NXT Sports

NXT Sports runs year-round events, educational programming, and teams for youth lacrosse players. They are a team of professionals committed to making the experience of sport matter to their players.

Over 38,000 athletes register and participate in NXT teams and programs annually. While one of NXT’s strengths as a company is the variety of its offerings across age, gender, and sport, that means their website is responsible for presenting a large volume of audience-specific information. Their website’s navigation frustrated parents, coaches, and club directors who wanted to quickly sort through the various programs to find what was most relevant to their needs.

Our Work

Interviews

We began our research with a series of interviews, both with NXT staff and parents of NXT athletes. We dove into the different needs of the website’s new and returning audiences from both stakeholder and audience perspectives.
 

Work Session

A collaborative work session with NXT helped us hone in on the expert coaching and educational experiences that they provide and how those can be presented in a way that resonates with parents. We focused in on the type of compelling photography and messaging that should reinforce information about NXT’s approach while still directing visitors towards event registration.
 

Testing Wireframes

After synthesizing the information we captured during the research phase, we created high-fidelity wireframes, building out a prototype to test our findings. We then incorporated feedback from NXT staff and tested the prototype with target users. Their input helped us to refine the structure and navigation before delivering the site’s final design.

The Outcome

Quickly segmenting users

The main site navigation quickly segments users by player’s gender, sport, and region. This helps newcomers to quickly find information relevant to them, including images and copy that capture NXT’s culture and brand identity.

Focusing on calls to action

In the redesigned site, we created clear entry points directly to team registration, waiver forms, vendor signup, and college coach signups. These allow returning users, already familiar with what NXT has to offer, to meet their objectives without combing through the rest of the site.

Using technology to streamline workflow

Through an integration with LeagueApps, event descriptions and details are pulled onto the NXT website, keeping it in sync with their league management and registration software.

Through an iterative process of collaboration and testing, we helped NXT restructure its website’s architecture, creating better pathways with less frustration for customers when they register for events.

Their redesigned website is helping users spend less time navigating and more time experiencing the sports they love.