Roster, Lineup, Substitutions and DH

[mcastleman]

I've been using other products for 6 years and have decided to try iScore.

I think that iScore is the superior product from a pure scorekeeping standpoint right now and you have made HUGE strides in the past couple of seasons in the usability/nuance department.

I STRONGLY encourage you to give focused attention to the concept of Usability. Your app is much more aligned with the iPad give the amount of real estate you use on the screen.

I'm going to provide a number of usability posts over the course of the summer but I thought I would comment on the title here for now

Creating LIneups and Rosters seems pretty straightforward but Substitutions and Position Swaps are EXTREMELY awkward and not very intuitive...i'm not saying it doesn't work...just that it is awkward and prone to mess-ups.

The use of a DH has no explanation anywhere that I can find and there seems to be no ability to connect the DH to the defensive player for whom he is DH'ing. (If I am missing it please let me know). (I am surprised that you don't make use of an EH "Extra Hitter" assignment as well)

There is a chance that these issues I am identifying are explainable however there is no readily accessible help system that connects me immediately to an indexed topic.

In any case...I am enjoying the app...I already have significant buy-in from the Club Team and if all goes well we will probably convert our Varsity program next year and incorporate some of the advanced analytic add-ons.

thanks

[FTMSupport]

Doing a position swap, you tap a position, then tap the player that should be in that position. Doing a defensive substitution is the same way. For an offensive substitution, tap the batter, then tap who should be at bat. If you want to change a different batter, tap the place in the lineup after tapping the batter, then tap who should be in that batting spot.

With a DH, we follow the MLB rules which say the DH bats for a Pitcher, so a fielding position designation is not required.

If your league allows a batter in place of any batter, keep in mind that iScore allows players to be on defense that are not in the offensive lineup, and players can be in the offensive lineup that don't play defense. So you can effectively have a "DH" for any position just by putting in the fielders and batters as appropriate. Extra Hitter is the same thing --- you can have batters that are not fielders and you just assign them to Batting = YES.

There is a manual and training videos available at http://iscoresports.com/baseball/training.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Thank you for the feedback as we are always looking for ways to improve.

[mcastleman]

Doing a position swap, you tap a position, then tap the player that should be in that position. Doing a defensive substitution is the same way. For an offensive substitution, tap the batter, then tap who should be at bat. If you want to change a different batter, tap the place in the lineup after tapping the batter, then tap who should be in that batting spot.

With a DH, we follow the MLB rules which say the DH bats for a Pitcher, so a fielding position designation is not required.

If your league allows a batter in place of any batter, keep in mind that iScore allows players to be on defense that are not in the offensive lineup, and players can be in the offensive lineup that don't play defense. So you can effectively have a "DH" for any position just by putting in the fielders and batters as appropriate. Extra Hitter is the same thing --- you can have batters that are not fielders and you just assign them to Batting = YES.

There is a manual and training videos available at http://iscoresports.com/baseball/training.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Thank you for the feedback as we are always looking for ways to improve.

I understand how it all works...just making a recommendation that a usability enhancement would be beneficial...it works...i just don't think it is very user friendly

[FTMSupport]

Sorry, the way we read it sounded like you were looking for an explanation of how it worked. We didn't see a recommendation on how it could be improved. If you have any suggestions, that would be great. Keep in mind that iScore is used at all levels of play, and many youth leagues have "free substitutions" where you can put players at any position at any time whether they are batting or not batting, so we have intentionally made defensive and offensive substitutions independent of each other.

It is very quick to glance around the field and sub in the appropriate defensive players as needed the way we have it right now.

This also helps when someone is watching a game and only sees what is happening in the field and would not have knowledge of a "double switch" for example.

[mcastleman]

Sorry, the way we read it sounded like you were looking for an explanation of how it worked. We didn't see a recommendation on how it could be improved. If you have any suggestions, that would be great. Keep in mind that iScore is used at all levels of play, and many youth leagues have "free substitutions" where you can put players at any position at any time whether they are batting or not batting, so we have intentionally made defensive and offensive substitutions independent of each other.

It is very quick to glance around the field and sub in the appropriate defensive players as needed the way we have it right now.

This also helps when someone is watching a game and only sees what is happening in the field and would not have knowledge of a "double switch" for example.

I guess i'm just trying to spark an internal assessment of the UI (user interface). The iPad has so much screen real estate and innovative touch capability that i think the method and look and feel are a bit to tied to the legacy of small screens and stylus' for executing action.

btw - the blue tooth syncing worked flawlessly this weekend

[plivengood]

mcastleman, while I applaud your intentions, and sometimes wish there was a better way at higher levels of baseball to see a connection between DH and position player DH'd for, or the tied starter-sub, I have to second FTM's proviso about the various levels of play this app is used in, and the differing rules that apply at those levels. Also, iScore's basic premise is "score it as you see it" and if you are ever involved in a game or tournament where you don't reliably get information about line-ups, subs, etc., I'm sure you will come to appreciate FTM's decision to set the program up that way. Very often, there would simply be no other way to score a game....

With that said, perhaps there could be an option at game set up to tie DH to a position, and to tie starter-subs, and then color-code those players on the line-up that shows on the iPad (both on the main screen, and more importantly, on the substitution screen) to make subs easier when the only info you get is something like "#7 re-entering." If you're in a league where that doesn't matter, you would simply not enable those options.... Perhaps that is workable and addresses mcastleman's issue?