Pro Football Focus · Fantasy platform

Turning proprietary football data into a year-round decision product.

PFF had differentiated data. The product challenge was turning that depth into confidence at the moments fantasy managers had to draft, set a lineup, make a waiver move, or plan for next season.

10–15%Lift in weekly retention and subscriptionsSenior Product Manager, Fantasy Platforms
PFF fantasy app on a phone: the My Team lineup for a Week 1 matchup, with the Start/Sit Optimizer turned on and a ranking note on the quarterback.
PFF fantasy app: My Team lineup with the Start/Sit Optimizer.
01Market pressure

The category had no shortage of information.

Category

League hosts

Free, familiar places where managers run leagues and transact.

The decision momentWho should I draft, start, add, trade, or trust right now?
Category

Advice and optimization tools

Rankings, projections, expert content, draft aids, and personalized recommendations.

Two categories surround the fantasy manager: league hosts on one side, advice and optimization tools on the other. Between them sits the decision moment: who to draft, start, add, trade, or trust right now.
PFF’s opportunity

Turn proprietary football intelligence into the clearest next decision.

PFF did not need to become another league host or generic rankings destination. I focused the product on making PFF’s data useful when users needed confidence under time pressure.

02The retention problem

The product’s challenge was calendar-shaped.

Illustrative shape of fantasy engagement across the year, not measured analytics: low in the offseason, a peak in draft season, a weekly rhythm in season, high stakes in the playoffs, then a decline.

The opportunity was not simply to drive game-week usage. It was to create a connected product system that earned return visits before, during, and after the season.

+10–15%Navigation engagement during inactive periods
03User decision moments

We designed around decisions, not features.

  1. PREPAREHow should I build my roster for this league?
    Product surface
    Mock Draft Simulator · Manual draft tools · Redraft and dynasty settings
    Why it matters
    Preparation is where a manager decides whether the product fits their league.
  2. DECIDEWhat is the best move for my team this week?
    Product surface
    Matchups · Position-based views · Filters and stat toggles
    Why it matters
    It is the decision managers make every week, so it is where a habit forms.
  3. RETURNWhat should I do when there is no lineup to set?
    Product surface
    Seasonal product states · Offseason navigation · Relevant next actions
    Why it matters
    Quiet periods are when a subscription is easiest to forget.
04Product thesis

From data destination to decision product.

PFF did not need more data. It needed to make differentiated football intelligence useful at the exact moments fantasy managers had to decide.

Before
  1. PFF data
  2. Rankings, stats, and standalone tools
  3. The user interprets the information alone
  4. One-time visit or isolated interaction
After
  1. PFF data
  2. League context, format settings, and relevant views
  3. A clearer decision in the moment
  4. A reason to return for the next decision

My roadmap filter was simple: prioritize work that made a high-frequency decision easier, made the product more relevant to a league format, or gave users a reason to return during a lower-engagement period.

  1. Makes a high-frequency decision easier
  2. Fits the user’s league format
  3. Gives a reason to return in a quiet period
05What changed

The product system we built.

A · Weekly decisions

Matchups

I led the end-to-end redesign of Matchups, organizing filters, position-based views, and stat toggles around the decisions managers needed to make quickly.

  1. 1Filter to the decision
  2. 2Compare the context that matters
  3. 3Make dense data usable at a glance
+20%Engagement from the Matchups redesign
Try the controls. A conceptual sketch of the interaction model with placeholder bars. Not a PFF screen and not PFF data.
B · Preparation

Draft tools

We enhanced the Mock Draft Simulator and manual draft tools with AI capabilities and flexible redraft and dynasty settings so preparation could reflect the league a user was actually entering.

Format-aware preparation
Tap a setting. Each one narrows preparation to the league the user is actually in. Illustrative.
C · Return

Seasonal product states

I defined seasonal and offseason product states so the product surfaced a relevant next action even when game-week lineup decisions were not the primary user need.

+10–15%Navigation engagement during inactive periods
Tap a season. The product changes what it leads with as the calendar moves.
06How we learned

We measured whether the product was creating a habit.

  1. 01Observed behaviorWhere managers dropped off, and why.HeapQualitative user insight
  2. 02HypothesisA specific change that should make a decision easier.
  3. 03ExperimentFeature flags to test the change before rollout.LaunchDarkly
  4. 04Behavioral evidenceRepeat usage, separated from one-time clicks.HeapData ScienceML-driven DAU/MAU
  5. 05Roadmap decisionShip, iterate, or stop.
  6. 06Business outcome+10% weekly active usage.

We combined qualitative feedback with behavioral experimentation to separate one-time feature interest from repeat usage. Partnering with Data Science, we tracked whether the experience was becoming a healthier recurring habit.

+10%Weekly active usage
07Outcome

A fantasy experience built for the full season.

  1. Clearer weekly decisions
  2. More meaningful engagement
  3. Stronger recurring usage
  4. Improved retention and subscription value
  • +20%Matchups engagement
  • +10%Weekly active usage
  • +10–15%Offseason navigation engagement
  • 10–15%Lift in weekly retention and subscriptions

PFF’s advantage was never simply more information. The work made that information more actionable, creating a product that could earn attention across the full fantasy calendar.

Building a product that needs to earn repeat behavior?

I lead product strategy and delivery with cross-functional teams across growth, retention, monetization, and customer experience.

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