Mark Mitchell · Product
Why would a fan bother signing up?
Signing up had to feel like joining the team, not creating an account.
Case Study 01
Partner
Atlassian Williams F1 Team
Category
Formula 1
Engagement
2021 to present
Started with
- Fan platform
- Website
- App
- Product and graphic design
Grew to include
- Race day second screen
- Commerce
- In-person activation
- Loyalty and gamification
The short version
Williams needed fans to sign up. We built fans a reason to stay.
An identity every fan builds themselves. A Williams ID card. Then badges to chase all season, so it's worth more the longer a fan sticks around.
Who built it
Four disciplines. One question each.
Catalina Florea · Design
What would make it brag-worthy now, and hold up for seasons to come?
The design had to work as a system, not a one-off, and still be worth sharing on day one.
Alex Stopa · Frontend
Could it be everywhere the fan is?
The same identity, wherever a fan interacted with the team: reading the latest news, shopping for team merch, or meeting drivers at a fan popup.
Jon Lazarowicz · Backend
Could it survive Sunday?
A race weekend is the only load test that counts, and it arrives on a schedule.
2021 · The starting point
Williams had a website. It wasn't built for fans.
The existing site posted leadership bios and official team news. Nothing else. It read the same for every visitor, whether they'd followed the team for years or just landed on the page.
Nothing told one fan from another, and nothing brought anyone back between Sundays. There was no app, and no way to be anything but a visitor.
The part everyone skips
A better website, an app, more content, a sign-up button. That much was obvious. Making it matter wasn't.
Williams is one of the most storied names in Formula 1, with a fanbase that's followed the team for decades. It's also one of the fastest-growing, pulling in fans who are only just discovering the sport. Whatever we built needed to work for both.
Talking to fans made the real question clear: it wasn't how to get someone to sign up, it was what they were signing up for. A sign-up that markets to fans and gives nothing back is a one-way street. Fans wanted to feel like part of the team, not a name on a list. A fan who feels like a team member is more valuable than one who only feels sold to. That's the harder problem.
Plus, whatever solution we came up with would have to hold up season after season, for years to come, and open a door to real revenue.
The obvious build doesn't get you any of that.
The idea we brought
Fans didn't need another message. They needed something of their own.
With the problem clear, we got to work: product, design, and engineering together. Research, brainstorming, and prototyping.
The answer was inspired by the fans themselves. One of the most frequent requests in letters and emails to Williams was for copies of the team's driver cards: the trading cards fans collect, complete with a driver's photo, stats, and signature.
If fans wanted driver cards, could we figure out a way to give them their own? Not a one-time signup. Something to keep building, season after season, and worth paying to build further.
What we built
The Williams ID: a driver card for every fan.
01 · The Card
The reward for joining the team.
As a reward for registering, fans are gifted with a driver card of their own: a Williams ID.
02 · Customizable
Something new to unlock all season.
Williams ID works in tandem with Badges, the rewards fans earn by engaging with Williams during Grand Prix and other major events. Earning a badge unlocks special helmets and backgrounds fans can use to update their Williams ID, then share with the world.
03 · Designed to Last
New every season, without starting over.
Williams ID was designed to hold up season after season. Additional helmets and backgrounds can be introduced without having to design a new Williams ID from scratch.
04 · Everywhere The Fan Is
The same fan, on every screen.
Williams ID is the fan's identity no matter where they are. Whether playing fantasy in the app, catching up with the latest news on the site, or checking in at a fan popup, the Williams ID unlocks the whole experience.
05 · Marketable
A pitch simple enough to fit in one line.
Williams ID became the centerpiece of our marketing to fans. The message was simple and effective: join the team, get your Williams ID, make it your own, and get more access to the team than ever before.
06 · Revenue
New ways to make money.
Williams ID unlocked new areas of revenue growth. First, as a new sponsorable asset to bring to partners, and later, as an opportunity for direct monetization with special helmets and backgrounds only available as microtransactions.
01/06
The result
Signed up. Stayed. Engaged.
Signups · Williams IDs built
1.4M+
Fans who built an identity of their own.
Traffic · monthly
2M
Visits a month across site and app
Commercial · downstream
↑
Merch and sponsorship, both following the fandom
Culture, not audience
The audience didn't just get bigger. It became a team.
When we started our work with Williams, fans were being spoken at, with no meaningful way to engage with the team they love. Starting with Williams ID, we built everything to strengthen the connection between team and fan. As the connection has grown, so have the metrics: signups, engagement, and revenue.
The fans who built a Williams ID got more than a weekly newsletter in their inbox. They started describing themselves differently. Before 2021, they could only follow the team. Now they're part of it.
None of it happened by accident.
Williams F1 fan platform — FAQ
Who built the Williams F1 Team fan platform?
Slytrunk. Slytrunk has been the Atlassian Williams F1 Team's product partner since 2021, starting with the fan platform, website, app, and product and graphic design, then growing to include the race-day second screen, commerce, in-person activation, and loyalty and gamification.
What is the Williams ID?
A driver card for every fan. Fans who register are given a Williams ID of their own — an idea taken from the trading cards fans kept writing in to ask for. Fans customise it with helmets and backgrounds unlocked by earning badges during Grand Prix and other major events, then share it.
How many fans have a Williams ID?
More than 1.4 million Williams IDs have been built, and the site and app together see around 2 million visits a month.
What did the Williams website look like before 2021?
It posted leadership bios and official team news, and nothing else. It read the same for every visitor, whether they had followed the team for years or had just landed on the page. There was no app, and no way to be anything but a visitor.
How does the Williams ID generate revenue?
Two ways. It became a new sponsorable asset to bring to partners, and later a route to direct monetization, with special helmets and backgrounds available as microtransactions.
Contact
Got a fanbase waiting to be let in?
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