Built for Skaters,
by Skaters.
Roller derby skaters track their progress in notebooks, spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups. 8 Wheels is our own product: a free web app that puts minimum skills, training logs, rules and progression in one place. We designed the brand, built the app and wrote the site that sells it.
- WHO — 8 Wheels, a Northern product for the roller derby community
- WHAT — Product Design, Logo & Brand, Web App Development, Marketing Site, Copywriting, SEO
- WHEN — 2026
- WHERE — Sunderland, for skaters across the UK
- HOW — A hand-built PHP web app that installs like a phone app, with a marketing site written for skaters
Progress You
Can’t See.
Every new skater has to pass a set of minimum skills before they can play: stops, falls, crossovers, blocking and pack work. Most track it on paper or in their head, along with half-remembered feedback from coaches. We wanted one free tool that shows a skater exactly where they stand and what to work on next.
- One place for skills, sessions, rules and progress
- Free to use, no credit card
- Made for skaters, coaches, NSOs and officials
A Wheel With
Eight Spokes.
We drew the mark as a skate wheel made of rings and spokes, in a teal gradient on near-black. It reads at favicon size and on a phone home screen. Bebas Neue gives the headings the feel of a bout poster, Montserrat keeps the body text easy to read, and hot magenta marks progress and streaks.
- Wheel mark and 8 WHEELS wordmark, drawn as SVG
- Teal, magenta and track black palette
- Bebas Neue display type with Montserrat body
- App icon for phones and tablets
Every Minimum Skill,
One Screen.
All 21 minimum skills sit in a skill tree, grouped into branches like skating basics, stops and falls, and pack work. Skaters rate each one on six levels, from Not Attempted to Excelled, and each branch shows a progress bar. Coaches can see the same picture, so feedback starts from facts.
- Visual skill tree with a progress bar per branch
- Six colour-coded status levels
- Shared view for coaches
Log Practice
in Seconds.
After training, a skater picks the session type, date and length, ticks the skills they practised and rates their energy. Rating skills inside the log means the skill tree stays up to date without extra admin. Over time it builds a training history with weekly patterns and hours on skates.
- League, open skate, scrimmage, bout and off-skate sessions
- Skill ratings and energy built into the log
- Weekly activity chart and training hours
Freshie to
Mastery.
Skills are grouped into six tiers, from Foundations through Contact & Strategy, Advanced Skating, Game Play and Competition to Mastery. Each tier unlocks when the one before it is 80% complete, so nobody skips the basics. Streaks and badges give skaters a reason to lace up again next week.
- Six tiers with an 80% unlock rule
- Practice streaks and milestone badges
- Dashboard with streak, skills passed and hours
Learn the Rules,
Then Test Yourself.
Roller derby rules are a big part of passing assessment, and of officiating. The app has short articles on packs, engagement zones, penalties and scoring, each with a quick quiz at the end, plus a glossary of derby terms. Non-skating officials get a version of the app built around this side.
- Rules articles with a quiz after each topic
- Derby glossary for quick look-ups
- A lighter experience for NSOs and officials
A Web App
That Lives on Your Phone.
We built 8 Wheels by hand in PHP and MySQL, with no app store in the way. It installs to a phone home screen, has an offline page for patchy rink Wi-Fi, and works the same on a laptop or a phone. Under the hood: email verification, password reset, login rate limiting, CSRF protection and a three-step onboarding that asks for a derby name, number, team and experience.
- Installable web app with an offline page
- Three-step onboarding with derby name and team
- Secure logins: hashed passwords, CSRF checks, rate limits
- Admin dashboard for users and settings
A Site That
Talks Derby.
The public site explains the app in skaters’ own words, with a page each for minimum skills, session logging, progression and who it’s for. Each page is written around what skaters search for, such as minimum skills and roller derby training plans, and shows the app itself rather than stock photos. A beta section asks skaters to use it, break it and tell us what to fix.
- Feature pages for skills, logging and progression
- Live app screens built into every page
- Beta feedback form and questionnaire
- Written for roller derby search terms
8 Wheels
A brand, a web app and a site, built in-house.
Got an app idea of your own?
Screenshots
& Photography
8 Wheels is a product designed, built and run by Northern Digital. Screens shown are from the live site at 8wheels.co.uk; the dashboard figures in the app previews are sample data.
More from the Northern portfolio.
What clients say about our work
Real reviews from real businesses.
Had a website made from scratch was done within 4 days and turn around was great.
Great service overall. It's been a real pleasure working with Dave and his team. They've helped strengthen our business presence and brand identity through our website and are always on hand to offer support and go the extra mile. We're looking forward to continuing to work with Dave and the Northern Digital team on future projects as our business grows.
Very good experience, very knowledgable and trustworthy. Highly recommend.
What's costing you growth?
Let's find out. For free.
Book a free 30-minute strategy audit with Dave. We'll look at your marketing, find what's not working, and tell you exactly where to focus. No waffle. Just a canny plan you can act on.
Request Your Free Audit
Takes 30 seconds. No jargon, just results.