Huddl. was the culminating task of my Introduction to User Experience design course. Over the span of two months, my team of five worked to develop a solution to reclaim the social experiences people had lost to quarantine.
How might we watch professional sports together in a safe and virtual environment?
After enduring the pandemic for nearly a year, being a sports fan was becoming a little stale. Even though we had post-game stats and fantasy leagues, there was nothing to fill the gap that watching sports together left behind. Even though games were being broadcast, what was the point if you couldn’t get rowdy with your friends after watching a buzzer-beater shot?
This was a sentiment that we found was reflected worldwide; USA Today reports that ratings for the Stanley Cup went down 61% from last year, averaging a measly 2.1 million viewers. That sparked a question in our heads: “How might we watch professional sports together in a safe and virtual environment?” We knew we had to try, so we began by doing some research.