EFL Rewards

Kick off

The EFL approached us in 2018 looking to engage fans across all 72 clubs in their leagues — unique digital experiences and rewards that would lift brand perception across the UK. I ran initial discovery workshops covering Crazy 8s, a competitive market review, user personas, How-Might-We sessions, and matchday empathy mapping.

Early key insights

I ran a series of discovery interviews alongside the team to build a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities — but more importantly, the general sentiment towards the EFL and how we could engage digitally with a diverse fan base.

Social Listening & Discovery Interviews

A pre-match social listening sweep — match lineups, in-match reactions, post-match discussions, stadium travel chatter — gave us the language fans actually used. We then ran in-person interviews and focus groups with fans across the league to pinpoint the moments the app could drive engagement without hindering the matchday experience fans came for.

“…Johnson has to start today... and I'm predicitng 2-1 to Norwich…”

“…I think I've been to 50 away games in the last two seasons”

“…I pick my dad up every matchday 3 hours before kick-off and then we get the train into Nottingham”

Anchoring the app on the stadium moment

Everything had to defend its place around one matchday moment: a location-validated stadium check-in that earned fans rewards — tickets, experiences, signed merchandise — through our partner brands. Making this the spine of the product is the call I pushed hardest for in early playbacks. We rewarded fans for showing up to support their team.

Forming retention with the Hook Model

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Push notifications nudged fans on the days they were heading to a match — a kick-off countdown, an opposition preview, and a reminder to check in once they reached the stadium.

A location-validated check-in at the turnstile — one small, deliberate act we asked of every fan on every matchday, easy to do in the flow of arriving at the ground.

Each check-in spun a custom prize wheel — tickets, signed merchandise, and money-can't-buy experiences from EFL partners. The unpredictability is what kept fans coming back.

Attendance streaks, goals seen, away-day miles and stadium milestones all stacked up over time — a personal record of being a fan that people wanted to keep growing.

Three months of data, then a focused sprint

Three months after launch I ran a data workshop with PM and engineering to analyse retention, funnel drop-off, and error codes. I then focused the next sprint on optimising the prize journeys — sharper location services, tighter content design, and a cleaner red route from check-in to reward. When COVID closed stadiums and football paused, the dashboard flat-lined. The brief became different: when matches resumed and fans returned, the app had to rebuild on the momentum of the previous seasons — not start over. The optimisations from that sprint did the heavy lifting, and engagement pushed past its pre-COVID peaks within weeks of the new fixtures kicking off.

Personalising for every fan

Club tribalism was baked into the UI. I designed a system that used colours, crests, and language per club so every fan felt like they were using their club's app, not a neutral EFL shell.

What I'd do differently

COVID hit in our third season, and we had to pivot to a stadium check-in experience that fans could use from home. It was a tough pivot to make, and we had to move fast to keep the fan experience engaging. We struggled due to the lack of prize redemption that was the USP of the Hook Model we'd built. If time allowed I would have loved to have built a more robust digital wallet for fans to store their rewards and use them when stadiums reopened.