Development of a mobile application tracking stats and goals of young basketball players: design-based research

Introduction Mobile applications have emerged as a critical tool for supporting athlete development across various competitive domains. However, while numerous digital platforms exist for physiological monitoring, relatively few are grounded in goal-setting and social comparison theories to facilitate performance feedback and psychological self-regulation in youth team sports through an empirical norm-development process. Addressing this gap, this design-based research aimed to design, develop, and evaluate a mobile application to track the stats and goals of young basketball players. Methods The research employed a design-based research methodology comprising planning, development, and improvement phases. During the planning phase, theoretical foundations, user characteristics, basketball performance norms, existing applications, and stakeholder expectations were examined to establish the design requirements. A user-centered mobile application was subsequently developed in collaboration with basketball players, coaches, software developers, and domain experts. Finally, players' experiences and evaluations were collected to improve the application and to explain how the design principles supported user engagement and performance development. Results The norm development analysis of youth players ( n = 1,556) demonstrated that age-stratified Z-scores and percentile distributions (1–99%), were used to develop a normative matrix, which was structurally integrated into the application across five core performance-profile badges (Rotation Players, Average Players, Stars, All-Stars, and MVP Candidates) and a National Player Candidates badge. The application's structural framework suggests that integrating objective performance statistics with individualized goal setting, social comparison, and continuous feedback offers a conceptually viable model that could support athletes' motivation, self-monitoring, and performance regulation. The iterative design process resulted in the mobile app Stats & Goals, which was found to help players track match statistics, compare their performance with peers, and set individual performance goals. Furthermore, a protocol was recommended for the development of similar applications. Conclusion The study contributes to sport and exercise psychology by presenting an evidence-informed digital intervention grounded in established motivational theories while also providing a design framework for future sport technologies developed through design-based research. The proposed application offers practical implications for athletes, coaches, clubs, and researchers seeking to integrate psychological principles into digital performance support systems for youth sport.