Sustainability in Sport Clubs
A project in partnership with Leocor gGmbH in Munich
by Tina Do, Sande Fleischer, Tanja Heinrich, Janine Maier
“Heroes for a Better World”
Our world faces unprecedented challenges, with sustainability issues reaching critical levels. Despite the urgency, there's a concerning lack of interest and action, particularly in Germany, where even motivated individuals advocating for change are often disregarded. With government inaction, individuals are left wondering how they can combat climate change and live harmoniously with the Earth. This dilemma spurred our collaboration with Leocor gGmbH, a consultancy aiming to promote climate protection initiatives in the sports sector. Recognizing the significant carbon footprint of sports clubs, including the Bundesliga, and their impact on the environment, we sought to address this overlooked aspect of daily life. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the need for sustainable practices within sports clubs, prompting us to consider their financial constraints and communication challenges.
Through literature research and a design thinking approach, we aimed to develop feasible solutions to help clubs transition towards sustainability, mindful of the limited resources available.
Defining the Research Problem
The client clearly defined the goals of the project in the initial briefing: “Getting sports clubs and their members engaged in climate action”. They also highlighted their current state as well as their research insights. Two of their initial specific goals are a “communication strategy to approach and convince sports clubs to address “climate and environment” as well as a “communication strategy to get sports club members involved and engaged in climate and environmental protection.”
Sports club members are essential to keep a club running and influence the direction of the sports club heavily. The common topic both topics share is “climate and environmental protection” and because the clubs are reliant on their members, the problem solution could be an intersection of the two main goals, as illustrated in the diagram below.
Process Overview of creating the Concept and Strategy
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The first step of every project is to familiarise oneself with the material and the current state of development and double checking the issues and concerns mentioned by the client. Through the literature review and desk research, important insights are gained.
The first task during the literature research about sustainability in sports clubs was to have a general understanding of the current status quo in Germany. Here, the main focus was to first evaluate the existing measures in the field of sustainability in sports clubs and to get a rough picture of the things within the realm of possibility. Starting from already existing actions of sports clubs or the governmental side and the stocktaking of facts and figures about Bavarian clubs up to best practices in sustainability were included in this step.
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User research is the process of gathering data about users and their needs, preferences, and behaviors in order to inform the design and development of products and services. It is a crucial step in the design process as it helps to ensure that the final product meets the needs of the intended users. User research can be conducted through a variety of methods, such as interviews, surveys, user testing, and observational studies. One of the key benefits of user research is that it allows designers and developers to gain a deep understanding of the users they are designing for. This understanding can be used to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement, as well as to validate design decisions. Additionally, user research can help to ensure that products and services are inclusive and accessible to a wide range of users. The user research in this project includes interviews with members of a sports club or people involved in sports clubs. The interviews followed in parallel with the literature review during the first weeks of the project.
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For the ideation phase, to come up with clear and tangible ideas, the team used Jake Knapp’s design sprint method, which is being described in his book “Sprint – Solve Big Problems and Test new Ideas in just Five Days”
Research Insights
Topics covered in the research phase:
The status quo regarding sustainability in German sports clubs
How sustainable is Sport?
Politics and Sports
Psychology and Group Dynamics in the sports club
Motivation and Values
How to build Customer Loyalty?
Effects of the Pandemic - Problems & Aftermaths
A literature review serves as a vital analysis of existing research on a specific topic, offering context and identifying gaps for further investigation. Our group utilized a mind map to categorize various aspects of sustainability in sports, aiding in comprehensive understanding. Initial research questions were formulated to explore the relationship between sustainability and sports clubs, delving into topics such as the current state of sustainability in sports, psychology, decision-making processes, and the evolution of sustainability within clubs. While some areas were prioritized due to time constraints, the focus primarily centered on understanding the psychological and competitive dynamics within sports clubs.
These are some of the major insights gained during the research:
The biggest issue for sports clubs during and after Covid-19: retaining and recruiting members.
Motives for continued participation: competence, friendship skill improvement and competition
purpose-driven membership relationship = as close as possible corresponding club goals with their interests linked with the sport organized by the club
User Research
User research is crucial for developing a successful business strategy, as it provides valuable insights into the needs, preferences, and behaviors of the target audience. By conducting thorough user research, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their customers, which in turn allows them to create products and services that truly resonate with their target market. Moreover, user research can uncover pain points and unmet needs, enabling businesses, in this case Leocor, to identify opportunities for innovation and differentiation in a crowded marketplace. Ultimately, a well-informed business strategy based on user research can lead to improved customer satisfaction, increased brand loyalty, and sustainable business growth.
The insights from the user research gave important hints for the strategy and steps the client could take to solve their initial problem.
How the user research has been conducted and insights analyzed:
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People of the target group have been interviewed to gain qualitative insights and data.
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Based on the grounded theory method, the interviews were coded and evaluated to gain insights.
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Based on the research results, personas, fictional people representing the target group, have been created.
Design Sprint
This approach is 5 steps long process that is covered within 5 days a week designed by Jack Knapp. It is designed in a way that it fast-forwards into the future and helps you analyze how a customer would react before investing time and expenses in the product/service or marketing campaign, etc., planned in the 5 proceeding steps.
During the five-day Design Sprint Workshop, the initial problem is being mapped, the goals and fears identified in a How-Might-We workshop to prepare for the subsequent ideation phase, the mapping of the service process in a flow chart, and finally sketching out the solution.
Make a Map and Choose a Target
The initial stage of the first day in our project involved sprint planning, a crucial step outlined by Jake Knapp to ensure focus on key problems and objectives. Following Knapp's approach, the team began by envisioning the desired long-term outcome of the project, akin to a time-traveling exercise into the future to assess success. Each team member contributed goals, which were then voted upon to establish a collective vision. Later discussions with Leocor refined the long-term goal, emphasizing a collaborative approach to sustainability. The second step of the first day focused on identifying questions and potential hurdles for the project. Through collaborative brainstorming, the team pinpointed critical queries, such as acquiring sports clubs' engagement and ensuring long-term commitment to sustainability efforts. These exercises laid the groundwork for maintaining focus and addressing challenges throughout the sprint process.
Map of long-term goal - workshop results
How-Might-We-Questions
Following the initial steps of defining goals and addressing concerns in the design sprint, the team transitioned to crafting How-Might-We (HMW) questions. These concise queries serve as guiding lights throughout the sprint, directing the ideation phase towards creative insights and tangible opportunities. Each team member contributed HMW questions during a focused meeting, generating a diverse array of potential avenues for exploration. These questions were then organized into categories such as Expertise and Trust, Gamification and Member's Motivation, Financial Motivation, Product/Solution, and Communication. Through collaborative discussion and voting, the team prioritized the most promising questions and themes, refining the focus for the subsequent stages of the sprint. This systematic approach ensured alignment and clarity as the team moved forward with ideation and solution development.
HMW Questions - Workshop Results
Mapping
In order to visualize the way Information about Leocor gGmbH will travel to the customer at the end of the Map-stage of the Sprint, a flowchart (Map) was created, which shows how information about Leocor gGmbH will travel to the potential customer (sports club member). This helped us in the process of considering where to aim the solution for a communication can fortify effectively. This process later also became part of the development of the storyboard
Flow Chart
Sketch
In the sketch phase, Lightning Demos are the method of comparing the successful tactics of different companies with each other, picking out the best fitting ideas and then proceeding to work these into your own solution approach. First, the group does individual research on companies that have already solved one of the problems that need to be solved. Not only direct competitors but also players in other fields and industries are picked apart to understand how they solved the problem. After analyzing individually, these approaches are presented to the rest of the group in so-called lightning rounds of three minutes. How does this company solve the problem, how can it be implemented, and why is it relevant? In the overview, a variety of different companies is shown. Later in the next methods, the insights learned from this practice will provide a good basis for creative solution-finding.
Brief Overview of LIghtning Demo Workshop
Solution Finding
With the potential solution insights through the Lightning Demos and all the prior research, we worked on sketching out the solutions. First, we brainstormed ideas with the Crazy-8-Ideation Method, through which each team member came up with eight ideas. In the end, each came up with one concept and strategy—a solution sketch. The details of each chosen best of is being elaborated further.
The principles applied in the solution sketch method are to think deeply, consider details, and visualize them to further understand the ideas of the team members. These solution sketches are then discussed and later used to decide which path to take. In the decision phase of the Design Sprint, the best solution ideas were voted upon, and the best parts were put together. As a result, a solution and strategy for the client came up.
Customer Journey Map
Customer Journey Map of the final concept
The strategy and whole experience are mapped in a customer journey map, which shall give the client a comprehensive overview of the strategy. This prototype enables Leocor gGmbH to test with sports clubs.
Note: The results are intentionally blurred to protect the idea and ownership.
Storyboard
Storyboarding is another prototyping method, which illustrates how the strategy may work in practice. The storyboard visualizes the sports club member’s touchpoints. This type of method was chosen because there needed to be a part of an implementation in a sports club to evaluate the solution and elaborate on the procedure.
Storyboard of the final business strategy and concept
Conclusion
With this project and its resulting business blueprint, the sports club members will get creatively involved in the climate catastrophe we are facing, and through everyday actions, finally, when enough people get involved, the situation might have a chance of getting better.
This project includes a throughout business strategy, a strategy for acquiring customers, a strategy to keep and motivate sports club members for climate action, and a long-term strategy for the future.
For privacy and data protection reasons, only a brief overview and smaller insights of the process are given. If you are interested in the detailed research process and solution finding, contact me or my team members.