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Starboard Portal
As the governing body for the sport, US Sailing guides local programs on operational policy, offers structured education, and promotes partnering brands. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were suddenly cut off from their primary means of fulfilling these duties: in-person events. The solution that followed was designed and launched in two weeks. Tailoring content strategy based on website usage data, allowed the organization to increase annual impressions of industry leadership content by 350x in seven months.
My Role

UX Research Data Analysis Data Synthesis

Deliverables

MVP Website Weekly KPI Analysis Weekly Data Synthesis

Timeline

Implementing Data Tracking: 1 Week Active Reporting: 7 Months Product Lifetime: 9 Months

Problem:

It’s March 2020. US Sailing just launched a digital content streaming website in response to COVID restrictions changing the sailing community’s needs. 

  • Programs need sailing-specific advice on how to operate next summer within CDC guidance. 
  • Sailors stuck at home are bored
  • Parents are desperate for entertainment
  • Some of US Sailing’s revenue streams (in-person symposiums, courses, and races) are on indefinite hold
  • Sponsorship fulfillment is no longer possible as prescribed. 
Are we sure the product meets those needs?

A quantatative usability study was conducted to validate the question above, maintain user engagement, and optimize content accordingly. 

Leveraging Quantitative Data for User Behavior Insights

Custom Automated Usage Data Report

YouTube doesn’t allow customizing data exports, especially to the level needed to isolate Starboard Portal content from views on all other US Sailing videos. 

So, I learned some basic coding skills to create a custom data analysis program that allowed me to assess KPIs and identify patterns in user behavior. Weekly updates took under 15 minutes, saving hours that it would have taken to isolate the data manually.

Script from the R Studio program I used to isolate and sort Starboard Portal usage data from all other US Sailing video usage data.

Weekly viewership data sorted by video and KPI provided insight on what type of users watched in live and recorded formats.

The summary page showed week-over-week comparison of all Starboard Portal content and page performance.

Web Traffic Analysis

I leveraged Google Analytics to monitor page views and time spent on the page to determine performance relative to other pages.

User Acquisition Channel Analysis

Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Agorapulse were used to track all promotions uniquely and evaluate user acquisition channels (web, e-mail, social & search).

Weekly dashboards summarized all user-centered insights, providing clear recommendations on content strategy and performance updates for leadership (CMO, CEO & Board of Directors).

Impact 

MVP was designed, developed, and live in under two weeks, allowing US Sailing to give its community much-needed guidance, entertainment, and monetization opportunities.

During the product’s seven-month active lifetime, it delivered over 150 unique pieces of original content, including 110+ live streams.

Validating user preferences to offer strategic content digitally increased annual impressions of similar content by 350x

Reflecting on the Confidence Data Provides

Concrete, quantitative usage data through the product’s entire lifecycle made it undeniably clear when user engagement dwindled drastically as COVID restrictions were lifted

Admittedly, it wasn’t easy convincing leadership to sunset the product. They fell in love with the solution, not the problem. However, the data combined with a surge of back-logged demand for in-person courses made us confident when recommending that staff hours shift away from supporting the product to focus on executing in-person events again. 

View Live Product

Team

Peter Glass, CMO

Jake Fish, E-mail & Web Communications

Josh Toso, Partnership Activation

Bryan Donovan, Web Development

Belle Strachan, User Acqisition Tracking & Graphics

Robin Dale, Social Promotions

Jon Graham, Graphic Designer

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