Define

Workshop

The project began with a week-long workshop involving the Director of Sports and the Product Owner to define business requirements and understand the product vision. This workshop was invaluable in deepening my understanding of sportsbooks.

Business Requirements

Prioritise ease of use on mobile devices, ensuring critical interactions are within thumb's reach.

Stay ahead of trends in mobile navigation and gestures.

Challenge traditional navigation for a more efficient user experience.

Reuse components across devices to streamline development without compromising UX.

Allow users to track sports events while browsing other parts of the app.

Integrate cross-selling of casino products non-disruptively.

Feature Priority Survey

Upon defining the initial requirements and presenting them to a broader group of stakeholders, I observed a divergence in the perceived importance of some features. Recognising this, I promptly disseminated a survey to internal employees who are avid sportsbook users. The study aimed to identify the features they use most frequently and those used least often. They were also encouraged to suggest any missing features. This exercise proved instrumental in understanding which features required prime accessibility and helped us pinpoint elements we could potentially eliminate or reevaluate for their relevance.

Card Sorting

To enhance alignment regarding the product vision among stakeholders, I facilitated multiple card sorting workshops involving them. Key takeaways were:

Participants introduced a new category, "My Inventory," for viewing available power-ups, free bets, and promotions.

All groups expressed their anticipation to find recommended bets prominently displayed on the homepage.

There was over an 80% agreement concerning the placement of features on the Homepage, Sports Event View, and within the My Inventory section.

Three out of four groups highlighted their expectation to access casino games from the sports event view, primarily during the live match centre interaction.

Expert Review

I performed a competitive and expert review, assessing competitors' apps against Virgin Bet's strategic benchmarks. This involved identifying strengths and weaknesses and developing crucial user journeys.

Competitive Review

Design & Iterate

I held weekly meetings with the Product Owner to review wireframes and prototypes. I showcased refined designs, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses to stakeholders, and iteratively enhanced them based on the feedback received.

Prototyping played a pivotal role in this project, especially considering the geographically dispersed team across Europe.

Frequently, wireframes were transformed into Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi prototypes using Axure. This not only facilitated a better understanding of the flow and allowed quick testing of different interactions, but it also minimised potential misunderstandings and enabled me to illustrate ideas challenging to verbalise. I often used paper prototypes as well, with a significant breakthrough in the project occurring one evening while sketching on Post-It Notes.

Layer Overview

Once the stakeholders expressed their satisfaction with the concept, I proceeded to create a Layer Overview document. This document serves as a comprehensive guideline for designers and developers, helping them grasp the fundamental structure of the app.

Wireflows

Prototype

Final Design

Validate

Usability Tests

Nine users, including six casual and three advanced bettors, participated in usability testing. Each session lasted 60 to 90 minutes and was moderated by a colleague.

The app was also made available to Gamesys employees for internal testing, with around 600 participants. My responsibilities were:

Defined user tasks for testing and assisted the moderator with the testing flow.

Analysed feedback to identify key pain points and proposed solutions.

Created prototypes and tested them with stakeholders to validate proposed solutions.

Findings & Solutions

Release & Achievements

Fastest Growth

Virgin Bet became the fastest-growing sportsbook in the UK, growing over 200% year on year.

The Rising Star

Winner of 2021 SBC’s ‘The Rising Star’ award

Appendix

Mobile Web & Desktop Variants

As the project neared the end of the design phase, there was interest in releasing the product on mobile web and desktop. I created a responsive layout guideline for multiple breakpoints, adapting smartphone components for larger screens without compromising UX.

What I learned

Efficiency is King

Ensuring users can find events and markets with minimal clicks is critical, especially in sports betting where timing impacts earnings. I learned to prioritise and perfect crucial parts of the user journey for maximum efficiency.

Trusting Intuition

I realised that gut feelings often signal accumulated experience. If something felt off with the UI, digging deeper usually led to significant improvements, as experienced during a pivotal moment one night.

VIRGIN BET

Background

Role