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FIFA
Refereeing

Infosys Wongdoody - 2025

Designed an enterprise system for referee management at FIFA, used by stakeholders across 211 countries and 6 continents

Hero Image

This project is protected by an NDA. All information shared here reflects only publicly available process details. Visuals are modified and conceptual.

01 About the project

Increased the nomination and approval speed of referees threefold by designing a unified enterprise system

PURPOSE OF THE SYSTEm

Enable smooth nomination and approval cycles for international stakeholders and admins involved with refereeing

Enable smooth nomination and approval cycles for international stakeholders and admins involved with refereeing

UserS

Enterprise System Administrator

211 Member Associations(Countries)

6 Confederations

My roles

User Research

Design System

UX Design

Interaction Design

Team

Shanmu, Designer

Mandy Grimmiger, Design Lead
Stefanie Borel, Design Manager

Duration

6 months

6 months

02 Business Requirements

Improve nomination rate, nomination speed with few manual interventions in the process

The referee nomination and approval process at FIFA relied heavily on manual emails, spreadsheets, and scattered external tools. This led to missed deadlines, duplicate data, and time consuming tracking for thousands of stakeholders.

Product REQUIREMENTs

Replace manual emails, spreadsheets, and external tools with one unified digital platform

Enable automated distribution of forms, reminders, and approvals to ensure deadlines are met

Prevent duplicate entries and remove existing duplicate entries

Give admin real time tracking of submissions, the trends, deadlines, and ability to assess individual nominees

Reduce the amount of deadline extensions, enable associations and confederation submit before the deadline

Provide admin ability to communicate & extend deadlines of nominations and approvals

Problem Statement

FIFA’s referee nomination and approval process is managed through manual emails and spreadsheets. This led to slow process, duplicate referee records, missed deadlines, and placed a heavy burden on a single administrator to oversee the entire global workflow

03 Discovery

Understanding the current process and the stakeholder workflow

Weekly calls with the admin. Interviews with 14 different associations, 5 confederations.

Existing process

Admins inform associations about nomination period start

Associations nominate the referees based on various criteria like medical and fitness tests

Admin receives nominations and vets them

Admin sends the nominee list to respective confederations for their approval

Confederations check prev year trends, background checks and approves them

Admin receives final approved list and ends the process marking the refs ready for tournament

Derived insights

How does the admin communicate with 211 associations and 6 confederations?

"I use Teams, sometimes WhatsApp as well"

How does the current process with spreadsheets work?

"We fill a standard template every year and send it to the admin. Admin has to manually vet the sheets"

On what basis do the referees get nominated and approved?

"We have a standard set of policies that determines referee eligibility like age, medical tests, fitness tests.."

How do you handle cases like extension of deadlines, overriding confederation decisions?

"Right now everything is done manually, I also wish to take part in the process itself, and not just be a mediator"

The project

Design an unified enterprise system that connects 211 Associations and 6 Confederations, enabling the administrator to manage complex workflows efficiently

04 Design Goals

Making an enterprise system intuitive

By customizing Google’s Material Design 3 system to align with FIFA’s guidelines and building flexible, reusable components, the goal was to make a traditionally complex system intuitive and user friendly for the administrator.

North star design goals

Intuitive information architecture

Design for scalability

Reduce onboarding time

Connectivity with legacy

Multilingual support

Error prevention & recovery

Design process was

Messi

Messi

Messi

Shipped the design in iterations, and the dev was pushed to production in iterations as well, in a span of 8 months. It was an absolute rollercoaster ride!

05 New system

One hero system to do it all

Here I have presented only a top level broad view. I cannot reveal the nitty gritty details since the project is under NDA. This is a conceptual summary.

Admin features
Admin features
Admin features

06 Design & Decisions

Form follows function

Built a component library on top of MD3 design system, and adhered to the adaptive layout and guidelines of Material Design.

Manage nomination

The first step of the process is for associations to nominate the referees. The admin tracks details regarding nomination in this part of the tool.

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Design decisions

Action bar: The admin always works on many items together, not one by one. So we added a checkbox action bar to do bulk actions easily. Side navigation: The tool needed four levels of navigation. Since MD3 gave only left sidebar, we used that instead of top menus. No pagination: There were only 211 items, and the admin usually searched or filtered. So we used virtual scrolling instead of page view.

Design decisions

Action bar: The admin always works on many items together, not one by one. So we added a checkbox action bar to do bulk actions easily. Side navigation: The tool needed four levels of navigation. Since MD3 gave only left sidebar, we used that instead of top menus. No pagination: There were only 211 items, and the admin usually searched or filtered. So we used virtual scrolling instead of page view.

Design decisions

Action bar: The admin always works on many items together, not one by one. So we added a checkbox action bar to do bulk actions easily. Side navigation: The tool needed four levels of navigation. Since MD3 gave only left sidebar, we used that instead of top menus. No pagination: There were only 211 items, and the admin usually searched or filtered. So we used virtual scrolling instead of page view.

Nominees

Admin can view all the nominees, modify nominations, nominee details and other features here.

He can also use the super awesome feature of managing duplicates, fully automated by the system.

Nominees
Nominees
Nominees

Design decisions

Segmented buttons: Since we changed content in the same view, and the content were related, we used segmented buttons. Horizontal scroll: We displayed the important data in the table for admin scanning, and also gave the option to customize column order

Design decisions

Segmented buttons: Since we changed content in the same view, and the content were related, we used segmented buttons. Horizontal scroll: We displayed the important data in the table for admin scanning, and also gave the option to customize column order

Design decisions

Segmented buttons: Since we changed content in the same view, and the content were related, we used segmented buttons. Horizontal scroll: We displayed the important data in the table for admin scanning, and also gave the option to customize column order

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Design decisions

Changes & History: This data is directly linked to a legacy profile management system, hence we had to create a workaround. Referee details segments: We grouped the information into Profile, Nomination & Prof Background - this makes it easier for admin to find the data he requires. Referee Navigation: Admin may require to verify data of multiple referees, so we made it easy by having a navigation inside the overview page.

Design decisions

Changes & History: This data is directly linked to a legacy profile management system, hence we had to create a workaround. Referee details segments: We grouped the information into Profile, Nomination & Prof Background - this makes it easier for admin to find the data he requires. Referee Navigation: Admin may require to verify data of multiple referees, so we made it easy by having a navigation inside the overview page.

Design decisions

Changes & History: This data is directly linked to a legacy profile management system, hence we had to create a workaround. Referee details segments: We grouped the information into Profile, Nomination & Prof Background - this makes it easier for admin to find the data he requires. Referee Navigation: Admin may require to verify data of multiple referees, so we made it easy by having a navigation inside the overview page.

Nominees
Nominees
Nominees

Table

Duplicates

Profile

Table

Duplicates

Profile

Table

Duplicates

Profile

Manage Approval

This is the second step of the process, and admin has access to view the approval status of all the confederations.

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Design decisions

Collapsible dropdown: Each confedertaion have only a limited no. of assocaitions under them, so we went with this approach instead of creating a seperate screen for association list inside a confederation. Actions free table: During approval period, the admin rarely does any action, confederation finish their job on time most of the time. So we did not include any actions in the table, and made it view only.

Design decisions

Collapsible dropdown: Each confedertaion have only a limited no. of assocaitions under them, so we went with this approach instead of creating a seperate screen for association list inside a confederation. Actions free table: During approval period, the admin rarely does any action, confederation finish their job on time most of the time. So we did not include any actions in the table, and made it view only.

Design decisions

Collapsible dropdown: Each confedertaion have only a limited no. of assocaitions under them, so we went with this approach instead of creating a seperate screen for association list inside a confederation. Actions free table: During approval period, the admin rarely does any action, confederation finish their job on time most of the time. So we did not include any actions in the table, and made it view only.

Configuration

The main control panel of the tool. The nomination and approval dates, the email templates being sent out to associations and confederations, micro-site links, everything is present here.

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Final

Iterations

Profile

Design decisions

Read only & edit mode: Admin configures all the settings for mails, dates and deadlines before the season begins, so we included a read only mode and edit mode.

Design decisions

Read only & edit mode: Admin configures all the settings for mails, dates and deadlines before the season begins, so we included a read only mode and edit mode.

Design decisions

Read only & edit mode: Admin configures all the settings for mails, dates and deadlines before the season begins, so we included a read only mode and edit mode.

Template
Template
Template

Design decisions

Custom templates: Apart from nomination & approval process, admin can use this tool to send tournament specific mails and event invites, so we included custom template creation with three language support.

Design decisions

Custom templates: Apart from nomination & approval process, admin can use this tool to send tournament specific mails and event invites, so we included custom template creation with three language support.

Design decisions

Custom templates: Apart from nomination & approval process, admin can use this tool to send tournament specific mails and event invites, so we included custom template creation with three language support.

Association Nomination

This is the microsite design sent to associations through admin tool. It is a three step process of selecting referees, ranking them and sending the list.

Step I

Step II

Profile

Step I

Step II

Profile

Step I

Step II

Profile

COnfederation approval

This is the micro-site sent to confederations to vetting of referees and approving them.

Grid

List

Profile

Grid

List

Profile

Grid

List

Profile

Design decisions

List & Grid view: Confederation preferred to have this feature to make it easier for them to understand the trends in grid view and data in list view.

Design decisions

List & Grid view: Confederation preferred to have this feature to make it easier for them to understand the trends in grid view and data in list view.

Design decisions

List & Grid view: Confederation preferred to have this feature to make it easier for them to understand the trends in grid view and data in list view.

Approvals
Approvals
Approvals

Design decisions

Left navigation: Confederations have to quickly scan through multiple of their associations and decide whether to approve or reject. Nomination & Accepted data: This data is very important for confederation to finalize the list of referees, their primary task is to keep the trend equal or lower.

Design decisions

Left navigation: Confederations have to quickly scan through multiple of their associations and decide whether to approve or reject. Nomination & Accepted data: This data is very important for confederation to finalize the list of referees, their primary task is to keep the trend equal or lower.

Design decisions

Left navigation: Confederations have to quickly scan through multiple of their associations and decide whether to approve or reject. Nomination & Accepted data: This data is very important for confederation to finalize the list of referees, their primary task is to keep the trend equal or lower.

Trade-offs

Clarity vs completeness

To avoid overwhelming the admin with too many table columns, we hid some secondary but important information (like contacts, forms) inside collapsible sidebars.

Dev speed vs feature richness

Because of a tight deadline, I dropped some features like dashboards and limited the use of custom components and focused on the core flow itself.

Standardization vs Localization

One global template for 211 associations instead of localized to make it easier for the admin, associations with unique needs had to adapt.

Performance vs interaction

To improve performance, I had to get rid of some MD3 interactions, to keep the process smooth for the admin.

08 Prototype & Video

A glimpse of the final design

Check out the prototype link below. I have only included the key screens here.

prototype

Check out the prototype link below. I have only included the key screens here.

prototype

Check out the prototype link below. I have only included the key screens here.

prototype

09 Impact

A positive first season!

We did gradual rollouts during the nomination and approval period. We tracked a lot of factors and eventually marked a few items for enhancements but we couldn't implement them during ongoing season, but the overall feedback was very positive.

3x

Increase in association nomination speed & 1.5x acceleration in confederation approval speed

4.2⭐

Average satisfaction score from 22 associations and 4 confederations, with the primary admin giving a perfect 5-star rating

62%

62%

62%

Increase in nomination submission rate in the first window

181 associations submitted nominations within the initial window without needing a deadline extension, up from 112 in the previous season. With planned enhancements, the goal is to achieve 100% on time nominations from all 211 associations

⭐

⭐

  • Association user

    4⭐

    "Receiving timely reminders are great"

  • Association user

    4⭐

    "Autofill helps a lot"

  • Admin

    5⭐

    "This is absolutely amazing. I have everything I need here"

  • Association user

    5⭐

    "I can create new nominees without issues, this speeds up my workflow so much"

  • Association user

    5⭐

    "New system is very efficient"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "Love the system. Everything is so smooth"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "My team has an easy time verifying the nominees now"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "This is brilliant!"

  • Association user

    4⭐

    "Receiving timely reminders are great"

  • Association user

    4⭐

    "Autofill helps a lot"

  • Admin

    5⭐

    "This is absolutely amazing. I have everything I need here"

  • Association user

    5⭐

    "I can create new nominees without issues, this speeds up my workflow so much"

  • Association user

    5⭐

    "New system is very efficient"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "Love the system. Everything is so smooth"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "My team has an easy time verifying the nominees now"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "This is brilliant!"

  • Association user

    4⭐

    "Receiving timely reminders are great"

  • Association user

    4⭐

    "Autofill helps a lot"

  • Admin

    5⭐

    "This is absolutely amazing. I have everything I need here"

  • Association user

    5⭐

    "I can create new nominees without issues, this speeds up my workflow so much"

  • Association user

    5⭐

    "New system is very efficient"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "Love the system. Everything is so smooth"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "My team has an easy time verifying the nominees now"

  • Confederation user

    5⭐

    "This is brilliant!"

100%

of duplicate entries eliminated through the new design

10 Challenges

Challenges make design fun

Learning how Fifa works

Internal processes for such large federations take a lot of time to learn. To execute this project successfully, I had to become one of the FIFA team and undergo rigorous training. BUT, isn't learning the best part of UX 😉.

Enterprise system

We were not chasing clicks or retention - we needed to build something functional for power users.

Legacy everything

There are a lot of legacy systems in FIFA. We had to make sure new system works cohesively with legacy.

Intuitive

We had to make the system as intuitive as possible for the admin to make it easier to onboard.

Dev Constraints

Devs worked with Vuetify, and we build with MD3. So the handoff had endless documentation and hours and hours of meetings.

Multilingual

Designing for users who do not necessarily speak or understand English was a major constraint, as we had to plan our design library accordingly.

System states

There are multiple steps associated with referee management, and each of this step would have a different system state. Implementing this was a challenge

Shipping Speed

Unlike traditional enterprise design and shipping, which is slow and audited, we had to ship iteratively to reach the target.

11 Learnings

Every challenge was a learning

It’s been an incredible journey working on this project and collaborating with so many people across different teams. Given its scale and impact, I learned a lot throughout the process. Every challenge we faced and solved was a valuable lesson. I’m grateful to everyone who was part of this with me, and I’m proud of what we achieved: no complaints on our monthly calls and even a few kind words, the best success metric for an enterprise system. 🫡

Thank you for reading my story with FIFA. The team loved my work so much that I was immediately moved to Transfer Management & Clearinghouse within FIFA, where I’m continuing to working my magic. But that’s a story for another day. Adios!

Navigation

About

Business Requirements

Discovery

Design Goals

New System

Design & Decisions

Prototype

Impact

Challenges

Learnings