Can a stadium offer integrated personalized experiences through multiple devices aligned to RFID technologies?
The problem
Century Link is the most technologically advanced sports stadium in the world.
To further the expectations of a stadium hosting a world-class team such as the Seahawks-our client was looking for think tank solutions aligned to various types of available technology, including RFID chips, customized mobile applications, and beacon technologies.
The goal was to create the ability for the end-user to have an interactive experience where they were drawn into participation within the facility itself.
The initial idea was around implementing an RFID chip into a fans Jersey so that they would receive prompts within the stadium environment to allow for interaction with free events and various purchasing opportunities.
My role and teams involved
My role for this was as a Senior UX designer working in tandem with a secondary Senior UX designer to provide the vision to Vulcan. I was involved in think tank sessions and assisted in storyboarding day in the life scenarios for senior leadership review and potential funding.
The solution
To define the experience we created a day in the life scenario where we aligned various technology implementations to various use cases defined by a participant, location, time, return on investment, purchases, and alignment to the “hive mind”.
In the creation of our storyboards, we were able to look at consistent opportunities to connect with stadium clients and how to drive them into various experiences and purchasing opportunities.
As a team, we worked to define the experiences of the “hive mind” -which was defined as
“A group activity that creates a new experience”. Examples included; utilizing stadium decibel levels to ignite fireworks or driving cell phone utilization to enable the “hive mind” to drive behaviors on the field (i.e. the quarterback dance).
We were also able to philosophize on different opportunities where an individual end-user would be able to receive props to interact via a customized app. Ideas included the ability to upgrade seats or integrate haptics into the seats for notifications, such as food being ready or a contact or that wants to connect in different seats.
Each experience was further aligned to ambient occurrences within the stadium (such as security or event crescendos).
The learnings
Personally, when I go to a stadium I don’t want to buzzed, zapped, or bio-hacked via my new baseball jersey to buy a more premium hot dog.
I’ve already paid enough money to see a sports event, concert, or show. Truthfully I can probably figure out where to get my new rock and roll t-shirt.
however, the creative process is a fun one that allows us to experiment with ideas whether they’re implemented or not. When you’re in a think tank environment you want to come up with as many ideas as possible.
Looking back, some things could work and I would use them- however, more discovery is necessary as is research and implementation.
