Our client, Beautiful Sports is an all-in-one web application designed to help organizers of cycling and running events, including triathlons and trail races. The platform supports every aspect of event management—registration, bib distribution, time tracking, and publishing rankings. With over 4,000 active users, Beautiful Sports was at a turning point: their goal was to expand beyond grassroots usage and attract larger organizations, positioning the app for more significant growth.
As the team prepared for the new season, they recognized that scaling without a refined user experience (UX) was simply not an option. They needed to enhance the app’s design to meet the demands of professional clients while maintaining its simplicity and usability.
The Challenge
Scaling Without Sacrificing Simplicity
Beautiful Sports was already live, built with CBTW’s support, but this time, the stakes were higher. The team faced a series of challenges:
- The team had limited resources, which constrained their development capacity.
- With limited access to user feedback, including interviews, surveys, and analytics, the team faced challenges in fully understanding users’ needs.
- A tight timeline of just eight weeks to prepare for the next race season.
With these limitations, the team needed to rethink their approach to UX/UI design. Their challenge was clear: how could they expand the app’s functionality, add new features, and still preserve the simplicity and intuitiveness that had made it successful at its core?
Our Approach
Building on What Works, Fast
In response to these challenges, we structured the project into two agile phases to ensure we could meet the tight timeline while addressing the client’s needs effectively.
Phase 1: UX Audit and Redesign of the Existing App
We began by conducting a thorough UX audit of the app, despite the absence of user data. This step was crucial to ensure we could move forward with confidence. Our UX team conducted a comprehensive design critique, examining every element of the user interface and functionality. We also walked through the app with the client, identifying areas of opportunity for improvement. Although there were no user interviews to guide us, we synthesized potential design enhancements based on our collective expertise and the client’s needs.
We didn’t just focus on the visual elements. We also reworked the logical structure behind filters and page layouts to ensure a smoother user experience. By streamlining navigation and making the app more intuitive, we prepared the app for future scalability without sacrificing its simplicity.
Phase 2: Design Sprint for New Features
Recognizing that the app needed to evolve to serve larger organizations, we led a 2-day design sprint focused on creating new features that would appeal to professional clients. The sprint concentrated on:
- Athlete and Team Pages: These new pages were crucial to provide a more personalized experience for users, offering detailed profiles and team views for race organizers and participants.
- Freemium Version: To expand the app’s market potential, we designed a freemium model that would allow Beautiful Sports to attract new customers without requiring an immediate full purchase commitment.
The sprint involved collaborative feature mapping, benchmarking against competitors, and continuous design critiques. We rapidly moved from ideation to wireframes and delivered complete UI designs, all ready for development.
The Result
A Smarter, Stronger UX Foundation for Future Growth
The result of this project wasn’t just a cosmetic redesign—it was a true transformation that prepared Beautiful Sports for the next stage in its journey. Together, we strengthened the core UX of the platform, ensuring that it could scale without losing its simplicity. The two new pages—Athlete and Team—were seamlessly integrated into the app, offering intuitive and personalized experiences for users. The freemium model laid the groundwork for attracting larger organizations and expanding the platform’s user base.
With the new UX foundation in place, Beautiful Sports was ready for the season’s launch, confident that the product was now scalable and poised for growth. The feedback from Alban Herinckx, Co-Founder of Beautiful Sport, summed it up perfectly:
“Working with CBTW has been a great experience for our team. From Day 1, their leadership, vision and ability to understand our needs and goals have been great assets for the revamp of our apps and tools. Throughout the project, the communication was lean and expectations or outcomes clearly defined together with the CBTW team. The workshop was particularly efficient and adapted to our requirements and constraints. After the workshop, they remained available and very reactive to all our questions and challenges. In conclusion, I am particularly impressed by the service and support offered from the early days of the project to its delivery.”
Beautiful Sports now has a user experience that reflects the company’s mission to provide a seamless, efficient platform for event organizers. With this solid UX foundation, they are well-positioned to meet the needs of larger organizations, ensuring they can evolve and continue to serve their growing user base.
Need some help?
It is clear that every business faces unique challenges when it comes to user experience, whether it’s scaling for a larger audience or refining an intuitive interface.
Our UX/UI services are designed to empower your progress by combining empathy, expertise, and creativity. We work alongside you to craft seamless, engaging experiences that evolve with your business needs. If you’re facing similar challenges or looking to enhance your platform, we invite you to explore our services here or another UX/UI client case here.
Feel free to reach out for a free conversation—we’d be happy to discuss how we can help you achieve a user experience that’s as ambitious as your goals.