Match Setup: Q&A with Frederik Højfeldt Nielsen, Product Designer

At Veo, our Product Design team focuses on reducing the time users spend on tedious tasks, allowing them to focus on what really matters: enjoying sports.

By going through each step in the Match Setup, you can ensure the recording is well-prepared and ready for the team to use. Our latest update is all about streamlining processes, giving coaches and players more time to focus on what they love.

Frederik Højfeldt Nielsen, Product Designer at Veo, shares insights into the redesign and the design process behind the Match Setup feature.

‍What was the main reason behind redesigning the Match Setup feature, and how do you think it improves the user experience?

‍The Match Setup feature addresses a common challenge: Today, Veo AI processes a bunch of cool data on the recording. In order to make sense of all this data, some input from the user is needed to glue the experience together. Before the update with Match Setup, this “glue” happened across our product. If you’re familiar, this includes making sure that the basic settings are right and the needed admin of the recording is done.
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This admin work was often seen as a chore, taking up valuable time. Our goal with the redesign was to centralize everything in one place, creating a smoother, more intuitive experience. Now, users can complete setup faster and, more importantly, with greater control and confidence, which ultimately improves the entire coaching experience.
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Can you walk us through the design process for Match Setup? How did user feedback and research influence the design decisions you made?‍

User-centered design is at the heart of what we do. For us, that means not only looking at data to see how users engage with the product but also speaking with them to understand why they do what they do. For Match Setup, this wasn’t a direct feature request from users. Instead, it emerged from observing coaches’ day-to-day workflows. We noticed how they approached the process of “verifying” their recordings, ensuring everything was correct before sharing. It was clear that we could make this task much more efficient and user-friendly.

What are some of the key improvements in Match Setup that you believe will make a big difference for users when preparing their recordings?

Users can now go through each item systematically, ensuring everything is correct before sharing. No more jumping between different panels or pages of the product. For me, the biggest improvement is the confidence it instills in users. The process is streamlined, and as a result, coaches will be less prone to errors. That translates to more accurate data, which will ultimately enhance the overall experience across the product.

From a design perspective, what are you most proud of in the new Match Setup interface?

The future possibilities! The Match Setup feature we’ve built today is just the beginning. I’m excited about how this feature can evolve, especially when combined with Veo AI. My big question as a product designer is: can we automate more of this process? Imagine if all settings were pre-configured, and all the coach had to do was review a quick summary.

For instance, what if the system could detect which side a team played on with higher accuracy? Or pre-fill match details based on scheduled games or seasons? These are great possibilities, and they all point toward reducing time spent on setup and increasing time spent on what really matters—coaching and playing.

Ultimately, our aim is to ensure coaches and players are spending time with our product in ways that are meaningful and inspiring. In fact, I’m almost tempted to design toward an “anti-metric”—reducing time spent with the product so that users can spend more time playing the game. Setting up a match should feel like a breeze.