14 days / Define
Competitor analysis, customer needs and core journeys framed the opportunity.
Pro:Direct Sport App
Designing for loyalty, beyond the next purchase.
2022–2026Mobile appProduct Owner & Design Lead
- MY ROLE
- Head of Product Design
App Product Owner - TEAM
- Business Analyst, designers,
developers & testers - DESIGN WINDOW
- 14 days discovery · 28 days design
Fixed launch agreement with Nike
THE PROJECT
I delivered Pro:Direct’s retail app from start to finish, leading design and working with engineering throughout as product owner. Developed in partnership with Nike, the app needed to give customers a reason to return between purchases.
My work covered the app experience, a custom Google Analytics implementation, App Store creative and advertising rollout designs. I continued to own and grow the app after launch, taking it beyond one million UK downloads by 2026.
Explore the processTL;DRContribution, delivery & impact
From first concept to over a million downloads.
I delivered Pro:Direct’s app from start to finish, leading design and working throughout with engineering as product owner. I continued to develop and grow the UK app after launch.
- My contribution
- Product owner & design lead
Owned the experience from discovery and design through engineering delivery, launch and ongoing improvement.
- What I delivered
- Product strategy & delivery
Translated customer and business needs into delivery priorities, complete app journeys and reusable UI, with custom analytics to measure performance and guide what came next.
- The outcome
- 1M+ UK downloads by 2026
£26m in app revenue during 2025, alongside over 10,000 five-star App Store reviews.
THE PROJECT AT A GLANCE
The problem: infrequent purchases, low retention.
Football boots are an occasional purchase. The app needed to earn visits between transactions.
Personalised discovery, exclusive access and a clear shopping journey formed the proposition, delivered within a fixed Nike launch window.
Early post-launch results
159,771downloads in the first 180 days
3.50%reported average conversion rate
+44%reported app engagement time
Historical results from the original case study. Downloads combine iOS and Android.
01 / FRAME THE OPPORTUNITY
A fixed deadline. Clear priorities.
As product owner and design lead, I worked with the Business Analyst, engineering and testing teams to deliver the app from discovery through launch.
28 days / Design
Sketches, wireframes and prototypes supported reviews and 150+ final artboards.
Launch / Learn
A phased release, analytics and customer feedback shaped the next iteration.
RESEARCH / LOOK BEYOND THE TRANSACTION
What makes a retail app worth returning to?
I compared Nike, adidas, JD Sports and Lovell Soccer across discovery, navigation, product detail and membership, looking for reasons to return as well as paths to purchase.
A feed needs a purpose.
Personalised feeds offered more relevance than generic retail content. Onboarding preferences became an input to Pro:Direct’s Discover experience.
Make the next step clear.
Navigation clarity and visible sizes stood out. Clear product information and a direct purchase path were priorities.
Give people a reason to return.
Membership, offers, exclusives and editorial content supported return visits. Pro:Direct combined these benefits with its Nike partnership.
PERSONAS & JOBS TO BE DONE
Design for the job behind the visit.
I used jobs to be done alongside personas to connect context, motivation and outcome. Four needs shaped the experience: purchase confidence, informed choice, value and discovery.
The confident purchase
When buying boots for my child, help me confirm the product and ground type so I can purchase confidently.
- Friction to address
- Similar-looking boots and unclear suitability make an otherwise straightforward purchase difficult.
- Design focus
- Make search, product imagery, suitability information and checkout easy to understand.
The considered decision
When researching running shoes, help me understand the differences so I can choose confidently.
- Friction to address
- Unfamiliar terminology and inconsistent product descriptions undermine confidence.
- Design focus
- Support discovery with informative content and clear product specifications.
The search for value
When shopping for five-a-side, help me find suitable kit within my budget.
- Friction to address
- Hidden sale products and unreliable discount codes make value difficult to judge.
- Design focus
- Make prices, offers and product filtering clear; treat discount reliability as part of the experience.
The discovery visit
When browsing for inspiration, help me discover styles and content that match my interests.
- Friction to address
- Stale content and confusing organisation weaken the reason to come back.
- Design focus
- Connect curated discovery, editorial content and exclusive products to repeat visits.
EXPLORATION / FROM IDEAS TO CONNECTED SCREENS
Make the journey tangible, early.
Sketches made journeys tangible; wireframes helped the team review navigation and interactions. Prototypes and stakeholder reviews refined the direction within the 28-day design window.
Resolve structure before visual detail.
I reviewed hierarchy and functionality before refining the UI, keeping the discovery-to-purchase journey coherent.
02 / TURN STRATEGY INTO EXPERIENCE
Three decisions that
shaped the product.
01Start with the person.
Start with the person.
Then show the product.
Onboarding captured sport and product preferences. The homepage combined content from the customer’s selected sports.
My Interests refined brand and product preferences; Sitecore also used these for targeted notifications.
DESIGN INTENTMake the first visit relevant, and give each return visit a purpose.
TRY THE INTERACTION
Your sports. Your homepage.
Choose one or more sports to see their content combined into a personalised homepage.
PERSONALISED HOMEPAGE
Your Football feed
Content based on your selected sports.
Illustrative content showing how selected sports combine in the homepage feed.
02Give membership
Give membership
a tangible benefit.
Exclusive launches, early access, offers and editorial content gave customers reasons to return.
Clear navigation, product information and a direct route to the bag connected those visits to shopping.
PRODUCT INTENTConnect a reason to visit with an easy path to purchase.
03Build consistency
Build consistency
into the system.
Shared typography, colour, inputs and reusable components kept the app consistent.
DELIVERY INTENTMake recurring design decisions reusable across the team.
Let the product lead.
Black-and-white UI let partner imagery lead. Semantic colours distinguished feedback and product states.
Consistent, purposeful actions.
Three action sizes established hierarchy across shopping, journeys and editorial content.
THE DELIVERED EXPERIENCE
One connected journey.
From onboarding and personal discovery to filtering, product detail, the bag and account preferences.
Welcome
Choose your sports
Personalised discovery
Shop by sport
Product listing
Refine results
Product detail
Shopping bag
My account
Your interestsDELIVERY & RELEASE
A phased launch.
Space to learn.
We released in stages to identify issues before widening access.
26 January 2023
Introduce the app to existing members and gather early feedback.
Two weeks later
Widen access while continuing to observe usability and reliability.
Learn from live use
Combine analytics and customer feedback to identify issues for the next phase.
03 / LAUNCH, MEASURE, LEARN
Strong adoption.
Signals to build on.
We tracked acquisition, repeat visits, engagement and commercial value.
I delivered a custom Google Analytics implementation to understand app behaviour. GA4 funnels revealed drop-off; reviews, customer service and the survey helped explain it.
Downloads after launch
CUMULATIVE · iOS + ANDROIDReported lifetime value: app vs website
A positive commercial signal, with no matched cohort or measurement window documented.
Returning users to new users
The reported audience mix suggested repeat engagement; it is not a cohort retention rate.
Figures reflect the original post-launch reporting, not current performance. These are observational results; they do not isolate the effect of individual design changes.
POST-LAUNCH RESEARCH / LISTEN TO LIVE USE
Feedback gave the next phase a direction.
Reviews, customer service and an incentivised My Account survey helped us separate reliability issues from new feature opportunities.
FEATURE REQUEST SURVEY488 participants.
488 participants.
Specific priorities.
Sale lists, restock reminders and launch reminders led the requests.
Incentivised app-user survey. Preferences informed Phase 2 opportunities; they are not evidence of shipped features.
04 / CLOSE THE FEEDBACK LOOP
Launch was the start
of the next design cycle.
I worked with the team to reproduce issues, separate bugs from opportunities and shape Phase 2.
WHAT WE HEARDHOW WE RESPONDED
“It’s taking too long to load.”
We prioritised speed, measured page responsiveness, explored code and API optimisation, and introduced loading skeletons.
Checkout and session problems
We reproduced checkout and session issues, then investigated them with developers and testers.
A welcome offer that no longer worked
A discontinued welcome code still appeared in App Store imagery, exposing a mismatch between the offer and the customer promise.
Feedback above is grouped by theme; the loading headline is a paraphrase, not a verbatim customer quote.
THE TAKEAWAY
A loyalty product needs both a reason to return and an experience worth returning to.
Personalisation and exclusives gave the app a clear proposition. Live feedback made performance, checkout reliability and customer trust central to what came next.
05 / CONTINUED OWNERSHIP
A product I kept growing.
My ownership continued beyond launch, growing the app into a significant UK revenue channel.
I stayed involved in its design and delivery through 2026, working with engineering to develop the experience as the app grew.
- UK downloads by 2026
- 1M+
- App revenue in 2025
- £26m
- Five-star App Store reviews
- 10,000+