City2Surf: Find your Runnning Match

About City2Surf

City2Surf is one of Sydney’s biggest running events, attracting over 85,000 participants each year. Although the event is exciting, many runners struggle to find training partners who share similar paces and goals.

Problem

Through online ethnography, I discovered that runners wanted an easier way to connect with others for training and preparation before the event.

How Might We

How might we help City2Surf runners find like-minded training partners and feel more connected before race day?

Design Process

1. Research:

   Analyzed social media, forums, and video comments to understand runners’ frustrations and needs.

   
   

2. Ideation:

   Explored ideas including community forums, verified ticket resale, and training partner matching. I decided not to pursue community forums or ticket resale as they offered lower impact on training engagement and direct connection before race day. I chose partner matching because it provided the highest value in helping runners find support and build motivation during preparation.

   
   

3. Wireframes:

   Created early sketches and wireframes for all screens, including onboarding, matching flows and listing.

4. High-Fidelity Prototype:

   Developed in Figma, including swipe-based matching, detailed user profiles, and a top matches listing page.

5. Testing:

   Conducted usability testing with three City2Surf participants and refined the designs to simplify user profiles, improve the clarity of actions, and add helpful microcopy.

Outcome

Runner Match helps runners connect with training partners, making it easier to prepare for City2Surf and feel part of a community before race day.