01 · ESPN Fantasy Football · Draft Client · 2024
On the clock.
Reimagining draft night for millions of fantasy players.
I led the UX direction for a major redesign of ESPN Fantasy Football's Draft Client, working alongside two product designers and closely partnering with Product, Research, and Engineering.
We weren't simply modernizing the interface. We were rethinking how fantasy managers understand the draft as it unfolds, from what just happened to what happens next.
- RBChristian McCaffrey
- WRCeeDee Lamb
- WRTyreek Hill
- 0:30
On the clock
- In 1
Team 5
- In 2
Team 6
- In 3
Team 7
- In 4
Team 8
- In 5
Team 9
- In 6
Team 10
- In 7
Team 1
- In 8
Team 2
- In 9
Team 3
- In 10
Team 4
- In 11
Team 5
- Role
- Design Lead / Product Designer
- Team
- 3 Product Designers + Product + Research + Engineering
- Timeline
- Early 2024 → Summer 2024
- Platforms
- Mobile · Tablet · Desktop
Draft night had changed. Our experience hadn't.
No visual Draft Board
Managers couldn't see the whole draft at a glance.
Weak awareness of upcoming picks
Hard to tell how close your turn was.
A dated experience
The draft room hadn't kept pace with the way people draft.
Mobile information pressure
Too much to process on a small screen, on a clock.
We didn't want to catch up. We wanted to rethink what an ESPN draft could be.
Scouting the competition.
Sleeper, Yahoo, NFL, CBS and FantasyPros — compared across the moments that decide a draft.
- Onboarding
- Draft order
- Roster visibility
- Player information
- Navigation
- Personalization
- Information density
The opportunity wasn't to build a prettier draft room. It was to build a smarter one.
Two questions. Two answers.
What just happened?
→ The Board
See the entire draft at a glance.
What happens next?
→ The Train
Stay oriented as picks happen and your turn approaches.
Try it — past, on the clock, upcoming
- RBChristian McCaffrey
- WRCeeDee Lamb
- WRTyreek Hill
- 0:30
On the clock
- In 1
Team 5
- In 2
Team 6
- In 3
Team 7
- In 4
Team 8
- In 5
Team 9
- In 6
Team 10
- In 7
Team 1
- In 8
Team 2
- In 9
Team 3
- In 10
Team 4
- In 11
Team 5
Good draft UX isn't only about showing information. It's about helping managers understand time.
The idea was simple. Making it feel simple wasn't.
The hardest part was deciding what not to show.
Early concepts tried to show too much. Through iteration, critique and internal testing with around 20 fantasy players, we simplified Train movement, re-centering, Board navigation, card states and the information shown at each moment.
What we simplified
- Train movement
- Re-centering
- Board navigation
- Card states
- Information shown at each moment
Less interface. More draft.
Feedback wasn't a checkpoint. It became part of the design loop.
Color couldn't just look good. It had to think.
A position-color system, a gray hierarchy, cards and tables, light and dark modes — color became part of the information architecture.
Color became data.
Three breakpoints. One draft.
We initially divided the work across mobile, tablet and desktop so the three designers could explore in parallel. That helped us move quickly, but it also exposed an important lesson: a pattern that worked beautifully on one breakpoint could fall apart on another.
We continually brought the work back together and redesigned interactions until they behaved consistently across the system.
The screens didn't need to be identical. They needed to feel familiar.
Consistency became a feature.
Draft night.
The redesigned Draft Client launched ahead of the 2024 Fantasy Football season. The new Draft Board gave managers a visual overview of the draft while the Draft Train helped them follow the live order as picks unfolded.
- 2024
- Shipped ahead of Fantasy Football season
- Multi-device
- Mobile · Tablet · Desktop
- Still in use
- Core Board + Train patterns remain in the product today
Then the internet got involved
Ship→Listen→Learn→Iterate
Designed to last beyond launch.
The people behind the pixels.
Bristol, Connecticut · May 2024
The best work happened between the screens.
The fun part
I get to use it.
I've played in ESPN Fantasy leagues outside of work with friends who had no connection to the project. There's something uniquely satisfying about sitting down for draft night, opening the product your team spent months designing, and actually using it.
“Yeah. I helped build this.”
Good pick.