Our Second Prototype Design & Feedback

A more in depth look at our second prototype and some of the feedback that we received on it:

Refining Our Location

During our first prototype focus groups, we received mixed feedback about which location students would most like to see a watch party held. One of our focus groups preferred Republic Square, where there would be more opportunity for students to bring or purchase alcoholic drinks. The other focus group, which consisted of a senior, a junior and a sophomore, did not think alcohol would be a big factor in their attendance. They preferred the Tower/South Mall area because it is on-campus, making it easily walkable, and they anticipated there would be mostly students in attendance. Republic Square, they argued, would attract more older adults and alumni than students.

We designed a second survey to discover which location the majority of students would prefer. The survey is linked below.

Over three-fourths of respondents said they were more likely to attend the Tower/South Mall watch party. The main reason cited for this choice was commute convenience, followed by the general public versus student-focused atmosphere.

South Mall Watch Party Prototype

Our prototype was designed to illustrate what a watch party at the South Mall would look like. We hoped to be able to put a design of a potential watch party at the South Mall in front of our focus groups in order to gauge their feedback on what they thought of the layout. We also wanted to learn what things people would want to see at a watch party, which ways would be most effective in marketing the watch party to students, and how likely they would be to attend and tell people about it.

Features and Activities:

Large projector screen to watch the game
Seating on the lawn: With the screen placed on the south end of the mall, the lawn is angled upward to create a natural slope for seating. Students will bring their own lawn chairs or blankets.
Sponsor and vendor booths: Food vendors, drinks (non-alcoholic), a Longhorn merch tent, carnival games and yard games will be set up near the base of the Tower/Main Building.
Longhorn pep band: The full band does not travel for away games, so a small group of pep band members will be at the watch party to play at certain times throughout the game (before kickoff, when UT scores and halftime).

Focus Group Feedback

We asked these questions in each of our stakeholder interviews:

What do you think of the layout and where we placed the big screen?
What tents/games would you like to see up by the tower?
What food would you want at the watch party?
Rank the things we are going to have at the watch party in order of importance to you.
Would you rather there be chairs or would you rather bring your own blanket?
Are there other features/activities you would like to see at a watch party on the South Mall?
How likely are you to show up to a UT event that was sent to your email?
1. Which method of marketing would most likely entice you to show up to a watch party? (email, flyer, social media post, spirit group marketing?)
How likely are you to recommend a watch party to your friends?
How likely are you to show up to this watch party? (I would go with friends, I would go alone, or I wouldn’t go at all)

Feedback Session 1: Kush Patel

Date: 11/20/2023

Location: Gym Basketball Court

This feedback session was conducted with Kush Patel. Patel is someone Tristan met and sees at the gym every now and then, and gave some thoughts during the initial research phase of our project. The project is relevant to Patel as he is a Texas alumnus and an avid watcher/supporter of Texas football.

We asked Patel to review our prototype and offer feedback both from his current point of view and as if he were a student who lives on or near campus. Patel said it would be hard to get him on campus for a watch party these days as he usually just watches the games at home or on his phone. He also cited getting to campus and parking as a deterrent to a watch party at the UT tower. However, if he were still a student and lived on or near campus, Patel said he would definitely go with friends to watch an away game. After learning about the features and location, Patel said having vendors for food and drinks would be a nice thing to have. Contrary to a healthy portion of our prior responses, Patel said the absence of alcohol wouldn’t be a great concern to him and his group of friends. Patel also liked the idea of having pep band members there. Patel did express concerns over having a good view of the game and being able to hear the audio from far away, depending on how many people were there. One suggestion Patel made was to have screens both on the steps of the tower and at the bottom of the lawn so people have more options to get close and view/hear the game.

Feedback Session 2:

Date: 11/27/2023

Location: Longhorns for Christ study room

This focus group was with Leo Cavazos and Isaiah Rodriguez, who Kristen met at an campus club meeting and who participated in our initial survey. Cavazos and Rodriguez both describe themselves as casual Longhorn football fans: they have attended and watched games as a part of an event or with a group of friends, but do not go out of their way to find football-related activities. Their insight was particularly helpful when discussing what marketing strategies may be most effective. Cavazos said he would be most influenced by physical flyers, while Rodriguez said social media was the best way to get his attention. Neither participant believed an email would convince them to attend (“If I see an email promotion from the University, I usually just delete it,” Cavazos said). However, they mentioned that simply seeing the set-up process or wandering by the event while it happened would get them to join and enjoy the party. Both participants said food was the most necessary element of the watch party (even ranking just above the game itself!). Cavazos said it would be a good idea to invite the food trucks already located on and near campus to the event. Rodriguez liked the idea of the food being mainly concession-style, with popcorn, cotton candy, and (most importantly for him) chili dogs.

Feedback Session 3:

Date: 11/27/2023

Location: The Mark Austin Apartments

Our last focus group was with Zach Tran. Tran is a friend of Baird and was a part of his focus group for our first prototype. This prototype relates to Tran because he is a junior, business major at UT. Tran is also an avid Longhorn football fan, who goes to every game and will be in attendance at the Big 12 Championship game. Attending a watch party is something Tran would be likely to do as a student, so getting his feedback on our prototype was valuable. In the interview we asked Tran to rate our watch party design and the location and he gave it a 7/10. He liked the location and the fact that it was in the middle of campus because he felt that more students would show up because of the proximity of it. Tran thought the idea of having food and other booths up top by the tower was a good way to do it, that way people would not be distracting those who are trying to watch the game. Alcohol was the main issue for Tran because he felt it may be a turn off for some students who would not show up if no alcohol was available. Despite the lack of alcohol, Tran believes that a decent amount of students would still turn up to a watch party at the South Mall because not every student cares about alcohol and many just want a fun place to watch the game with friends. Overall Tran’s feedback was helpful to us because it allowed us feedback from someone who saw our initial prototype and who has now seen our final design.

Take Our New Survey Here