The Ultimate Test

It was a hot, sunny Thursday morning — not a cloud in sight. The smell of sunscreen hung in the air. The music pounded, shaking the ground. Hundreds of parents, friends, and fans filtered onto the sideline, anxiously awaiting the players to take the field.

It wasn’t a normal week in Beaverton, Oregon. The Nike Headquarters campus was packed with out-of-towners for The Opening. In its fifth year, Nike hosted a four-day event of com­pe­ti­tions for the top 166 high school football players across America, including Nike Elite 7on7, Nike Elite Linemen, and the Nike Football Rating National Championship. The prize? Bragging rights.

Hudl’s football squad had the opportunity to spend the week testing our newest product — Hudl Sideline. Our main testing event was the Nike Elite 7on7. There were six teams competing for the title — Alpha Pro, Fly Rush, Hyper Cool, Lunarbeast, Mach Speed, and Superbad — each led by several football greats. The experience was surreal. It was hard to believe we were surrounded by so much talent. Even more exciting, our team saw first-hand how valuable the sideline replay product that we built can be.

At first, some teams seemed hesitant to give it a try, but quickly changed their tune when they saw just how much they could learn from this exceptional product.

“Give me the Hudl Pad,” one coach called out. ​“I want to see that last play.”

Coaches sat with their players, metic­u­lous­ly pointing out a misstep or a blown coverage. Athletes gathered together and critiqued each other’s form and positioning. By the end of the first day, almost every coach had their athletes gathered around the iPad to go over plays from the last drive

We had all chosen one team to help throughout the competition. I ended up with the neon yellow team, Mach Speed (which just so happened to match my sneakers perfectly). I spent the entire competition on the sideline at their games, emphat­i­cal­ly handing them the iPad after every drive. As minutes passed, I found myself growing more and more committed to their success. When they were excited, I was excited. When they were upset, I was upset. I wanted my boys in yellow to win it all.

I’ve watched users test my products before. Why was this time different? This was more than an average testing opportunity; it was the ultimate testing opportunity. There were no organized user tests or stuffy conference rooms. We were right there with the team — play by play, in the center of the action. In those two days, I became part of their team. The coaches and athletes recognized me and knew where to go if they needed to watch a replay. The players sought us out to see what they had missed on that last play. It was more than an hour long meeting of questions and answers. It was apparent that our product had become a necessary part of the coaches teaching technique.

At 4 p.m. on the last day of competition, my team had made it to the finals. I stood by their side — iPad in hand — prepared to pass it off to anyone ready to watch. The team started off strong, but couldn’t keep up with their opponent. Mach Speed couldn’t clinch a victory, but I knew that what we had built helped make them better players. As the competition came to an end, I had such a sense of pride in the product that our team had built. We provided value. We helped them succeed.

Originally posted on Medium.