// Case study
Tournament Guru
A one-stop shop that helps coaches and parents choose the right youth tournament — with verified reviews from teams who actually played.
Youth tournaments are chosen by word of mouth and glossy flyers. Teams pay hundreds of dollars in fees plus travel, and only find out on the field whether the event was well run. Tournament Guru brings listings, honest reviews and registration into one place.
Design process
From the questions coaches ask before signing up to a clickable end-to-end prototype.
How coaches and parents pick events today, and where they get burned.
What makes events comparable: age, level, format, surface, price, reviews.
Search → compare → check details → register, plus host and review paths.
Catalog, event page, sign-in and a consistent component set.
A clickable web prototype with realistic data for validation.
Problems
Choosing a tournament is a costly bet: a full weekend, team fees and travel — made on incomplete and biased information.
No trustworthy reviews — information comes from organizers’ own marketing and word of mouth.
Key details are scattered: schedule, venue, fees and level live in PDFs, emails and social posts.
Events are hard to compare by age group, level, format and budget across regions.
Costs and availability surface too late — fees, extra charges and remaining spots aren’t clear upfront.
Solutions
Make the decision before signing up: compare events on facts and on the experience of teams who were there.
Verified reviews from coaches, directors and parents who attended — with ratings for field quality, organization, competition, communication and value.
Search with filters by dates, age, gender, level, format and region, a map view and recommendations based on past registrations.
One event page with the essentials: schedule by day, what’s included, venue logistics — airport, hotels, parking — and the host’s track record.
Transparent registration: team fee, platform fee and total upfront, “spots left” signals, and host confirmation before any charge.
User flow
The core path a coach takes from first visit to a registered team.
Coach, parent or organizer
Filters · map · recommended
Verified reviews · ratings
Schedule · venue · what’s included
Transparent fees
Design system
A sporty display face for energy, a neutral UI font for dense listings, and a calm slate palette where red is reserved for urgency.
UI design
From the live product: search with filters and a map, an event page built for the final decision — details, pricing, location and host — and verified reviews right in the listing.
Results that matter.
A decision coaches can make on facts: honest reviews from teams who played, events that are easy to compare, and costs that are clear before anyone pays.
Let’s talk.
Tell me about the role or project — I reply within a day.