Product design director
Lead a team of designers focusing on UX / visual design and advertising integration
Worked cross functionally with business, product, and engineering leads
In The Beginning
For The Win launched in April 2013 to dramatically grow USA TODAY Sports’ digital audience. Drawing inspiration from BuzzFeed and other digital media upstarts, FTW became the first — and best — social content site focused on sports. The strategy was entirely geared toward social and mobile engagement, as well as the young audiences and behaviors driving content consumption in those circles.
A Brand Is Born
The success has been both critical and practical. FTW is a media darling, with coverage appearing in Digiday, Ad Age, Nieman Lab, Atlantic Wire and Sports Business Journal. The site has grown to as many as 17 million monthly users and generated more than $5 million in 2015, operating at a 70%+ profit margin. In Q3 2015, FTW set records for unique users (40mm, + 14% YOY), organic referrals (44mm, +33% YOY) and page views (128mm (+23% YOY).
Ball don’t lie
The numbers don’t either.
25
Increase in unique visits YOY
70
Mobile audience
40
Of USA TODAY's total social referrals
21
Increase in page views YOY
