Racenet Race Meetings — Mohammad Namjoo

Overview

Speed and clarity for 8 million race day decisions

The Challenge

Racing enthusiasts and punters use Racenet under time pressure — often mobile, often mid-event, always needing specific information fast. The previous Race Meetings experience was built for desktop and struggled under real-world conditions: dense data layouts, slow navigation between races, and no clear hierarchy for the most time-sensitive information.

With over 8 million unique users and a highly engaged, opinionated user base, the redesign needed to work for both the casual weekend punter and the professional form analyst — without building two separate products.

My Approach

1Field research at physical race meetings — observing how punters actually used the site under race-day conditions
2In-depth interviews with casual users, regular punters, and professional form analysts to map goal hierarchies
3Data priority mapping — identifying which race statistics drive decisions and how quickly they need to be accessible
4Mobile-first redesign with progressive detail disclosure, so users can get the critical summary in seconds and drill deeper when needed
5Continuous A/B testing post-launch, iterating on navigation patterns and data density based on real user behaviour

Design Process

Designing for decisions under pressure

Field Research

Attended race days at Sydney and Melbourne tracks. Observed real users in context — standing in queues, checking phones between races, making last-minute decisions. Uncovered behaviours impossible to find in a lab setting.

Data Mapping

Worked with the editorial and data teams to prioritise the 200+ data points available per race. Created a decision hierarchy that matched punter mental models, not the database schema.

Mobile-First Design

All key flows designed for a 375px screen first. Built a new component library optimised for data-dense contexts — compact tables, scannable form guides, quick-access filters.

Launch & Iterate

Phased launch with A/B testing on navigation patterns and data display. Rapid iteration cycles based on engagement data and direct user feedback via on-site surveys.

Key Work

The right information, instantly

Hierarchy that matches how punters think

The redesigned Race Meetings view leads with the most time-critical information — upcoming race start time, current race status, and top runners — before progressively revealing deeper form data. Users reported finding what they needed in under 10 seconds, down from an average of 35 seconds on the previous design.

Navigation between races in a meeting and between meetings on the same day was rebuilt from scratch, reducing the number of taps to reach any specific race from five to two.

The component library built for this project became the foundation for Racenet's entire product design system, enabling faster delivery across iOS, Android, and web for years following the initial launch.

Outcomes

Impact & results

8M+

Unique Users

New platform delivered to Racenet's full user base at launch

↓75%

Time to Key Info

Average time to find target race information fell from 35s to under 10s

+28%

Mobile Engagement

Increase in mobile session depth following the mobile-first redesign

RacenetRace Meetings