Punt

The problem

Sports predictions shouldn't have to involve money.

Gambling had become an increasingly prominent part of the sports experience, but I saw an opportunity for something different: a way for fans to test their sporting knowledge, back their instincts and compete with others without putting real money on the line.

I wanted to capture the excitement of making predictions while making sporting knowledge, rather than financial stakes, the focus. The challenge was to create something competitive and rewarding enough to keep fans coming back, without relying on gambling mechanics.

The solution

Making the crowd part of the game.

I built Punt around three connected ideas: make predictions accessible before or during a match, turn the crowd's behaviour into part of the challenge, and give fans longer-term goals through progression and rewards.

1. Predict on your terms

Fans answer five questions per match, covering team outcomes and individual player performances. The same questions are available before kick-off and during play, creating one consistent experience across the match lifecycle.

2. Think beyond the crowd

Crowd pricing makes other fans' choices part of the game. The more popular an answer becomes, the fewer Fanpoints it pays if correct. Less popular answers can earn more, rewarding fans who get it right when others don't.

3. Give fans something to work towards

Fanpoints feed into Fan Status, giving users milestones to reach and perks to unlock. As fans level up, they gain access to partner discounts and offers, connecting their activity in the app to benefits beyond it.

The design & build

From concept to live product.

I owned the entire product lifecycle, from defining the proposition and designing the experience to building the app and launching it on iOS and Android.

Building Punt myself meant thinking beyond the interface. I had to consider how the product mechanics worked, how live sports data informed the experience and how to keep scoring consistent and fair.

Designing the experience

I shaped the user journeys, match interactions and visual system, balancing quick participation with the information fans need to make informed choices.

Making crowd pricing work

The reward is calculated using the popularity of an answer and locked when the user places their Punt. I implemented server-side pricing so the recorded result remains authoritative, even when crowd participation changes.

Building and launching

I built the mobile app using React Native and Expo, with Supabase supporting the backend, data and core product logic. I then launched the product on both major mobile platforms.

The outcome

A live product, built from the ground up.

Punt went from an initial idea to a live product for football and cricket fans. It brought together match predictions, crowd-powered rewards and fan progression in one experience, giving me the opportunity to test my ideas with real users and continue evolving the product.

What I learned

Building Punt reinforced that designing a product is about more than creating intuitive screens. The underlying mechanics, incentives and reasons to return are just as important as the interface itself.

Taking ownership of the entire process allowed me to connect product strategy, design and development — and to keep iterating after launch rather than stopping when the designs were finished.