What Pros Wear - Baseball Gear Discovery

What Pros Wear App

Overview

What Pros Wear is an innovative social commerce platform that bridges the gap between professional baseball players and fans who want to use the same equipment. The app serves as a comprehensive database and shopping platform where users can discover, favorite, and purchase the exact gear used by their favorite MLB players.

Key Features

⚾ Professional Gear Database

Comprehensive catalog of MLB player equipment
Detailed gear specifications and descriptions
High-quality product photography and player action shots
Real-time updates with new player gear discoveries

🛒 Integrated Shopping Experience

Direct purchase links to verified retailers
Price comparison across multiple vendors
Availability tracking and notifications
Gear recommendation engine based on preferences

Pinterest-style visual browsing experience
User-generated content and gear spotting
Follow favorite players and gear enthusiasts
Community-driven gear identification

🔍 Advanced Filtering & Search

Filter by player, position, team, brand, and gear type
Advanced search with multiple criteria
Personalized recommendations based on browsing history
Trending gear and popular player equipment

Technical Implementation

Visual-First Architecture

Pinterest-inspired user experience:

Masonry Layout: Dynamic grid layout for optimal image display
Infinite Scrolling: Seamless content loading and discovery
Image Optimization: Progressive loading and caching strategies
Visual Search: Image-based gear identification capabilities

Community-driven platform functionality:

User Profiles: Personal gear collections and preferences
Social Interactions: Likes, comments, shares, and follows
Content Management: User-generated posts and gear spotting
Notification System: Real-time updates for social interactions

E-commerce Integration

Seamless shopping experience:

Affiliate Linking: Integration with major sporting goods retailers
Price Tracking: Real-time price monitoring and alerts
Inventory Management: Stock availability across multiple vendors
Purchase Analytics: Tracking user shopping patterns

My Contributions

As an iOS developer on the What Pros Wear project, I focused on:

Visual Discovery Interface: Pinterest-style browsing and gear exploration
Social Features: User interactions, commenting, and following systems
Search & Filtering: Advanced discovery mechanisms
Performance Optimization: Smooth scrolling with image-heavy content

Technical Challenges & Solutions

Challenge 1: Image-Heavy Performance

Problem: Massive amounts of high-resolution gear images affecting app performance. Solution: Implemented sophisticated image caching, lazy loading, and memory management.

Problem: Providing instant updates for likes, comments, and new gear additions. Solution: Built efficient push notification system and real-time data synchronization.

Challenge 3: Complex Filtering Logic

Problem: Multiple overlapping filter criteria creating complex search combinations. Solution: Developed flexible filtering architecture with boolean logic and search indexing.

Challenge 4: E-commerce Integration

Problem: Managing links to multiple retailers with varying APIs and data formats. Solution: Created unified commerce abstraction layer with retailer-specific adapters.

Discovery & Browsing

Visual grid layout with gear photography
Player-based gear collections
Trending and popular gear sections
Personalized feed based on interests

Community Interaction

Gear favoriting and personal collections
Comment and discussion threads
User-generated gear spotting and identification
Social sharing capabilities

Shopping Integration

One-tap purchase redirection to retailers
Price comparison and best deal identification
Wishlist management and price alerts
Purchase tracking and order history

User Engagement Results

Community Growth

Active Users: Strong retention rate for baseball enthusiasts
Content Creation: High user engagement with gear spotting
Social Interactions: Active commenting and sharing community
Player Following: Users actively following favorite MLB players

Commerce Impact

Purchase Conversion: High click-through rates to retailer partners
Revenue Generation: Successful affiliate commission model
Gear Discovery: Users discovering new equipment through platform
Brand Partnerships: Attraction of major sporting goods brands

Platform Statistics

Content Database

Player Profiles: Comprehensive MLB player equipment databases
Gear Items: Thousands of catalogued equipment pieces
Brands: Coverage of major sporting goods manufacturers
Updates: Daily additions of new gear discoveries

User Features

Collections: Personal gear favorites and wishlists
Social Graph: Following players and community members
Interactions: Commenting, liking, and sharing capabilities
Notifications: Real-time updates for followed content

This project demonstrates my experience in social commerce platforms, visual discovery interfaces, and creating engaging community-driven applications for specialized audiences. The combination of Pinterest-style discovery with e-commerce functionality created a unique platform for baseball equipment enthusiasts.