Redefining the FC Barcelona membership experience before, during, and after the game
Reimagining how members engage with the club across the full match-day journey, from pre-game to post-game.
- Client
- FC Barcelona & Hi Experience (Design Agency)
- Role
- Product Designer
- Focus
- Product Strategy · UX Design · Customer Journey
- Industry
- Sports
- Product
- App
Overview
While collaborating with FC Barcelona on a separate initiative, we had the opportunity to closely analyze the club's existing members app. Although redesigning the app wasn't part of the original brief, we identified an opportunity to rethink how it could better support members throughout their relationship with the club.
Instead of proposing isolated improvements, we created a conceptual vision for a future membership experience, one that extended beyond ticket management to support fans before, during, and after every game.
My role
As part of the Product Design team at Hi Experience, I collaborated with FC Barcelona on defining a future vision for the Members App. My contributions included reviewing the existing experience, benchmarking comparable products, shaping the customer journey, and designing key parts of the final concept and high-fidelity UI.
Research insights
Rather than validating assumptions, the research helped us uncover the biggest gaps in the existing experience and identify where the app could create more value for members. These findings served as the foundation for the product concept:
- — The app was primarily perceived as a ticket management tool rather than a membership experience.
- — Members struggled to discover features and complete common tasks.
- — There was little incentive to engage with the app outside of matchdays.
- — The emotional connection between the club and its members was largely absent from the digital experience.
Benchmark: learning from the best
We analyzed apps from leading sports organizations and digital membership platforms to understand how they increased engagement, rewarded loyalty, and extended the experience beyond the stadium.
The benchmark helped identify patterns that informed our product vision while revealing opportunities unique to FC Barcelona.
The concept: an experience beyond ticket management
The research revealed that the Members App had the potential to become much more than a tool for managing tickets. Our concept reimagined it as a digital companion that supports members throughout their relationship with the club, creating value before, during, and after every game.
By organizing the experience around the matchday journey, we introduced new opportunities to increase engagement, strengthen loyalty, and make the app a central touchpoint for FC Barcelona members.
Before the game
Help members prepare for matchday by simplifying ticket management, connecting them with their network, and encouraging engagement through personalized content, rewards, and club services.
During the game
Support members while they're at the stadium with seamless access, contextual information, food and merchandise services, and experiences that complement the live event.
After the game
Extend the relationship beyond the final whistle through post-game content, loyalty features, wallet management, and personalized experiences that encourage members to keep engaging with the club.
Key takeaways
This project reinforced that the most valuable opportunities don't always come from the original request. By stepping back and understanding the broader member journey, we were able to explore how the app could become a central touchpoint in the relationship between FC Barcelona and its members.
It also highlighted the value of combining research, benchmarking, customer journey thinking, and visual design to communicate a compelling product vision.