Phase 1 · Problem Scenarios

Scenario 1

John, a football player, is reviewing new plays after practice for the upcoming game this weekend. He is flipping through the paper playbook but cannot remember the name that the coach gave the play. He remembers it is a defensive play to stop a run up the middle, but he cannot remember much else. He looks over each play, taking a couple minutes at a time, until he finally finds the right play ten minutes later. John is now trying to visualize how the play would carry out with the opponents using different plays. He has to take out a pen and paper and try to sketch it out to understand what is going on. While going through this play, John thinks he has found a slightly improved version of the play and wants to coaches feedback; he will have to deliver it to the coach tomorrow. John packs his copy of the playbook away and makes sure to keep a close eye on it, because he would not want the playbook to fall into opposing teams hands.

I came up with this scenario by thinking about how a football player would review plays from a playbook. I learned that most football players learn plays from a combination of the playbook, film, and physical repetition. If the player wanted to envision a certain defensive play against an offensive play the best way he could simulate it currently would be with a sketch or moving figurines. I thought about how the player would ask the coach for feedback and realized the best he could do currently was to email the coach or wait to ask him in person the next day. The final issue addressed with this problem scenario is the security of the playbook. It is currently up to the player or coach to safeguard the playbook from falling into the wrong hands.

Some rejected ideas included: the player trying to ask another player's advice, a player trying to compare plays against another team's plays, and the player losing track of the playbook and falling into the wrong hands.

 

Scenario 2

A football coach, George, has been reviewing film for this weekend's game. It is 8 pm and George saw something in the film he had not previously seen. He really wants his team to see this footage and point out the fault before the morning practice. George dreads having to lug out the video equipment to show the 15 second clip. He makes a note on his notepad of where in the film it is and puts it in his briefcase. A bit later, George is viewing a particular offensive play and wants to ask his offensive coordinator what he thinks of a small tweak to the play. He pulls out his laptop and hopes to find the offensive coordinator on his chat program, but he is not online. George decides to write an email and explains the particular play and his ideas the best he can. Georges calls it a night and knows that 5 AM is going to be coming early and he has plenty of lecturing to do before practice.

I came up with this scenario after reviewing our field studies. I learned that most of the player's learn about opponents from film. I learned that in particular, the coach reviews film the most for the coming game. I thought about how the coach would have to currently recall a particular point that he wanted to show to his players. Currently the coach would have to write down the time it occurred at and pull it up at the next meeting with the players. I then thought about how the coach would currently get in touch with his coordinators if he wanted to talk something through with them. If they were not in person the best the coach could currently do would be to send an email or call the coordinator and hope to reach him.

Some rejected ideas included: the coach trying to diagram opposing teams' plays, the coach trying to pull up players' statistics, and the coach trying to learn about current injuries.