Research design phases and processes

Before the author could embark on creating and designing the platform, a series of phases had to be undergone to test the concept, prove the concept and develop the con-cept. First, this was done to understand the demand for the concept in the market and cre-ate awareness for the concept in Africa. Then, with the details gathered, the platform's creation was designed based on the data received during these phases.

Below are the phases of data collection leading to the creation of the platform, AfriPro.

Phase 3 Online

Survey

Quantitative

survey

19 Phase 1: For the players

The Phase process began during weeks 23-34, 2021 (from 11.6.2021-

18.6.2021). A survey questionnaire was created on google form with the intent to inquire from footballers of all ages of an idea,' what if we have this type of solution, would you be interested '? The questions were shared with the community of footballers online, personal contacts, and via WhatsApp and WhatsApp groups of footballers.

These questions were strategically constructed to understand the needs and demand for a digital platform for players to be monitored and scouted by top teams across Europe.

The respondent had one week to answer the questions. The responses were able to help us validate the design model and how to create the platform that would meet the needs of the players from a player's perspective.

The questions asked that be seen in the appendix (see Appendix 4)

Phase 2: Early-bird access

Feedback received from Phase 1 was incredibly positive and overwhelming, which prompted us to initiate phase 2. It was pretty evident the need and demand for this plat-form are high hence the need to proceed to phase 2.

We applied for an innovation voucher (a business grant) from Business Finland on June 26^th, 2021, and the same day we created our Instagram page. The grant was approved three weeks later. The grant was meant to develop the first version of the App. To prove our MVP, we proceeded to launch our marketing website, www.afri.pro on July 27^th,2021.

The purpose of creating the marketing website was to get 1000 early-bird signups in 3 months who would get one year of free access to the platform when launched and see if the platform's demand is genuinely out there. Marketing content for the early-bird signups was also launched with a video ad, as shown below in figure 4. These contents were shared using a paid ad model on Instagram and Facebook to target most sub-Saharan Af-rican countries. As a result of these ads, we got over 600-page views daily, as seen in the image below. The questions asked for the early-bird signup and responses can be seen in the appendices below. (See Appendix 5)

20 Figure 4. Marketing content

Surprisingly, it took less than 2.5 weeks for us to get over 1000 early-bird signups, as seen in the image below.

Figure 5. Early-bird signup responses

The above result confirmed an urgent need for the platform to be set up to provide these football players digital visibility.

Phase 3: Interviews for the coaches and team representatives

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The interviews were carried out during weeks 31-32 and 33, 2021 (from 02.8.2021- 12.8.2021 and from 14.8.2021-16.3.2021). The third phase of the thesis is conducted through qualitative methods, which entails interviewing coaches, football team administra-tors, and football team owners.

A personal interview approach was made via zoom sessions with each of these represent-atives for validation purposes, which would help service design. During this interview, the interviewer was able to understand better the existing player acquisition model, the per-ception of the interviewees of African and African footballers, and the interviewer was able to understand the previous approach used in acquiring football players from Africa.

We interviewed three team leaders and team representatives such as Antti Sinkkonen of Pepo, Richard Dorman of Seinäjoki, SJK, Fredrick of FF Jaro, and Kari Hakala of Musa Fc ) majorly to gather information relating to their existing player acquisition model, how fa-miliar they are with acquiring football players from Africa, what experiences they had with African football players, the cost implication to bring a football player from Africa to play in Finland and understanding the cultural overview and differences and how these African football players were integrated into the Finnish community.

Semi-structured interviews are conducted conversationally with one respondent at a time;

the semi-structured interview (SSI) employs a blend of closed- and open-ended questions, often accompanied by follow-up why or how questions. (Wholey, Harty & Newcomer 2015). Although the author implemented a semi-structured approach model, the questions were predefined, the respondents were able to give an open-end answer which would freely allow the respondents to provide broader reviews to the questions asked.

The following themes were used for the case study interview:

Theme 1: Team’s player acquisition model Theme 2: Repository in acquiring football players Theme 3: Experiences with signing African players

The aim for theme 1 is to understand how the team scouts for fresh players for the new season, what criteria they seek in the types of players they want.

The aim for theme 2 is to understand which platform, geographical location, and channels they acquire football players.

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The aim for theme 3 is to understand their perception of African football players, past ex-periences, and what they would like to have in place before considering getting a player from Africa. The interviews with all interviewees were carried out on a virtual meeting plat-form using a Zoom link and on the phone. Responses from interviewees were recorded on notes during the session, and the records of these notes can be found in the appendices section. (See Appendix 3)