Daily Number - Democratizing Fantasy Sports
product designer (ui/ux), 2019
Daily Number is an innovative fantasy sports mobile application co-founded by NFL star Richard Sherman. By removing complicated rules, Daily Number lets you choose any players you want without stressing over a salary cap. Instead of playing against fantasy sports pros who do this for a living, you're just trying to beat one clear target score: the Daily Number.
design challenge
From a product design perspective, the core challenge evolved into a battle for limited screen real estate, specifically balancing three competing elements:
1: Guarding the Visual Heirarchy
With only a few hundred vertical pixels to work with on a standard smartphone, every element had to earn its place. The risk was "information overload"—where a user opens the app and instantly closes it because it looks like a financial trading platform.
To address this, secondary player data is nested behind intuitive micro-interactions (like tap-to-expand drawers), keeping the primary focus entirely on the roster build and the target score.
2: The Information Density Dilemma
Fitting baseline sports stats plus dynamic, algorithm-driven player multipliers onto a single mobile screen without making the interface look like a crowded financial spreadsheet.
By utilizing an expandable bottom drawer and a sticky header tracking system, the UI presents complex multiplier math and entry options without cluttering the core roster-building experience.
3: Real-Time Live Tracking
Designing a persistent, non-intrusive UI that instantly calculates a lineup's risk-reward ratio against the "Daily Number" target during drafting. This same interface smoothly handles rapid, concurrent data updates during live games—tracking live player performances and shifting scores in real time without causing visual clutter or distracting the user.
The live experience translates rapid, multi-game data updates into a glanceable tracking dashboard by using color-coded player statuses, macro-typography for live scores, and non-intrusive play-by-play notification banners.
Key Takeaway
While Daily Number ultimately couldn't find its footing in a highly crowded DFS market, the project included some really rewarding design wins. It challenged us to prove that dense sports data could actually feel casual and approachable. By leaning on expandable drawers for complex multipliers and keeping real-time tracking simple, we were able to keep the focus on a clean, friendly user experience.