How can podcast development & content support understanding your users?

Company: Coordinate Sport: SaaS Product Strategy

Project: The Drive Phase Podcast

Research Method: Deep-dive interviews with founders and directors in the activities sector (e.g., Max Webb, Founder of football programs).

Source: Coordinate Sport Podcast

The Problem: The activities sector (holiday clubs, sports programs for ages 3–18) often struggles with the perception of unprofessionalisation, whether it was the perception of coaches or their position as childcare providers and the benefit of physical education to the economy and for wellbeing.

The User Research: I conducted long-form interviews with sector leaders to map out their “drive phase”—the growth period where businesses scale. These acted as user interviews to understand the specific logistical hurdles (registers, safeguarding, and scheduling) that a SaaS product needs to solve.

Insights & Solution: The research uncovered a need for specialised management tools that go beyond generic administration. I translated these interview insights into copy and content that positioned the SaaS product as a direct solution to the sector’s professional demands.

Running a business in the activities sector—managing everything from holiday clubs and after-school programs to weekend sports for children aged 3 to 18—is a complex logistical challenge. Yet, many SaaS products designed for this space fail because they don’t speak the same language as the people on the ground.

At Coordinate Sport, I led a comprehensive copy, content, and design review to ensure our platform was providing the clear, intuitive pathways these business owners actually needed.

The Challenge: Jargon vs. Reality

The activities sector is a highly professional industry with strict safeguarding and organisational requirements. However, generic SaaS terminology often obscures the product’s value. I found that potential users were struggling to see how a “digital management tool” translated to their daily reality of managing registers, staff-to-child ratios, and school-ground logistics.

The Strategy: A Design and Language Audit

I approached the review by putting myself in the shoes of a program coordinator. My process focused on three key areas:

• Terminology Alignment: I replaced abstract corporate “feature-speak” with the specific language of the sector. Instead of just talking about “data management,” we focused on “easier ways to outline what the activities sector needed” to organise their businesses effectively.
• Streamlining the User Journey: I reviewed the design to identify where content was overwhelming the user. By simplifying the interface, we made it easier for managers to navigate their most frequent tasks—like coordinating multi-site holiday programs.
• Demonstrating Professionalism: We used long and short-form content to disprove myths about the sector, positioning it as the highly professionalised industry it is.

The Impact: Clarity for the Customer

By aligning our copy and design with the actual workflows of activity providers, we transformed the product from a “nice-to-have” tool into an essential business partner. The result was a platform that not only managed logistics but also validated the professional standards of the entire activities sector.