Action For Sport is a registered charity dedicated to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate in sport.
They do this by providing exclusive discounts from national and local retailers to help families that need it most to gain access to sports kit and equipment.
The exclusive discounts are provided to Action for Sport by partner retailers and distributed to organisations in their network, including schools and clubs. Organisations in the Action for Sport network then allocate the discounts to individuals who would otherwise struggle financially to gain access to sports equipment.
As with all our web development projects, we kicked off the project with a discovery meeting with the client to establish their goals. These meetings present a perfect opportunity for us to listen to their ideas, start to form ideas, and work out where we can add value.
The deliverables for this project would depend on successfully designing the business process model. To achieve this, we had to gain a deep understanding of the business and its core objectives.
The primary objective for this project is to provide access to subsidised sports equipment for disadvantaged individuals in the form of exclusive discounts from partner retailers.
The secondary aim of this project is to rebuild their website to promote this new initiative and guide users through registering and gaining access to discounts.
Their existing website was no longer fit for purpose, nor did it clearly illustrate what they do. There was also no potential to incorporate the desired functionality, so we began looking at their biggest pain points:
Understanding the charity’s pain points and the project objectives gave us a good understanding of how to proceed. We discussed the options available to them and helped to guide them down the route of a dedicated web application in combination with a marketing website.
This project came about as a referral from an existing client for whom we had already completed several projects. When Action for Sport first approached us, they were looking to build a mobile phone app. As we began to discuss their requirements and discover the project, we became more certain that this wasn’t the correct solution.
A mobile application would have been considerably more expensive to design, develop, and publish. It would also have extended the duration of the project, which would have increased the budget further. In addition, it would have been more difficult and expensive to maintain long term.
We pride ourselves on our knowledge and technical abilities to deliver solutions to our clients. That goes right from consulting to supporting a delivered project. In this project, we saved Action for Sport considerable financial resources and delivered it ahead of their initial proposed schedule by guiding them to the right solution.
The solution we proposed was to build a web application supported by a website with a content management system accessible to the client. This approach would prove more cost-effective than a mobile application, while empowering Action for Sport with full control of their website content for marketing purposes. The web application would be scalable to grow with the business as its needs changed.
This was met with enthusiasm, and a fantastic bond was already developing between ourselves and Action for Sport. This relationship grew throughout the project, and the was mutually beneficial for delivering an excellent solution.
Several meetings were held to discuss the business objectives, and we soon recognised that we were building for three unique types of users.
A parent portal to obtain access to the discount codes that provide discounted sporting clothes and equipment.
Register interest to partner with Action for Sport. As an approved organisation and then receive access to subsidised sports equipment for their members.
It was important to understand the process from the point the discount codes are created by the retailer to redemption by the individual users to successfully construct a robust solution for all users.
The previous website had no signposting to encourage different types of users to engage with their platform – something that was vital to onboarding individuals, new organisations, and potential retail partners. The website acts as a vital tool to navigate website visitors to their desired locations, from whichever starting point their journey commences.
The success of the project hinged on providing a solution that handled the entire process from start to finish. The process we devised works as follows:
Working example:
A sports equipment retailer has agreed to partner with Action for Sport and provide them with 100 unique discount codes which are valid for one use each and offer a 10% discount off any pair of football boots from their store.
Action for Sport admins will log into the admin portal of the web application and create a new deal, assign it to the appropriate retailer and give it a name: “10% off any football boots”. They will provide some additional details, assign it an access tier and then upload the 100 discount codes provided by the retailer to the deal.
Any users already registered who have an access tier that matches that of this deal will now be ablet to view it and redeem one of the unique codes.
The web application provides two unique portals. The first is the admin portal where Action for Sport manages their organisations, retailers and deals. The second is the user portal where parents, carers, and guardians can register to access exclusive deals. Each portal plays a key role in the overall flow.
The third aspect of the project is the website. This allows visitors to follow critical user flows, guiding each user type to meet the objective of their visit. It also provides additional information on Action for Sport and builds trust with the brand.
The portal is used by the public, so it is vital that the interface is intuitive for all to use. To ensure that all areas of the project provided this, we collaborated with the Action for Sport team and utilised relevant user data to ensure we delivered a smooth customer journey with an easy-to-use interface.
User acceptance testing allowed us to tweak the design of the interface to streamline the user experience further.
The website acts predominantly as a signposting tool. It was important that users could easily find their way to the desired sections of the site.
The key component for this project is the admin portal. This portal provides Action for Sport with full control of their data, including discount codes and vouchers, individual users, organisations, and retailers. It allows them to create and configure each of these types of data.
A retailer is created in the database to act as the voucher distributor. The voucher codes are then imported via a simple upload function. These codes are then stored in the database and the agreed quantity of codes are set. From here the tiered codes can be assigned to the relevant organisations.
This was all designed to be a highly efficient data input method that reduces the chance of human error.
The school, club or organisation decide which tier of code their members will receive, depending on who they consider as needing the most support. The access codes are then distributed to the relevant parents. These access codes provide secure access for the parents to create an account. From within the account the relevant tiered discount or voucher codes can be viewed, before being redeemed on the relevant retailer’s website.
To prevent potential misuse of the codes, the access codes are single use. This ensures that only the user for whom the code is intended can view and redeem the voucher.
The website was made using a popular content management system (CMS), providing a powerful visual page builder for Action for Sport to manage their website content. The purpose of the website was to help navigate users to relevant sections of the site while also being consistent in visual design.
The primary purpose of the website is to provide signposting for each user type. These have been previously defined as individuals, organisations and retailers. With each user type’s pathway being unique, the website guides them into the relevant section of the process.
The pages are cleanly styled and branded to fit the overall company image.
Using the chosen CMS, custom templates were built to complement the website. This ensures that any newly created content has a unified look and feel across all devices, whether this be articles or new pages of content.
Our team were in contact with their co-founder throughout the course of the project. We kicked off the project with a discovery meeting to establish the specific requirements. This was supported by on-going feedback to progress the project.
We quickly gained an in-depth understanding of how we were going to deliver the solution that realised their objectives. This understanding allowed us to guide them at pivotal points of the project, bringing new and innovative ideas to the table to help achieve their goals.
Quality Assurance was carried out during the building of both the web app and the website. Our tried and tested process ensures that the product has been thoroughly tested to highlight any potential issues before it is released to market. Due to the collaborative approach used during this project, the client was aware of the user interface throughout the project. This was ideal for new parents who would instinctively know how to use the app to redeem the voucher codes.
As with all projects, security and data protection are always at the forefront of everything we deliver. This project was no exception, especially when considering the collection and storage of personal data.
This allowed us to anonymise the reporting functionality, or report on specific demographics to — the success of specific campaigns. We are also able to report back to funders and sponsors on the number of codes reaching those most in need.
After the deployment of both the web application and the website, Action for Sport have seen a significant increase in the use of its services.
We successfully delivered the portal which allows the upload, distribution and management of the discount codes and vouchers. This has significantly reduced the man hours needed to record the voucher details and prevents misuse on the redemption side of the project.
The website clearly signposts all user types to the relevant areas of the site quickly. This helps retain the website traffic, improves engagement and provides a more positive user experience.
Action for Sport have seen a huge increase in the redemption of the vouchers through the platform. Additionally, they have received several new enquiries from potential partners who are interested in providing discounts and voucher codes for their own stores.
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