The following case study will give you a high level overview of the work produced for the needs of my final Master's Dissertation for Design & Branding Strategy course in Brunel University, London.

Master thesis titled under: The Connected Fan - Enhance in-stadium experience through design strategy and the Internet of Things.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study integrates design strategy and the Internet of Things in the context of UK football stadium. In particular, the focus of this study is the football fan in his social context, that is the stadium. It follows a qualitative research process that aims to provide better understanding and add useful insights at a subject that is not largely covered by the academia. Below are the main study highlights:

This study explores problems and opportunities around in-stadium experience.
It examines the emotional impact of a connected stadium environment.
Fan personas are used to represent the diversity of fans and their needs.
Significant gaps are found in the communication of stakeholders around stadium development.
Potential applications of smart technology are identified that can enhance fan’s engagement towards stadium environment.
Design concepts have been illustrated involving near-future technologies.
A design-led strategic framework is been developed to guide the transformation towards a technologically advanced connected stadium.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to better understand the experience of the fan in the context of football stadium in the UK and explore how this experience could be enhanced through the employment of strategic design and the Internet of Things technology.

The motivations for conducting this research was a combination of academic gaps that were identified, emerging industry needs and personal professional goals.

This study explores the emotional implications that new technologies might have in the experience of the fan. In particular, it focuses on how design and the internet of things could be used to empower emotional connections for the fan in a stadium environment.

After the initial review of the subject, the study aimed for the conception of a design strategy for ‘smart’ football stadiums in the UK in order to enhance emotional connections with the fan.

It started by identifying emotional needs and expectations of the fan in the context of in-stadium experience. It continued by gaining an in-depth understanding of the current and future state of UK football stadiums in terms of emotional engagement and technological developments. Then it attempts to critically examine how design strategy and internet of things can be used to provide value to the fans. Furthermore, the study assess the value of internet of things when targeted to users that are emotionally driven. Later it started looking at potential design strategies that would enhance fans experience and their engagement with the stadium environment.

The present study was conducted after a careful selection of methods appropriate to a design research investigation. This consisted from both secondary and primary resources relevant to the subject. Through a survey questionnaire, a total of 52 fans participated in the study who had been asked to respond to a series of closed and open

questions about their experience whilst in-stadium. In addition, experts from the industries of design, stadium architecture, Internet of Things, sports branding and other technology sectors have been interviewed in depth. Five stadiums in total have been visited by the researcher in order to “experience the experience” and various qualitative interactions with football fans have been performed.

It is found that common practices around stadium experience lack of strategic design and focus. In addition important gaps have been identified in the communication of designers and technologists regarding the development of Internet of Things projects. Study findings also suggest, that fans should not be treated as passive consumers but instead stadium owners need to understand their desire to be engaged and co-create their experience. Furthermore the findings of this study have advised the design and development of a commercial mobile application for Celtic football club.

Towards the end of the paper, the study develops a design-led strategic framework named as ‘The Connected Fan’. This framework integrates most of the elements and actions that need to be undertaken when a traditional stadium decide to become a technologically advanced organism that would be able to sense and learn from its environment.

Design Research & Strategy

At the preliminary stage of this study three main areas have been explored in depth before a solid definition of where the focus should be could be decided. The main areas of research were fans, sport brands and the new emerging technologies, all in the context of stadium experience.

In this scenario fans is a special demographic that has the role of the end user. Technology is nowadays a big part of people’s everyday lives and the exploration of provided value is of big importance. Additionally, Brands have the power to create and deliver this value to their targeted audience (Gobe, 2001).

After the preliminary review, a better defined scope of research could be decided. At this point it was decided to bring two specific areas appropriate for this study’s purpose. That was Internet of Things and design strategy. Again in the context of the stadium but now with primary focus the fans and their potential value exchange.

Research question

How can design and the internet of things be used to empower emotional connections for the fan in a stadium environment.

Aim

To develop an emotionally-led design strategy for ‘smart’ football stadiums in the UK in order to enhance emotional connections with the fan.

Objectives

1) To identify emotional needs and expectations of the fan in the context of in-stadium experience.

2) To gain an in-depth understanding of the current and future state of UK football stadiums in terms of emotional engagement and technological developments.

3) To critically examine how design strategy and internet of things can be used to provide value to the fans.

4) To assess the value of internet of things when targeted to users that are emotionally driven.

5) To develop design strategies for ‘smart’ UK stadiums to enhance fans engagement with the stadium environment.

Beneficiaries

From a careful exploration of the mentioned research topics the following stakeholders could benefit from a design framework:

Football clubs (brands): Could identify key points for future improvement of their current stadium environment. A design-led framework would put human factors in the forefront but also consider the needs of the club.

Internet of things industry: Could benefit from an overview of the main points that need to be considered when designing for sport fans.

Fans: a design strategy that would put fans in the epicenter of attention would strategically enhance their experience and therefore empower engagement and retention.

The present study was conducted within a balanced mix of secondary and primary research methods and each of the methods has been decided according to the objectives and the exploratory nature of the study

FIndings

Analysis

Noise level recording (to understand the fluctuation of interest) — **Noise level recording** (to understand the fluctuation of interest)

The Fan Journey

Recommendations

Strategic solution: The Connected Fan

A design-led strategic framework was conceptualised to serve as the final outcome of this exploratory research study. The framework holds its name ‘The Connected Fan’ due to its attempt in explaining the steps and considerations that need to be undertaken in order for the sports fan to have a valuable connection with the stadium and its stakeholders. The framework adopts the theories that a design-led framework needs to serve as a starting point with which you use to engage other people in the process and learn what they think (Lockington, 2013). This framework is the starting point of a bigger discussion.In addition the framework recognises the responsibilty of design and designer in keeping a more neutral point of view to the problem where business processes often lack of awareness. For this reason it incorporates the needs and objectives of everyone around stadium experience but observes the design problem closer to the fan’s perspective and thus recommends a design-led approach to the solution of stadium experience problem.

Design Concept #1: Responsive Lighting

”Battle of Lights” is a creative concept that imagines an engaging use of Internet of Things technology in the stadium environment.
One point of this study was that fans need to be treated as active spectators who could co-create their own experience. This concept aims to engage fans in a non-invasive way. The connected devices here would be the following:

• Use of microphones in order to collect stadium’s noise level coming from the crowd.

• Use of cameras that can track and analyse the rates of fan movement. Movement in this case means the level of excitement that can make the fan chant.

• Use of LED screens that can emit complex colour hues.

Result:

The combined levels of noise and movement from the fans can be translated in a digital colourful canvas that responds to the these collected information. The colours of the LED boards will be intense when fans are doing good, or will be neutral when fans are not really active. The filled colour would represent teams colours. There could be a competition between the filled colour of the LED banners. This experiment could create a different in-stadium experience that is based on fans' engagement and colour aesthetics.

Conclusion

The present study presented the new concept of ‘The Connected Fan’ which is concerned with football attendance in the context of UK stadium environment. This concept is the result of a strategy that converges harmonically design, business and technology for the benefit of fans firstly, and the transformation of stadium experience in total.

The exploratory route that is been followed from this research has managed to collect, analyse and interpret information in a strategic manner, in order to identify current problems and future opportunities and therefore guide future developments around stadium experience.

By using design as leading strategy, this research suggests a new direction for shaping the stadium experience. Fans’ emotional experience and stakeholders’ involvement has been brought to the core of the stadium experience. Furthermore, value of design strategy and management has been brought to the attention of decision makers as the mediator of true valuable experience.

The data analysis of this research delivered useful tools for better understanding of the current situation and in the hands of experts can become an instrument for finding sophisticated solutions. This consists of fan personas that showed the diversity of spectators in sports, stakeholders mapping, and customer journeys as a mean to understand the make and break points in stadium experience. It is argued that the problematic situation was mainly identified at the stages before and after match attendance. It is believed that this adds a valuable understanding to the existing studies around the topic while the majority have exclusively dealt with the experience during the match. Regarding in-stadium experience, it is argued that through the employment of Internet of Things, innovation in services and communication between the stadium and the fan can be achieved.

The research argues that fan experience at stadium environment goes beyond the passive consumption of sports. Unlike other types of spectators, the sports fan are spectators that are actively engaging and co-creating collectively their experience. This understanding contradicts with the existing situation in which the football fans are treated mainly as passive consumers.

Lastly, it is the author’s belief that ‘The Connected Fan’ concept is not necessarily built to serve the needs of a specific group of people (in this case the fan) but could possibly accommodate other people in their social context. A value exchange could be achieved in different contexts such as patients to connect with their hospital environment, employees with their work environment and so on. The concept is been developed in a way to focus not on the individual as per user-designed concept does, but instead considers people in their social environment. Many people could benefit from a valuable connection with their environment. However, before achieving a ‘value exchange’ there are various steps that need to be undertaken in advance that can be guided by this study. Design can act as a guarantor that these steps are taken strategically.