Betfair

Overview

We have been a long-term research partner for Flutter group supporting its range of brands for over a decade. Recently we provided the user research stream for a project that reimagined how Betfair could present their sports betting offering and helped launch a more modern look and feel for their core betting products on a new platform.

Research services

Discovery

Usability testing

Audience mapping & personas

The challenge

Strategic design refresh

How can we refresh the design of our current platforms, making sure it is easy to use, offers added value over competitors and does not alienate our current customer base?

Our approach to solving the problem

Qualitative research on a 2-week sprint basis

Through workshops with the internal UX team, we defined a set of ‘core journeys’ for the new product that allowed us to conceptualise it into a set of discrete parts to consider, design for, test and measure over a year.

The framework was pivotal for communicating progress with senior management and helped us schedule effort required for design, research and development activities across upcoming sprints.

Our approach to solving the problem

Issues backlog built up & iterative designs created

We worked in a ‘week on’-’week off’ pattern for the research stream, which was a rapid cadence but it allowed the design team to iterate quickly and evaluate if their ideas resulted in improvements for their varied user base.

We used an issues backlog, identified in research, to evaluate user impact and plan upcoming iterations with designers and developers. This helped gradually tackle key challenges and move towards a user-centred and evidence-based MVP.

Measuring efficiency using a mix of benchmarking techniques

Updating the design for products with a loyal customer base worldwide is a risky change for a company like Betfair. Making sure current users didn’t feel alienated and could continue using their favourite products was essential for success.

The speed of “getting a bet on” is crucial for both users and the business, so we evaluated the efficiency of the products through:

Benchmarking the key differences in the user journeys of the current products against the new ones
Carrying out ‘timed tasks’ around key steps in the betting journey
Defining an ‘ease of use’ framework to track efficiency issues from testing
Gathering user input using an in-app feedback form during the initial Beta

Understanding user behaviour, attitudes and situational factors

Highlights

Face-to-face research with hundreds of users
Identified 8 factors impacting audience behaviour
A deeper understanding of the user lead to positive design outcomes

We used ‘audience factors’ to understand the diverse set of behavioural, attitudinal and situational factors that would impact people’s experience and understanding of the new product.

Through our face-to-face research with hundreds of potential users of the service we identified a set of specific factors that influence how people use gaming products. By considering these factors individually, we deduced a set of specific challenges that required innovative design solutions. This ultimately led to a better and more positive user experience for customers.

Outcomes

Tested with 144 users in 24 rounds of research

Remote and face to face interviews with current and potential users resulted in a successful and iterative process just over the course of a year.

36 users in lab based sessions, 26 people at VIP events, and 82 remote user sessions.

Helped create a bespoke MVP

We helped create an intuitive MVP ready to launch for Beta that is tailored around the needs of specific types of bettors and allows easy onboarding and a gradual exploration of new features.

Our thoughts

This project was an example of how a large-scale task can progress quickly through iterative design and research without compromising on user experience. We played an active role in removing barriers to use and addressing key considerations for the product’s success. And of course we were thrilled to be asked back to carry out Betfair’s international testing for Rebuild as well.

An Marien, Senior User Experience Researcher

This was user centred design in a highly crowded market, where any change to the experience could have severe financial impacts. This project relied on robust qualitative insights throughout to inform the design and provide a clear understanding of what would work for the entire range of Betfair customers.

Dave Grayson, Director of User Experience Research

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