Stadium
Experience
Design
Classroom Project : Semester 8
In India, cricket is not just a sport, but a religion for many.
A religion with it's many rituals, followers and Gods.
Even so, with the advancements in technology and home viewing systems, and the added comfort of watching matches on your lazy boy recliner, fewer people prefer going to the stadium and watching the match as it unfolds.
We aimed at bridging the gap between the stadium and home viewing, by creating innovative strategies to lure more footfall at the stadium and hence, uplift the essence of the game both for the players and the fans.
PHASE I
Ethnographic
Research
To understand this situation more deeply, we carried out a 5 week long intensive research involving micro and macro brainstorming, field research, all stakeholder timelines, and quantitative case studies.
For reference, we decided to work on the MCA stadium, Pune for our research and creative interventions.
Insights &
Design Directions
Cancellation
Visual Hierarchy
Wayfinding
Security
Check
Ticket as
Souvenir
Post match
Relevance
Black Market
Ticketing
System
Emotional
Interaction
Spectator
Comfort
Food
Vendors
Player
Interviews
Home team
Away team
Fan & Fan
Interaction
Merchandise
Unity in
Diversity
Player & Fan
Interaction
Rivalry
Post match
Vandalism
Match
Highlights
Internet
Bag Drop
Game
Analysis
Exchanging
Change
DSR Review
Method
Power Banks
PHASE II
UX
Interventions
After narrowing down from our research, we decided on 3 potential directions for our design interventions.
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Ticketing System
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Spectator Comfort
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Emotional Interaction
1. Ticketing System
The new ticketing system has been designed to provide spectators with a personalized ticket buying experience while also using the ticket to interact with the players.
While booking the tickets, one can also select any of the merchandise offered on the platform, and collect them on the day of the match from the stadium itself (Explained under 'Emotional Interaction' section)
Dedicating a certain section of seats for NGOs and other community organizations, as a token of appreciation for their efforts, goes a long way in building healthy relationships and creating goodwill.
This gesture also showcases a positive attitude towards the fans, which directly converts into more viewership and appreciation towards the sport.
2. Spectator Comfort
To bridge the gap between a stadium experience and home viewing experience, many potential areas of intervention were studied, and models were made.
A sport like cricket that enjoys huge viewership, is of great interest to sponsors. The stadium experience can be further enhanced by placing these brands in the right context.
2.1
Proposed Sponsor - Godrej
Locker System
From our user research, we learned that spectators sometimes needs to carry certain items to the stadium, and have no place to keep them. These items generally include power banks, laptops, purses, suitcases, cigarettes, helmets etc..
By providing a locker facility, in partnership with Godrej, the spectators get more freedom to carry their personal items without many restrictions. This increases the accessibility to the stadium.
While dropping their belongings at a specific gate, a sticker (as a token) would be added to the ticket band. This way the token would remain safe. The seat number acts as the token number.
2.2
Proposed Sponsor - PayTM
F&B System
Primary issues in the F&B system at the stadium include vendors entering seat lanes which disturbs the view for the spectators. Another issue is the chaotic interaction with the vendor, regarding menu and cash transactions.
This can be avoided by partnering with Paytm and having food stalls away from the seats.
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Food ordered using Paytm app or the screen on the premium seats, can directly get delivered to the seat.
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For cash transactions, spectators can go to the stall without disturbing anyone's view of the match.
2.3
Proposed Premium seats and services
F&B System
With the advancements in technology, the match viewing experience on TV offers a lot. From HD broadcasting to match statistics and analysis, one can get a much deeper understanding of the match while sitting at home.
Booking the premium seats at the stadium at an extra cost, spectators will have access to all the highlights, player reports, inning comparison graphs, DRS review system and much more at their fingertips, including their munchies.
A screen would be installed at the back of each seat, connected exclusively to the application providing match highlights, analysis, and food options. A basic UI model follows, showing the work-flow of the proposed application.
3. Emotional Interaction
Like any other sport, in cricket too there are victories and losses. Some spectators leave the stadium feeling delighted whereas others, heartbroken. People connect with not just the sport, but with the players and their personalities as well. This, we thought is a good area for us to intervene and build a more intimate relationship between the players and the fans.
Numerous strategies were hypothesized that extended to pre and post match; this ensured a holistic interactive experience for both the fans and the players.
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12th Man Campaign
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360° Panorama Picture
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Decible Level
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Message Box
3.1
12th Man Campaign
Indian cricket fans leave no stone unturned when they're supporting their team. In the stadium, the spectators are often regarded as the '12th man' in addition to the 11 on-field players. They play a major role in the game by boosting the confidence of their team.
The new campaign 'We the 12th' is aimed at bringing together all the lovers of the game by building a fan army. This unites the much diverse crowd and opens dialogue between spectators.
To make this campaign interactive and accessible to all, a wide range of merchandise was developed at the reasonable prices for the spectators. The merchandise was made taking the base color as navy blue (color of the Indian Team), and the number 12 on every product.
Buying and printing the products in bulk would make the merchandise affordable and accessible to all.
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Jersey
₹ 200
Sunglasses
₹ 120
Cap
₹ 130
Bag
₹ 150
3.2
360° Panorama Picture
One of the strategies was to click a full panorama picture. This would be done while the national anthem is playing as it would avoid any glitch in the photo since everyone would be standing still.
The photo will be taken from the centre of the stadium (as shown below). It would evenly capture the 22 players and all the fans involved in the match.
These pictures can be printed and put up on the '12th army wall' showcasing the army for each and every match played at a particular venue. They can also be emailed, or printed and framed by the end of the match for the spectators to buy.
The intention was to create a tangible deliverable that the fans can take with them as a souvenir.
3.3
Decibel Level
This one is to appreciate the fans.
Suppose your team is down, and the chances of winning are slim. That's when the 12th man comes in. Making the players aware that the fan army have their back, can spark something extraordinary and turn the match around.
Sound detectors would be used to capture and display the decibel level of the stadium, i.e. the amplitude at which the fans are cheering for their team. The average noise made by fans in professional matches is around 80 - 90 db, but can go as high as 150 and beyond if you're in the right spirit.
This visual representation of the decibel level would serve as a cue to initiate a Mexican wave throughout the stadium. As and when the amplitude crosses a threshold mark, LEDs start lighting up to indicate which stand starts the Mexican wave, and goes around (as follows).
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Whether your team is winning or losing, all lovers of the sport present in the stadium unite to carry out this phenomena. This gives the stadium and the players a boost of energy, and at the end, a wholesome experience.
VIDEO /
3.4
Message Box
Real fans support their team in both victory and defeat; they only need a medium to express their emotions. While portals like Twitter and Instagram are common for celebrities and their fans to exchange words and thoughts, handwritten messages have a much deeper impact.
The blank side of the ticket can be used for this purpose. The fans can write their message to their favourite players and slip it into the message box installed at the exit gate.
This would directly open a dialogue between the fans and the players which holds a lot of emotional value to both the parties involved.
PHASE III
Scaled
Model
Strategizing various interventions is not enough for one to come to a calculated conclusion. Hence, we made a scaled model of the MCA stadium in order to understand the body flow, and to visualise our intervention's potential.
Thank you !
*This model is not in association with, and does not endorse products by Nike, Vivo, Godrej or Paytm.
*This project was solely carried out for the learning process.