Designing a User-Centered Web Experience for the Spa Girl Tri

Role

Designer and researcher leading a self-initiated redesign of the Spa Girl Tri digital experience.

Why this mattered

Spa Girl Tri drew more than 1,500 athletes per event and consistently sold out. It had a loyal community, but confusing digital touchpoints created anxiety and friction for first-timers. Improving the website was essential for clarity, confidence, and conversion.

The Opportunity

Spa Girl Tri is a women’s-only triathlon hosted at upscale resorts in San Antonio and Bastrop, offering a blend of athletic challenge and vacation atmosphere. With repeated questions at athlete check-in, it became clear that the digital experience did not match the event quality.
To understand the root problems, I interviewed 14 athletes during the 2019 San Antonio race and uncovered consistent pain points that were limiting clarity, confidence, and registration readiness.

The Challenge

The existing website created barriers for athletes due to confusing navigation, unclear logistics, and a lack of first-timer guidance.
Additional constraints included limited familiarity with WordPress, a contract developer responsible for the site’s framework, and a strongly recommended full rebuild due to the age of the platform.
Because this was a self-initiated UX effort, organizer buy-in was essential. Resource limitations meant relying on free tools and lightweight research methods.

Strategy

  • Ground design decisions in athlete insights: Conducted race-day interviews, synthesized findings, and defined a clear Problem Statement.

  • Create guided HMW statements: Developed statements focused on navigation clarity, logistics transparency, first-timer support, and brand differentiation.

  • Secure organizer buy-in: Presented insights and recommendations to align everyone on the purpose and value of the redesign.

  • Use Design Thinking to structure progress: Applied a step-by-step framework to turn raw feedback into organized insights and actionable design decisions.

  • Balance information clarity with usability: Prioritized information architecture to present robust content in a clear and accessible way.

  • Validate through usability testing: Developed a clickable prototype and tested it with 10 athletes completing 8 tasks to verify clarity, confidence, and conversion readiness.

Key Contributions

  • Identified the digital experience problem through athlete observation and initiated the research without prompting from leadership.

  • Led interviews with 14 athletes, defined themes, and created the Problem Statement and How Might We statements that guided the redesign.

  • Facilitated a team brainstorming session to generate ideas and build shared ownership of the solution.

  • Created user flows, low-fidelity explorations, and high-fidelity designs focused on clarity, confidence, and first-timer support.

  • Rebuilt the information architecture to organize content logically and reduce cognitive load.

  • Designed updated home, detail, and first-timer pages, each aligned with the Spa Girl Tri brand and athlete needs.

  • Partnered with a contract developer to ensure feasibility and guide updates within WordPress constraints.

  • Conducted usability testing with 10 athletes and synthesized feedback to update the design.

  • Provided the organizers with implementation-ready designs before the pandemic paused event schedules.

Outcome

Usability testing delivered strong validation that the redesigned experience addressed key athlete needs.

  • Ten out of ten athletes said the redesign made Spa Girl Tri feel more professional and trustworthy.

  • Race breakdown and downloadable schedules were praised by all athletes, with requests to expand them to the full weekend.

  • The First Timer’s page was highly impactful, with ten out of ten athletes finding it supportive and motivating.

  • Clear buttons, up-front pricing, and direct registration links reduced confusion and increased confidence.

  • Although the 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic, the organizers received complete, implementation-ready designs for future use.

What Was Learned

  • Independent learning fuels growth.
    This project pushed me to teach myself the Design Thinking framework, conduct interviews, synthesize insights, and translate them into clear design decisions without formal UX training or resources.

  • User-centered improvements make a measurable difference.
    Research revealed that confusing navigation, unclear logistics, and first-timer anxiety were key barriers. By listening to athletes and validating designs through testing, I addressed the problems with clarity and purpose.

  • Resource constraints require creativity.
    Working with free tools, a legacy WordPress setup, and limited support required flexibility and collaboration with the developer to maintain feasibility.

  • Information architecture is essential for high-information experiences.
    Balancing athlete desire for detail with usability required careful organization and thoughtful presentation.

  • Buy-in matters even for self-initiated work.
    Because this project started from personal initiative, strong communication and alignment with organizers was necessary to ensure the work moved forward and provided value.