3MotionAI
As my first exposure to tech-startup culture, my 6-month consulting contract at 3MotionAI helped develop numerous skills. Below is a case study from the main feature I helped ship while working on the PitchAI team.
Background
3MotionAI originated in the workplace safety and ergonomics industry utilizing propriety computer vision, AI, and the experience of world-class biomechanists. In 2020, they launched their PitchAI product in an alpha state with my then workplace (Baseball Development Group) being one of the first in the world to witness a new wave of sport-tech.
I joined the PitchAI product team in 2021 as a consultant to leverage my coaching expertise to democratize biomechanics for coaches everywhere.
The main feature I helped ship was called "Checkpoints".
The feature can be traced back to social media content I was creating before joining the product team. These industry viral clips were edited in premiere pro to take the existing PitchAI video overlays and add data-callouts to highlight common mechanical flaws like a "pushing arm action".
These flaws became known as "coachisms" on the product team as a non-technical way of describing a biomechanical trait displayed by an athlete.
Research
After the initial success of these "coachism" clips shared on social media we launched a R&D cycle to explore more ways to objectively define common coach terminology with the biomechanics data collected by PitchAI.
We started by creating data ranges (ie. "buckets") to flag mechanical issues based on severity. The team drew from peer-reviewed research as well as our validation paper to cross-reference the data accuracy of our product, PitchAI.
Development
Once we established a need amongst our users with monthly focus groups, our public slack channel, and interactions on social media me moved forward with an initial prototype.
Prototyping
Drawing from the initial content I created with simple video editing, the team decided on a visual data-callout with "Red", "Yellow" and "Green" flags to indicate proper joint positioning at key points of time within the pitching delivery.
An early mockup I created to showcase joint angles on the pitch overlay. Utilizing the "Red" or "Green" background corresponding to our data buckets. Also notice the icons used to prompt users on if the joint value is too high or too low (thereby "flagging" it in the red zone).
Versus the V1 overlay for Checkpoints. The team decided to use a coloured bar to indicate whether the joint angle was too high or low.
V2
After shipping the initial version more user testing showed there was too much visual clutter on the overlay and the team chose to simply the callouts. As we simplified the overlay, we introduced the "Checkpoints" grid view on the data dashboard for all major joint angles and timing points in the pitching delivery.
V2 of the PitchAI video overlay reducing visual clutter.
The final shipped version of "Checkpoints" - still the main default table on the data dashboard for users.
Conclusion
Consulting with the PitchAI product team under 3MotionAI gave me a foundational understanding of the product development life cycle and how to successfully ship new features. I am humbled to say "Checkpoints" still lives as default data table selected on the dashboard for users - proving that it has lasting impact on coaches ability to inerpert biomechanics in a digestible manner.
Other Work at 3MotionAI
Below you'll find work samples from other responsibilities I held during my consulting contract:
Content Writing
