Hi, I’m Hal, the founder of Front Runner and soon-to-be Graduate Product Designer at Signifyd. With almost two years industry experience, I can successfully identify and overcome real-world problems by applying my knowledge, skillset and researching abilities as both a User Experience (UX) and Product Designer. I am looking forward to continuing my career in the industry where I will have the opportunity to research and design user-centred solutions within e-commerce fraud prevention.
Front Runner is an independent online marketplace exclusively for buying and selling racehorse syndicate shares across the UK & Ireland. Our platform is a place for multiple sellers to promote and sell their shares together, making it easier for buyers to access and purchase syndicate shares. We incorporate a new e-commerce experience into already existing structures found on dated advertising websites, producing a platform at the centre of the horse racing industry’s digital revolution. Front Runner is modernising how racehorses are bought and sold in the future.
Front Runner has been a fantastic experience and steep learning curve featuring plenty of rewarding moments. Throughout my major project, I had the opportunity to utilise many different skills, principles and techniques that I had learned over my four years studying Interaction Design.
Front Runner was the result of a personal experience after I began to research horse racing syndicates to understand how one would get involved. As the problems within the market were experienced by myself first-hand, this allowed me to dictate the direction I took as a designer. By using parallel processing, I was able to identify similar issues once found in other industries and evaluate the solutions they so heavily rely on today.
Following the initial paper sketching and ideation, I used Figma to design and prototype both the mid and high-fidelity versions of the platform. Figma is a powerful tool with endless possibilities. To test the prototype and website I used Maze.co – an online user testing resource with great insight into how users interact with the product. For the build I used WordPress and Elementor as I gained experience with these tools on placement and understood their capabilities, keeping this in mind as I designed the prototype.
I am pleased to say my vision of Front Runner has evolved into a viable product ready for market. The project followed a clear, systematic timeline that enabled me to align the entire process with the goals and aspirations of Front Runner. My major project has successfully enhanced the user experience of the syndicate share purchasing process for both buyers and sellers, improving how both parties interact with one another. With market support, I have no doubt Front Runner can be the forefather of the horse racing industry’s digital revolution, modernising how racehorses are bought and sold in the future.
I am delighted to announce Front Runner is now a semi-finalist of Catalyst Invent 2021, which I hope can help secure the investment required to successfully launch the platform. In the meantime, feel free to check out the project here.
