Panel flows and clustered buttons form the framework of our team performance template. They also play a significant role in our other button templates, simply because there is enormous flexibility surrounding these features and they can streamline a workflow.
The ability to create a systematic and consistent structure for your data set yields the possibility of advanced analysis when it comes to exporting information from Nacsport. Sequentially exporting your data is a powerful component of the software and can be used to reveal all manner of trends if your collection methods are well designed and thoroughly thought out.
If you want to explore data in this unique way, these capabilities must be taken into consideration when designing a template .
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works”
Beahm, G. (2011). I, Steve: Steve Jobs In His Own Words
Our post-match, player analysis process is to split the registering workload between two people. This helps with the week to week consistency of registering actions and influenced the design of our player performance button template. The end goal was to have two different Nacsport databases, created independently using the same button template but working with different sections of it. These databases would then be merged, creating one complete file containing individual player actions and XY coordinates.
Dividing the registering workload made the design and flow of the button template much easier. The flow of the buttons and panels would be relevant to the section of the template that each analyst would be working with, making it as efficient possible.
It also allowed us to use some other subtle features which would give us more information. With no additional mouse clicks, we could increase the depth of the data collected.
Purposefully naming each panel and then selecting to have its name added to a category as a descriptor perfectly complements panel flow processes. This was a great way for me to add layers of additional descriptive or contextual information to categories, by strategically grouping the button content and then utilising the name of the panel as an additional descriptor. Panel names are only added as a descriptor as a preference and when the user navigates to the panel.
Auto-add descriptor is another subtle feature that helped add layers of information for free. This doesn’t mean that you have a handful of duplicated descriptors all travelling inside open categories, because the system will only add it once per category. This is a feature I also used in our live analysis button template to add game context, as an example.
The differentiator to adding a panel name is that auto-add descriptors can be activated and deactivated and will travel to an open category instead of being triggered by panel navigation.
A combination of tools, again providing power to the user.
Being able to easily turn auto-add descriptors off and on, even in the live registering environment, removes the need for the user to think about having to manually click on the descriptor. This information can then be referenced with any of the interrogation tools from my analysis, the presentation window, the timeline environment or even in live scenarios with a dashboard.
Adding a panel name as a descriptor and auto-add descriptor are perceivably both small and peripheral tools and, whilst they perform simple tasks, they can add great value if used intuitively and alongside other button template options.
“The “occasionally remarkable” moments shouldn’t be left to chance! They should be planned for, invested in.”
Heath, C. Heath, D. (2017) The Power of Moments: Why Certain Moments Have Extraordinary Impact
The concept that the software is a dynamic tool, constantly reacting to the behaviour of the user, fuelled a discussion about an idea for a feature, which I presented to the Nacsport development team - Auto-Sum Descriptors.
Many categories in both our team and individual button templates could potentially house the same descriptor multiple times. Enabling the system to count the frequency that the same descriptor appears inside a category as it is being clicked, then adding a new descriptor with that information, resulted in the development of “auto-sum”. This means that the software is creating brand new, bespoke descriptors based on the count of identified descriptors with auto-sum behaviour in a button template.
In my opinion, this is an example of what sets Nacsport apart, because the software works for you. This type of development based on a conversation with Nacsport is indicative of their openness to ideas and the company's intention to see them through to fruition and public release.
Being able to maximise other features in Nacsport outside of the registering process, relies heavily on what you have in your data set and how it is structured and there are a variety of methods to achieve your goals.
Having a vision of how you want to use your data and video and the knowledge of the steps needed in order to reach that goal is how powerful workflows are developed. So, the more work the software can do for you, the better!
REFERENCES
Beahm, G. (2011). I, Steve: Steve Jobs In His Own Words
Heath, C. Heath, D. (2017) The Power of Moments: Why Certain Moments Have Extraordinary Impact
