Is the starting point clear?
Evaluate the first action a reader takes when looking for content, checking whether the interface makes the route into discovery understandable.
SoccerBible
Designing a richer editorial platform, from discovery to delivery.
2024Editorial platformDesign & Delivery Lead
- MY ROLE
- UX & product design
End-to-end delivery ownership - WORKING WITH
- SoccerBible stakeholders
Engineering & development - SCOPE
- Research · Responsive design
Delivery · Analytics · Iteration
THE PROJECT
I led the full redesign of SoccerBible’s editorial platform, from shaping the requirements with stakeholders to designing the experience and working with engineering through delivery.
Beyond launch, I implemented the measurement foundations and continued iterating with the team, connecting design decisions to how the platform performed.
Explore the processTL;DRContribution, delivery & impact
From an article feed to a measurable editorial platform.
I led the full 2024 redesign, working with SoccerBible stakeholders and engineering from inception through delivery and ongoing iteration.
- My contribution
- End-to-end design & delivery
Defined requirements with stakeholders, led UX and visual design, validated content-finding journeys and worked with engineering through implementation.
- What I delivered
- Design, flexibility & measurement
Responsive navigation, homepage and article layouts, reusable editorial blocks, competition sign-ups and a data layer feeding GTM, GA4 and team reporting.
- The outcome
- +267% engaged sessions YoY
Active users grew 137%, sessions grew 156% and bounce rate fell 17% in 2025 vs 2024.
01 / CONTEXT & CHALLENGE
A global culture brand.
A website ready to do more.
SoccerBible is an editorial platform exploring football through culture, fashion, product design and the people shaping the game.
Its audience extended far beyond the website. The opportunity was to give that audience a richer destination, with clearer routes into the archive and more room for editorial storytelling.
- Instagram followers
- 5.5m
- Annual website sessions
- 3.5m
The brief I helped shape
Move beyond a chronological article grid. Make the most important stories easier to find, give editors flexible ways to curate content, and build the measurement needed to keep improving the experience.
02 / DISCOVERY & INSIGHTS
From research to design decisions.
I reviewed the existing experience and the Umbraco publishing workflow with the SoccerBible team. Their editorial needs shaped the brief, while Lyssna testing helped validate how readers found content.
- Audit
- Stakeholder input
- User validation
- Design principles
Four findings that shaped the experience. Select one to explore the design response.
01Stories competed for attention.Give the lead story a clear role.
01 / THE DESIGN RESPONSE
Give the lead story a clear role.
- What I found
- The chronological feed gave articles similar visual weight, making editorial priorities difficult to see.
- What I changed
- I introduced a prominent digital cover and a clearer distinction between featured stories and supporting content.
- Why it mattered
- The hierarchy gives readers a starting point and editors a way to signal what deserves attention.
02Scrolling was the main route in.Offer more ways to explore.
02 / THE DESIGN RESPONSE
Offer more ways to explore.
- What I found
- Limited navigation made discovery depend too heavily on what appeared in the homepage feed.
- What I changed
- I reorganised navigation around disciplines, popular tags and series, giving readers several routes into the archive.
- Why it mattered
- Readers can start with a creative interest or a familiar topic instead of relying on recency.
03Specific interests were hard to find.Support a more direct route.
03 / THE DESIGN RESPONSE
Support a more direct route.
- What I found
- The existing experience offered too few entry points for readers looking for a particular subject.
- What I changed
- I brought search and category shortcuts into the discovery experience, alongside exploratory browsing.
- Why it mattered
- The design supports both an open-ended browse and a more focused visit.
04Topics needed a clear destination.Turn topics into destinations.
04 / THE DESIGN RESPONSE
Turn topics into destinations.
- What I found
- Unclear categories and disconnected pages made it harder to continue exploring a subject.
- What I changed
- I connected the taxonomy to topic pages that bring tagged stories together in a focused collection.
- Why it mattered
- A shared topic provides a route to another relevant story, with the editorial content still taking centre stage.
03 / EXPLORATION & WIREFRAMES
Find the structure.
Then find the expression.
I explored how different layouts could change the weight of a story, a topic or a collection.
Early concepts tested more expressive editorial grids, featured stories and filtering. Wireframes then established the responsive structure across the homepage, navigation and search, giving stakeholders and engineering a shared basis for discussion.
RESPONSIVE FOUNDATIONS
Plan the whole page, not just the first screen.
The homepage wireframes established a repeatable rhythm of lead stories, article grids, editorial features and themed sections across desktop and mobile.
04 / NAVIGATION & DISCOVERY
Two ways in.
One connected archive.
The navigation supports browsing by interest. Search provides a more direct route to a specific subject.
I organised disciplines, popular tags and series into a clearer hierarchy, and paired search with category shortcuts. Desktop and mobile retain the same content logic while adapting the layout to the screen.
Navigation
View the mobile progression
Search
View the mobile progression
05 / USER VALIDATION
Test the route.
Not just the visual preference.
I used Lyssna to test whether people could find content in the prototypes, alongside first-click testing of where they would begin.
The feedback was positive and supported the design direction. The testing formed part of the wider conversation with SoccerBible stakeholders throughout the project.
Does the journey make sense?
Test content-finding tasks through the prototype, considering the journey beyond the initial click.
Bring the learning back to the team.
Use testing alongside editorial requirements and development discussions to guide the experience through to delivery.
06 / THE DELIVERED EXPERIENCE
An editorial system.
Room for different stories.
I designed a set of reusable blocks and page layouts that let the team decide what deserved more attention.
A lead article, a group of stories around a World Cup, or a dedicated topic section could have a different presence on the homepage. Article layouts maintained consistency while allowing variation in imagery, content and storytelling.
Give stories different weight.
Combine lead features, supporting articles and full-width editorial blocks to establish a clear hierarchy.
Bring related content together.
Give collections and editorial moments a dedicated presence instead of relying on their position in the latest feed.
Keep the story central.
Support different article layouts within a consistent system, including a block for competition sign-ups directly within an article.
Homepage
Article listing
Article
Current website screenshots show the delivered system with later editorial content. The redesign was carried out in 2024.
07 / DELIVERY & MEASUREMENT
Own the experience.
Make it measurable.
I stayed involved from inception through delivery and iteration, working with SoccerBible stakeholders and engineering throughout.
Alongside the full UX and visual design, I helped define what was needed, worked through implementation with development, and put the analytics in place so the team could understand the live experience.
Align the requirements.
Connect audience needs with editorial priorities, keeping stakeholders involved as the scope and designs took shape.
Stay close to the build.
Work with engineering to carry the responsive designs, reusable blocks and content journeys through implementation.
Keep learning after launch.
Use reporting and ongoing collaboration with the team to support improvements beyond the initial release.
ANALYTICS IMPLEMENTATION
From site behaviour to useful reporting.
I implemented a data layer that passed information through Google Tag Manager into GA4, then created dashboards and reports the SoccerBible team could use to monitor clicks, views, traffic and acquisition channels.
- Data layerSite interactions & context
- GTMPass data into analytics
- GA4Behaviour & acquisition
- Team reportingMonitor & inform iteration
08 / RESULTS
A stronger platform.
A growing audience.
Year-on-year reporting showed growth in traffic, active users and engaged sessions, alongside a lower bounce rate.
The redesign established a more flexible editorial experience. The analytics implementation gave the team an ongoing view of how that experience was being used.
- Engagement
- +43%YoY
- Engaged sessions
- +267%YoY
- Active users
- +137%YoY
- Sessions
- +156%YoY
- Bounce rate
- −17%YoY
Year-on-year comparison: 2025 vs 2024.
09 / REFLECTION
THE THROUGH LINE
Better discovery depends on editorial control, clear structure and a way to keep learning.
My contribution connected those parts: defining the experience with the team, designing it in full, seeing it through development and giving SoccerBible the tools to monitor and improve it.