User Interviews
QUESTIONS:
Do you play basketball?
Do you play pickup games, or do you play in a league?
Have you ever wanted to play basketball, but couldn’t because of some reason? If so, what are those reasons?
How do you contact players?
Do you have a hard time contacting players? Why?
Do you mind meeting new people to play with?
How far ahead do you schedule your pickup game?
What information do you want to know about the players?
What information do you want to know about the courts?
Are you willing to review other players?
Are you willing to review other courts?
Do you prefer a private group of people or public?
How important is the head count for you?
Do you want to get invitations to random pickup games?
What is the hardest part in setting up a pickup game?
What is the hardest part of joining a league?
Do you have anything to add?
Two interviews occurred after a pickup game and one after a basketball league game.
FINDINGS:
2/3 sends group text messages to friends
1/3 plays in a basketball league
3/3 plays pickup games, weekly
2/3 plays pickup games exclusively with friends because they’re not comfortable with strangers
1/3 joins a Facebook group and plays with regulars
3/3 has eased in contacting players but has a hard time coinciding with other players’ schedules
3/3 doesn’t mind meeting new people but wants to play in private most of the time
2/3 plans the pickup game the day of, or a week before—depending if it is a scheduled game where the basketball court must be rented
1/3 plans the pickup game a week before
Person 1 –wants to know about a player: height, weight, ethnicity, skill set, casual player or a pro, if he/she is a trash talker
Person 2—wants to know about a player: height, weight, skill set, if he/she has the same skill level as you if he/she plays in a league
Person 3—wants to know about a player: height, weight, skill set, who does his game resembles to, casual or pro, ethnicity, where he /she usually play.
Person 1 –wants to know about a court: location, floor space, floor type, covered or not, type of net and board, outside a “ghetto” area and current weather condition
Person 2 –wants to know about a court: location, restroom, benches, floor type, indoor or outdoor, hours opened, and security
Person 3 –wants to know about a court: location, security, admission requirements, indoor or outdoor, floor types, hours opened, parking.
3/3 wants to review players
3/3 wants to review courts
3/3 prefers a private group but wants an option of having a public group
3/3 wants to know how many people are coming
1/3 wants to get a random invitation to pickup games nearby
2/3 wants to get invitations only to people affiliated to them
3/3 have experienced, at one point, of craving to play basketball, but couldn’t because either they don’t have a basketball rim or because they don’t have anybody to play with.
What is the hardest part in setting up a pickup game?
Person 1—Scheduling with other players
Person 2 –Deciding a place to play with others
Person 3 –Finding another player to fill up a spot in the roster when someone cancels
Person 2—plays in a league called Ballerzone in Los Angeles, CA. It was hassle free for him as a player, but one pain point he noticed is that it was difficult for the organizers to collect admission payments from players.
Additional information: Players have rankings in the league, if you are too good, they have to kick you out. There is a comprehensive website where all the announcements and statistics are posted which the organizers pay for.
They want to have a quantitative rating system when reviewing other players.
Statistics like points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and averages are something they would like to see.
Playing a pickup basketball is pretty much easy, finding the right environment for you to play in is hard.
Would like to know about summer and training camps around the area to hone their skills.
If friends don’t have time for basketball, I would like to run with some regulars who want to play weekly.