Sports Experience on Google Search
Sports Experience on Google Search
Sports Experience on Google Search
A personalized FIFA World Cup experience on Google Discover and a reusable framework for sports events at scale.
Company:
Role:
UX Design, research
UX Design, research
Google Discover helps people explore content from across the web based on their interests, at massive global scale. I designed a dedicated, scalable sports experience for Discover.
Google Discover helps people explore content from across the web based on their interests, at massive global scale. I designed a dedicated, scalable sports experience for Discover.
Google Discover is a personalized newsfeed reaching millions of users via the Android minus-1 screen and Google App. For the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, a monumental event drawing over 3 billion viewers, I led the product design to integrate a dedicated sports experience within Discover’s Big Events vertical. The goal was to build a dynamic, scalable user journey that seamlessly served everyone from indifferent scrollers to die-hard soccer fans.
Google Discover is a personalized newsfeed reaching millions of users via the Android minus-1 screen and Google App. For the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, a monumental event drawing over 3 billion viewers, I led the product design to integrate a dedicated sports experience within Discover’s Big Events vertical. The goal was to build a dynamic, scalable user journey that seamlessly served everyone from indifferent scrollers to die-hard soccer fans.
T H E C H A L L E N G E
Our challenge was unifying a fragmented fan experience
We kicked off in August 2022 with the World Cup in November and only one real validation window before launch. The constraints pushed the work toward systems, not one-off features.
01
Audience Fragmentation
Catering to a massively diverse user base, spanning those who actively avoid sports to loyalists tracking every live goal.
02
Scalability
Designing a robust framework that wouldn’t just serve a month-long soccer tournament, but could adapt to future sports with entirely different formats.
03
Strict Constraints
Navigating tight launch timelines with limited opportunities for live, large-scale event testing.
“
How might we create a personalized sports experience on Discover that serves everyone from non-fans to hardcore enthusiasts, all while scaling beyond a single tournament?
U S E R R E S E A R C H
Uncovering fan behaviors
Three months is enough time to build the wrong thing very thoroughly. We spent the front of the schedule on research instead, and every later decision about content density traced back to it.
Research Journey
From search intents to five validated personas.
01
Discovery & Intents
We initiated broad user surveys to gauge sports interest, clustering the data into actionable behavioral intents.
02
Persona Spectrum
This data drove the creation of five distinct personas ranging a non-fan interested only in pop-culture crossovers to a hardcore soccer loyalist demanding live stats.
03
Content Saturation Mapping
I developed a gradient saturation chart to align cross-functional stakeholders on how we would dynamically scale content density based on a user’s persona.
04
Validation
We validated our user journey mapping and concept prototypes through 25 targeted user interviews.
P E R S O N A S
Defining the audience: 5 distinct fan personas
Two factors; interest level and geographic context, together predicted how much sports content each user should see. From Amara (skips sports entirely) to Emilio (wants everything in real time), the model gave us predictive power for content density without treating “sports fans” as one generic group.
Amara
Non-Fan,
Non-competing Country
Skips sports entirely
Ben
Non-Sports Fan,
Competing Country
National team only
Claes
Sports Fan,
Non-Competing Country
Quick daily recaps
Dana
Sports Fan,
Competing Country
Team progress + context
Emilio
Hardcore Soccer Fan
Any Country
Everything, real-time
Less sports content
More sports content
Key insight
Interest level + geographic context = predictive power for content density
D E S I G N E X P A N S I O N
Designing the solution: A modular, scalable UI framework
I established a baseline experience for all users while layering in complex features for highly engaged segments. To ensure the UI could scale across future events, I built these interfaces using flexible layout design tokens, ensuring typography, spacing, and card structures remained consistent yet adaptable.
The baseline (for casual & non-fans)
An optimized Events List Pack featuring high-level, summary-style content. For casual users in non-competing countries, we provided lightweight Daily Recaps so they could stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
3:14
Brazil vs Argentina: Lionel Messi returns to hand Albiceleste 1-0 win
Peter McKinnon
YouTube · 3d
France vs Croatia Highlights: France Crowned Champions
Peter McKinnon
YouTube · 3d
Megan Rapinoe’s Greatest Hits so far
ESPN · 2h
More on FIFA World Cup™
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
2:57
FIFA World Cup 2022:
Switzerland vs Brazil highlight...
The follower (for sports fans)
A dedicated Homestack and Match Cards implicitly tailored to their local country’s team, alongside dynamic Group Tables and Knockout Brackets that updated as the tournament progressed.
1.2%
GOOG
49 AQI
Near you • 8m
15 min read
Sterling’s penalty: The England vs Denmark controversies explained
CNN · 2h
FIFA 2022 – Semi-final
ENG
2
Full Time
Yesterday
1
DEN
England seals narrow wins in Qatar WC
Washington Post · 2h
The fanatic (for hardcore sport fans)
A deeply immersive ecosystem featuring full-width widgets, multiple simultaneous match cards, detailed athlete statistic cards, curated Twitter packs, and shareable meme formats.
Group Table: Group A
Country
GP
P
GD
1
Qatar
8
3
+5
2
Ecuador
8
3
+5
3
Senegal
8
3
+5
4
Netherlands
8
3
+5
More on FIFA World Cup™
Semi-Finals Schedule
SWI
6
USA
2
SWI
6
BRZ
6
POR
2
TBD
—
15 min read
Lionel Messi misses shortlist for Ligue player of the season award
CNN · 2h
Lionel Messi
PSG-Forward #30
PSG vs Lyon, Full Time – Yesterday
72 min, 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots
FIFA 2022 – Semi-final
ARG
2
Full Time
Yesterday
1
BRZ
Trending Memes
Twitter on FIFA World Cup ‘22™
Polygon
@polygonUSA
🚨 Gareth Southgate has shared his tenure as England manager could end after the World Cup should his team lose in Qatar.
Twitter · 35m
Jennifer Gray
@jengray
RIDICULOUS GOAL BY LIONEL MESSI! A first time chip over the goalkeeper and it's 3-0 Argentina! 🇦🇷
Twitter · 2h
Leo Finnegan-Burke
@leofinnb
Haaland is a rapper, Ronaldo is an influencer, and Mbappe is a general in the French army.
Twitter · 3h
More on Twitter
W R A P
Impact & outcomes
The launch fundamentally elevated how users consume live events on Discover. The tailored experience drove a significant increase in both top-line user interaction and Discover-originated search queries during the tournament. More importantly, the scalable design framework, built on adaptable layout components and precise user routing, has since been successfully deployed across other major global sporting events, proving its long-term viability for Google.
Let’s Talk
I'm always up for thoughtful conversations about design, systems, and building things that last. Whether you're working through a hard problem, thinking about what design looks like in practice, or just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you.
Handcrafted and coded by Natasha Tarapore. © 2026
Natasha Tarapore
Product designer based in the Bay Area
Enter Password
T H E C H A L L E N G E
Our challenge was unifying a fragmented fan experience
We kicked off in August 2022 with the World Cup in November and only one real validation window before launch. The constraints pushed the work toward systems, not one-off features.
01
Audience Fragmentation
Catering to a massively diverse user base, spanning those who actively avoid sports to loyalists tracking every live goal.
02
Scalability
Designing a robust framework that wouldn’t just serve a month-long soccer tournament, but could adapt to future sports with entirely different formats.
03
Strict Constraints
Navigating tight launch timelines with limited opportunities for live, large-scale event testing.
“
How might we give someone the right amount of sport, from none at all to every goal, using components that outlive the tournament?
U S E R R E S E A R C H
Uncovering fan behaviours: Key research insights
Uncovering fan behaviors
Three months is enough time to build the wrong thing very thoroughly. We spent the front of the schedule on research instead, and every later decision about content density traced back to it.
Research Journey
01
Discovery & Intents
We initiated broad user surveys to gauge sports interest, clustering the data into actionable behavioral intents.
02
Persona Spectrum
This data drove the creation of five distinct personas ranging a non-fan interested only in pop-culture crossovers to a hardcore soccer loyalist demanding live stats.
03
Content Saturation Mapping
I developed a gradient saturation chart to align cross-functional stakeholders on how we would dynamically scale content density based on a user’s persona.
04
Validation
We validated our user journey mapping and concept prototypes through 25 targeted user interviews.
P E R S O N A S
Defining the audience: 5 distinct fan personas
Two factors; interest level and geographic context, together predicted how much sports content each user should see. From Amara (skips sports entirely) to Emilio (wants everything in real time), the model gave us predictive power for content density without treating “sports fans” as one generic group.
Amara
Amara
Amara
Non-Fan,
Non-competing Country
Non-Fan,
Non-competing Country
Skips sports entirely
Skips sports entirely
Skips sports entirely
Ben
Ben
Ben
Non-Sports Fan,
Competing Country
Non-Sports Fan,
Competing Country
National team only
National team only
National team only
Claes
Claes
Claes
Sports Fan,
Non-Competing Country
Sports Fan,
Non-Competing Country
Quick daily recaps
Quick daily recaps
Quick daily recaps
Dana
Dana
Dana
Sports Fan,
Competing Country
Sports Fan,
Competing Country
Team progress + context
Team progress + context
Team progress + context
Emilio
Emilio
Emilio
Hardcore Soccer Fan
Any Country
Hardcore Soccer Fan
Any Country
Everything, real-time
Everything, real-time
Everything, real-time
Less sports content
More sports content
LEAST TO MOST SPORTS CONTENT ↓
Key insight
Interest level + geographic context = predictive power for content density
D E S I G N E X P A N S I O N
Designing the solution: A modular, scalable UI framework
I established a baseline experience for all users while layering in complex features for highly engaged segments. To ensure the UI could scale across future events, I built these interfaces using flexible layout design tokens, ensuring typography, spacing, and card structures remained consistent yet adaptable.
The baseline (for casual & non-fans)
An optimized Events List Pack featuring high-level, summary-style content. For casual users in non-competing countries, we provided lightweight Daily Recaps so they could stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
3:14
Brazil vs Argentina: Lionel Messi returns to hand Albiceleste 1-0 win
Peter McKinnon
YouTube · 3d
France vs Croatia Highlights: France Crowned Champions
Peter McKinnon
YouTube · 3d
Megan Rapinoe’s Greatest Hits so far
ESPN · 2h
More on FIFA World Cup™
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
2:57
FIFA World Cup 2022:
Switzerland vs Brazil highlight...
The follower (for sports fans)
A dedicated Homestack and Match Cards implicitly tailored to their local country’s team, alongside dynamic Group Tables and Knockout Brackets that updated as the tournament progressed.
1.2%
GOOG
49 AQI
Near you • 8m
15 min read
Sterling’s penalty: The England vs Denmark controversies explained
CNN · 2h
FIFA 2022 – Semi-final
ENG
2
Full Time
Yesterday
1
DEN
England seals narrow wins in Qatar WC
Washington Post · 2h
The fanatic (for hardcore sport fans)
Early on, fans need standings and advancement scenarios. Later, attention shifts to the bracket—who plays whom, and the path to the final. Group tables appear more often as stakes rise; knockout cards update as matches conclude so Discover stays the source of truth for progress.
Semi-Finals Schedule
SWI
6
USA
2
SWI
6
BRZ
6
POR
2
TBD
—
More on FIFA World Cup™
Group Table: Group A
Country
GP
P
GD
1
Qatar
8
3
+5
2
Ecuador
8
3
+5
3
Senegal
8
3
+5
4
Netherlands
8
3
+5
More on FIFA World Cup™
15 min read
15 min read
Lionel Messi misses shortlist for Ligue player of the season award
CNN · 2h
Lionel Messi
PSG-Forward #30
PSG vs Lyon, Full Time – Yesterday
72 min, 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots
FIFA 2022 – Semi-final
ARG
2
Full Time
Yesterday
1
BRZ
Trending Memes
W R A P
Impact & outcomes
The launch fundamentally elevated how users consume live events on Discover. The tailored experience drove a significant increase in both top-line user interaction and Discover-originated search queries during the tournament. More importantly, the scalable design framework, built on adaptable layout components and precise user routing, has since been successfully deployed across other major global sporting events, proving its long-term viability for Google.
Let’s Talk
I'm always up for thoughtful conversations about design, systems, and building things that last. Whether you're working through a hard problem, thinking about what design looks like in practice, or just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you.
Natasha Tarapore
Product Designer
Bay Area
Handcrafted and coded by Natasha Tarapore. © 2026
Let’s Talk
I'm always up for thoughtful conversations about design, systems, and building things that last. Whether you're working through a hard problem, thinking about what design looks like in practice, or just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you.
Natasha Tarapore
Product Designer
Bay Area
Handcrafted and coded by Natasha Tarapore. © 2026
Let’s Talk
I'm always up for thoughtful conversations about design, systems, and building things that last. Whether you're working through a hard problem, thinking about what design looks like in practice, or just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you.
Natasha Tarapore
Product designer based in the Bay Area
Handcrafted and coded by Natasha Tarapore. © 2026