Bringing Clarity and Confidence to Coach Experiences
Supporting millions of first-time interactions through thoughtful UX, steady delivery, and human care
My Role: Design Producer · UX & Operations Partner
Context: Digital platform · nationwide user base · high-stakes first impressions
Focus: Trust, clarity, momentum
The Starting Point
For many coaches, their first interaction with USA Basketball wasn’t a game, a clinic, or a conference, it was a digital platform.
The Licensing & Coaching Portal handled everything from registration and renewals to payments, background screening, and user profiles. It was essential infrastructure, but the experience was complex and often confusing. When something went wrong, frustration showed up quickly, and that frustration landed directly with the team.
This wasn’t just a UX problem.
It was a trust problem.
For most users, I was the organization, the first and often only human point of contact.
My Role in the Work
I operated at the intersection of UX, customer experience, and delivery, acting as both an advocate for users and a steady partner to internal teams and vendors.
My role wasn’t to redesign everything overnight.
It was to bring clarity, confidence, and care into an experience that mattered deeply to the people using it.
I owned the experience end to end:
Listening to users
Translating pain points into actionable insights
Partnering with technical teams to prioritize improvements
Representing the organization with empathy and consistency
What I Did
Started with listening
I spent time understanding where users struggled, not just through tickets and data, but through real conversations. I paid close attention to moments of confusion, frustration, and hesitation, especially during high-stress interactions.
Clarified the experience
I documented patterns across user issues and mapped where friction appeared in registration, licensing, and renewal flows. This created a shared understanding across teams of what actually needed attention.
Brought structure without rigidity
Working with internal stakeholders and external vendors, I helped prioritize improvements that reduced confusion and cognitive load, focusing on clearer paths, better communication, and fewer dead ends.
Stayed human in hard moments
Some interactions were tense or emotional. I approached each one with calmness, patience, and respect, helping users feel heard while still making tough decisions when needed.
Created trust internally and externally
By showing up prepared, composed, and consistent, I became a trusted bridge between users, leadership, and partners, someone teams relied on when things got complicated.
What Changed
Users experienced clearer, more predictable paths through licensing and renewal.
Internal teams gained better visibility into where and why users struggled.
Trust grew, both with the user base and across cross-functional partners.
The experience began to feel supported, not just functional.
Colleagues later shared that working with me during these moments felt “first class”, smooth, thoughtful, and handled with care.
Why This Work Matters
This project reinforced something I believe deeply:
experience isn’t just what users see, it’s how they feel when things don’t go perfectly.
By bringing structure, empathy, and steadiness to a complex system, I helped turn moments of friction into moments of trust, for users and teams alike.
That same approach guides how I support design teams today: absorb complexity, protect focus, and make the work feel cared for from the inside out.