Guiding the Next Generation: Designing AI Wearable for Technical Skill Development in Youth Soccer

Date

2025-9-1

Author

Goudarzi, Javad

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This thesis explores how AI-powered wearable devices can better support the development of technical skill and talent identification in youth football. Focusing on the intersection of industrial design, sport technology, and player experience, the study takes an autoethnographic research approach grounded in my personal background as a former youth player who trained largely without access to professional guidance or feedback. The research begins by identifying key developmental needs of young footballers, followed by an analysis of performance indicators commonly used in sports academies and elite-level tracking systems. This framework is then used to evaluate the Playermaker wearable device, assessing how its current features align with the practical realities of youth training and performance. Through a combination of reflective writing, user-centered analysis, and design critique, the study identifies specific limitations in how wearables currently present performance data, particularly around contextual feedback, training balance, and the communication of progress over time. The thesis argues that existing tools often prioritize data collection over meaningful insight, leaving young players unsure how to translate metrics into action. Based on these findings, the study offers design suggestions for future wearable systems, emphasizing personalized feedback, better trend visualization, and more useful benchmarking tools for players in different age groups and positions. By connecting personal experience with design research, this thesis aims to contribute to more effective and user-aware development of wearable technologies in youth football.

Subject Keywords

youth football development, AI-powered wearables, auto ethnography, user-centered design, performance tracking

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116611

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis