Next Generation Bet Slip

For online betting experience

Context

As I joined the company, I got assigned as the main UX-resource to the Bet Slip project. I learned that it has been dragging on for two years with no visible outcomes. The project came from a need for a tech rebuild. Thus, there came up an opportunity to streamline the user experience itself.

Challenges

The first challenge was to define the new bet slip vision. Then set timelines and milestones for UX and tech (the tech bit of it was very complex, hence the slow speed).

There were no defined KPIs at this stage, apart from ‘not breaking the most sensitive area of the website’, so we had to make sure that we can prove that the new experience is an improvement.

Role:
Senior UX Architect

Timeline:
2018-2019

Methods & Tools:

Stakeholder Interviews
Workshops
Whiteboarding
Prototyping
Ethnographic Research
Lab Testing
Surveys
A/B testing
Analytics

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The 'original' bet slip

Approach

I started with internal stakeholder interviews and workshops to get everyone on the same page about what’s working, what’s not working and what they expect from the ‘new bet slip’. We ended up with a massive list of pain points and requirements.

At the same time me and the project designer conducted competitor analysis which involved extensive user testing.

Photo from a pub research session

I also ran a pub session with users, just observing them watch football and place bets. This was an amazing expreince which helped me learn lots about real behaviours. Moreover, it helped validate the assumptions we already had and prioritise them. The ones that were quick wins went straight into user testing and then live.

Worksheets from co-creation session with customers

For the longer-term strategy we ran a few white-boarding sessions and defined a vision for the first iteration - quick bet slip (QBS), which would not take you away from watching the game or checking stats, but allow to place a bet seamlessly.

One of the engineers built a working dynamic prototype which allowed me to test a wide range of scenarios with real data and real users, while the designer could consider all the visual challenges. We also worked through all the error states, making them more actionable and informative.

Bet Slip Journey print out with post-it notes

Fragment from a mapping session

As the first version of QBS went live for the Beta group, me and the product manager made sure to have all the analytics set up. Their verbal qualitative feedback helped us fix a few issues we haven’t thought of.

After that we went on to launch a multivariate test to see whether QBS should only pop up for single bets, or accumulators and complex bets too.

We also made a list of further A/B tests, all aiming to make the experience even quicker with ‘quick stakes’ or smart keyboard suggestions.

Concepts for quick bet slip

Launch

The results of even this first roll out were a real success, with a yearly projected uplift worth of over £8mln.

Reality check: the reality of it was, that in the midst of this project a crisis hit another area, and v.2 of QBS got side-tracked. I documented all the UX decisions and suggestions, as well as A/B test plans, so the next person can pick it up and make informed decisions.