Taking Golfers Further

SWEE, in collaboration with NineTwoThree, developed a companion iOS app for their golf stroke camera system, aimed at improving player experience while driving additional revenue for golf courses.

Taking Golfers Further

SWEE, in collaboration with NineTwoThree, developed a companion iOS app for their golf stroke camera system, aimed at improving player experience while driving additional revenue for golf courses.

Concept

The hardest part of learning golf is getting your swing down. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for golfers to watch videos or take online classes to improve their swings. The only current solution is to hire a coach or a trainer who can watch the golfers’ swings and teach them physically how to fix their mistakes. This solution is costly and keeps golf away from the vast majority of golfers or those interested in improving their game.
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SWEE wanted to offer golfers a simple way for self-improvement either through self-review or professional, affordable remote training. They created a system that can enhance the golfing experience for golfers while creating revenue opportunities for golf courses. Their team had the partnerships to sell their app through golf courses, but their current technology was clunky and error-prone. SWEE needed a better-performing app that could realize its mission of helping golfers improve their swings while giving golf courses an extra revenue stream.

Challenge

SWEE has two parts:
‍(1) cameras at every hole to capture a golfer’s swing, and (2) a companion app for golfers to download that will save a clip of the swing for review.

SWEE's existing iOS app was operational but needed substantial improvements. Their user experience was far from ideal for the caddy needing to set up the systems. The manual process of connecting the camera to Wi-Fi was cumbersome, consuming a significant amount of setup time that negatively impacted the app's usability.
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Additionally, we faced the task of streamlining the previously manual process of connecting the camera to Wi-Fi. When hardware has no displays and relies on LED lights to communicate its status, the process of learning these signals can be very confusing and aggravating for users. To top it off, the original app didn’t have consistent error messages, so caddies had no idea what they were doing wrong when they failed to connect the devices. These failings had become so insurmountable that the golf courses gave SWEE feedback that they wouldn’t continue using their system until they improved the user experience. NineTwoThree’s goal was to overhaul this process, elevating the user experience and increasing the system's overall efficiency. No more awkward standing around while struggling to set up the cameras!

Challenge

production

To gain a better understanding of the application, view the video below which provides a comprehensive demonstration of its features and functionalities.

Solution

NineTwoThree transformed the existing iOS app into a more user-friendly and efficient platform. The process included making manual tasks easier to manage and seamlessly integrating the mobile app with SWEE's camera system. Now caddies spend a fraction of the time setting up the cameras and the golfer can easily get videos of their swings for reviewing later.

As the NineTwoThree’s fourth Internet of Things (IoT) project, we already knew a lot about the pitfalls users face when trying to connect smart devices to wifi and their own mobile phones. As a world-class product and engineering design team, we are constantly reviewing smart devices, including smart humidifiers, televisions, assistants, speakers, and security systems. As a result, the NineTwoThree team incorporated best practices and learnings to design the mobile screens for setting up the cameras. To make the user experience as smooth as possible for caddies, our team added animations and step-by-step instructions to guide them through the process. We also added detailed error messages to help users identify and fix problems. Now caddies could better understand the different signals the cameras are giving them and can easily get back on track if they make a mistake during setup.

Impact

The collaboration led to SWEE’s relaunch with golf courses and resulted in a 304% increase in downloads from the Apple App Store. The app's user-friendly design created a more engaging and intuitive tool which made golf courses confident in the app again. They knew they could trust the app to give golfers an upgraded experience where they could receive videos of their swings for self or professional review. SWEE can now realize its dream of giving golf courses a new, innovative revenue stream!

By simplifying the initial setup for both employees and players, NineTwoThree’s mobile app brings a more comprehensive golfing experience to SWEE’s customers. Caddies no longer need to spend countless minutes setting up complex camera angles and systems, golfers can effectively work on their swing, and golf courses now have a service that allows them to sell the recorded sessions for review.

Get a glance at how the app was designed without having to download it by clicking “view prototype”.

Coming soon