Fueling Rip City energy with a real-time NBA playoffs experience
The Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2019 NBA Playoffs riding momentum, star power, and a fanbase that expects the digital experience to be just as dialed in as the on-court performance. With playoff traffic surging and content updating by the minute, the Blazers needed a centralized, real-time destination where fans could follow the series without hunting across platforms.
Problem
The Playoff Problem: a vast ocean of content with multiple homes.
During the playoffs, the Blazers’ digital ecosystem struggled to keep pace with the volume and velocity of live content. Fans were forced to jump between pages to follow the series, while editorial teams relied on manual updates that couldn’t scale during live games.
Game-day challenges of the past
Playoff news, media, and recaps were fragmented across multiple locations
Manual publishing caused delays during live moments
No single destination clearly communicated series progress or game status
During the most critical moments of the season, the experience felt slower than the game itself.
Not this time!
Process
By focusing on what experiences we had created to-date, I was able to utilize some known experiences to Frankenstein something together that was on-brand, functional and user-friendly. The solution would need to be able to adapt in real time, while remaining intuitive for fans and manageable for internal teams.
Approach
Identified opportunities to automate updates through APIs and JSON
Iterated on layouts and interaction patterns to support live data
Explored multiple concepts for a dynamic game-day bar that was placed on the homepage and would see thousands of unique visitors a day.
Throughout the process, design & development decisions prioritized data accuracy, speed, and resilience under playoff traffic.
Solution
Voila! A centralized hub that updates as fast as the action.
The dynamic Playoffs Hub powered by live data and automation was largely accomplished by integrating directly with NBA APIs/JSON and reducing manual data entry, the experience stayed current throughout every game of the series as the live score posted in-game, along with play announcements in the feed.
Delivering for the true RipCity experience
Live content updates driven by an NBA JSON API
Unique content tagging to connect posts directly to playoff data
A swipeable series overview for quick context
A dynamic gameday bar that evolved with game status
Each feature of the Playoffs Hub played a specific role in reducing friction and increasing engagement. Together, they created a cohesive experience that surfaced the right information at the right time without overwhelming the user.
Impact
Rip City was watching the game clock closer than ever, in real-time.
Visitors find info faster, engagement is up, and the school has a site they can brag about. Even tech-averse parents are happy—they can now register their kids without calling IT. Mission accomplished.
Engagement
+35%
more engagement during live playoff games
Increased Saturation
+27%
increase in post-game recap click-throughs
Session Time