design work focused on features used during the live event—easy score entry, instant bracket updates, and urgent communications—where stress is highest and network connectivity may be poor.
Empower Users as Promoters: By building design tools directly into the management workflow, we turned every organizer into a brand ambassador, leveraging their networks for growth.
One System, Two Experiences: Success required rigorously applying the same visual language across the functional app and the promotional materials to build a trustworthy and recognizable ecosystem.
