Designing for the fan in seat 14
Early exploration: a working prototype, shared to show the thinking.
- Status
- Early exploration: working prototype, patent pending
- My role
- Founder, designer and builder
- Dates
- 2026 to now
- Platform
- A fan view and a staff view
- Partners
- In early conversations with UNC Athletics about a pilot
- Research
- Formative testing with two fellow ushers
Process
Understand
Five years as an usher, watching where fans get stuck
Define
Mapped existing venue tools: all wait for the fan to go looking
Explore
Turned it around so help comes to the fan
Build
Built a working prototype of the fan and staff views
Test
Reviewed it with two fellow ushers; next, a pilot with the venue
The problem
At a big game, fans arrive with the same questions: where's my seat, where's good food nearby, where's the closest restroom, what if something goes wrong. Every venue tool I looked at expects the fan to find answers on a static sign, a map or an app they have to download first. Fans who are already lost rarely do that. Ushers answer these questions all night, one fan at a time.
My role
The idea came from five years of ushering. I did the research, designed both sides of the experience, and built the working prototype myself. I've walked two fellow ushers through it, and I'm in early conversations with UNC Athletics about a pilot.
Key decisions
Meet fans where they already ask for help.
Fans already turn to ushers, so the design starts there instead of asking them to go looking.
Everything anchored to the seat.
What a fan sees is about where they're sitting, not the whole venue.
Answers a fan can act on in a glance.
Short, simple information for someone in a hurry.
The usher's local knowledge is the product.
The picks carry tips only an usher would know, like which stand is worth the walk. That's what a static map can't offer.
What early testing showed
I ran a preliminary formative evaluation with two fellow ushers to check the direction before going further. The response was positive, and it raised one practical question I hadn't weighted enough: ushers carry many different phone sizes and models, so the staff view has to work on all of them. That's now a requirement for the next round.
Outcome
A working prototype of the fan and staff views, a provisional patent filing, and early conversations about a pilot.
What's next
Run a pilot during real games, and measure how often fans need to ask an usher a second time.
Images
Early working prototype. Designed for the Dean Smith Center.