From click to emotion: a new product search experience for football fans
We designed a team-based search experience that improved product discovery and increased conversion by 22% after testing.
PRODUCT DESIGNER
2025
CENTAURO
E-COMMERCE
PRODUCT DESIGNER (1)
PRODUCT MANAGER (1)
ENGINEERS (2)
ROLE
YEAR
COMPANY
INDUSTRY
TEAM
OVERVIEW
Increasing conversion by improving how football fans find products in search
Centauro is one of the largest sports retailers in Brazil, where football plays a central role in culture and consumption. As a result, it is one of the company’s most important categories, driving both traffic and revenue.
In preparation for the 2026 World Cup, football became an even stronger strategic focus, with increased demand and competition across the market.
In this context, we identified an opportunity to connect fans with their teams through a more engaging experience, helping them move more confidently towards purchase.
CONVERTION RATE
+2.2%
Conversion increased from 5.02% to 5.11%, validated through A/B testing with a 91% probability of the variant being the best-performing option
PRODUCT DISCOVERY
+15%
Team filters helped users narrow results faster and find relevant products within the catalogue.
SEO VISIBILITY
↑
By supporting team nicknames, Centauro started to appear in a broader set of Google searches.
PROBLEM
Losing revenue from high-intent users in a key category
As football became an even more strategic category in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, Centauro faced a highly competitive purchase moment.
Although search was already functional, the experience still lacked differentiation in a category driven by passion, identity, and team connection.
Without a strong reason to stay, users frequently left the platform to continue their search on other retailers.
This increased drop-off at a critical decision moment and directly impacted conversion, limiting performance in one of the company’s most important categories.
Low differentiation → Cross-retailer comparison → Drop-off → Lower conversion
ROLE AND TEAM
Designing and validating a new search experience for a high-impact category
As a Product Designer, I led the exploration and design of a new search experience focused on football team discovery.
I was responsible for mapping user flows, exploring different interaction models, and validating solutions through usability testing.
The team included a Product Manager, Engineers, and Data partners supporting analysis and experimentation.
APPROACH
Understanding how fans search for teams and where the experience was failing
We focused on understanding how users experienced football-related search journeys, especially in moments close to decision.
Through usability testing, behavioural analysis, and search data, we observed that users were able to find relevant products, but the experience felt generic and did not reflect the emotional connection fans have with their teams.
As a result, the journey lacked elements that could create engagement or strengthen users’ connection with the category.
These findings showed that improving functionality alone was not enough. To reduce drop-off, the experience needed to create a stronger, more distinctive reason for users to stay and move forward with confidence within Centauro.
CHALLENGES
Bridging the gap between how users search and how the system responds
To create a more distinctive experience in a highly competitive moment, we focused on how to strengthen users’ connection with the category and give them a clear reason to stay.
Undifferentiated experience
Search worked, but did not stand out in a competitive context
Weak connection with the category
The experience did not reflect the passion and identity tied to football
Drop-off before purchase
The journey did not create enough engagement to keep users on the platform, leading users to leave before completing their purchase
DESIGN DECISIONS
Applying new cues to connect the search experience with passionate fans
Once we improved the technical architecture to address product relevance and filtering, we focused on how to use fans’ emotional connection to football to shape a more engaging search experience.
Our strategy was to make the Centauro website “wear” each club’s shirt colours.
We started by mapping which components could be added or adapted within the results page without breaking familiar navigation patterns. From there, we defined how the experience should respond to team-related queries.
To strengthen the connection with fans, we introduced elements inspired by stadium atmosphere, translating each team’s identity into the interface.
To bring this concept to life, we introduced fan imagery in the header, team chants as textual elements, club badges, and team nicknames, aligning the interface with each team’s colours and identity. Club badges were also used within the component to help users quickly identify content related to their team.
This approach helped create a more distinctive experience, strengthening users’ connection with their teams and encouraging them to stay and move forward with confidence within Centauro.
SOLUTION
Designing a dedicated search experience for team-based football queries
We introduced a team-based search experience that transforms generic football queries into contextual journeys.
When users search within the category, the experience adapts to reflect the selected team, making content more relevant and easier to navigate.
Team identity is applied across the results page, helping users stay oriented and engaged as they browse.
This creates a more distinctive experience within search, giving users a clearer path forward during a key decision moment.
RESULTS & IMPACT
Making team-based search clearer increased confidence and reduced drop-off
Results were validated through an A/B test comparing the new contextual search experience with the previous version.
The experiment showed a positive impact on conversion, with a 2% uplift and a 91% probability of the variant being the best-performing option.
Users also interacted more with the experience, with a 1.5% increase in refinement rate, indicating more effective exploration of results.
By creating a more distinctive experience, we reduced drop-off during a critical decision moment and supported users in moving forward with more confidence.
In addition, incorporating team nicknames expanded how products were discovered externally. As users often search using informal terms, this increased Centauro’s visibility in Google and helped capture demand earlier in the journey, before users reached competing retailers.
NEXT STEPS
Scaling the search component across sports and brands
This component creates a foundation that can be expanded to support other categories beyond football.
Expansion to other sports
The same structure can be adapted to different sports, enabling team-based discovery across new categories.
Integration into the internal platform
The feature will be integrated into Grupo SBF’s internal system, enabling other e-commerce brands to adopt the same search experience.