*All UI/UX designs by JON EVA
SlipChat
SlipChat is a groundbreaking sports betting platform that leverages AI to deliver sports bettors on-demand resources and community-driven AI predictions packaged within an engaging and gamified experience.
OVERVIEW
PROBLEM
Sports bettors and their friends enjoy betting together, cheering on or competing against each other. "Which team did you take? What were the odds? Did you win your bet?" Most of this interaction takes place over text message groups. Very few platforms offer a complete engagement cycle from bet to track to review.
OUTCOME
We have created a product by streamlining and automating the betting cycle while virally engaging and entertaining users. Initial numbers show that SlipChat has drastically reduced customer acquisition costs in an industry that relies heavily on advertising and marketing.
PROJECT
Build a digital product that uses gamification to drive sports betting conversations and generates win probabilities through natural-language processing and AI.
INFO
TEAM
J. Verbeek, S. Luger, M. Del Rio
ROLE
Lead Product Designer, Product Manager
RESEARCH
Understanding the problem
Our initial research uncovered a research approach that focused on grouping bettors based on their knowledge of betting and their relationship to betting rather than typical personas derived from basic demographics.
KEY FINDINGS
Major insights and findings
1
Resources are Not Centralized or Timely
Sports bettors typically spend 2-3 hours researching potential wagers and analyzing statistics before placing a bet.
2
The Engagement Cycle is Broken
The engagement cycle is broken. Once the game ends, the conversation ends, making it difficult for betting platforms to re-engage with their customers.
3
Predictive Models and Signals are Imprecise
Current "experts" and predictive models that generate "picks" are often imprecise and offer a success rate of only 55% at best.
OPPORTUNITY
The number of bettors who bet with friends is increasing
In 2021 37% of all bettors placed a sports bet with a friend. The following year 49% of younger bettors placed a bet with a friend. There is an opportunity to build a social betting platform.
49%
Of younger sport bettors are betting with friends and family
76%
Of younger sports bettors say it’s a form of entrepreneurship
51%
Most often go to social media for gambling information and tips
INITIAL DESIGN
Sketching on Post It notes allows me a bit of sketching flexibility. The notes are about the width of a mobile device; you can cut them into small sub-sections and stick them together just like you would cut and paste components in a mobile product design.
ITERATION
Small details drive a larger impact
A product designer should always adhere to the classic design approach, from initial sketches to wireframes to typography. When considering typography in UI, the value of the data to the user is equally important to how that data is organized.
POST MORTEM
Final thoughts and do-overs
1
Test Large Features in a Small Way
Our initial vision for SlipChat was to become the "social network for sports bettors." However, we quickly realized that we should allow releases with incremental user impact to lead the build. This change in approach allowed us to focus on the user's fundamental problem rather than the product's overall potential impact.
2
Aesthetics ARE Pleasing
Throughout building SlipChat and via testing, we found that users strongly reacted to design iterations that isolated various statistics. We learned that our sports betting users were zeroing in on timely statistics in the different stages of determining or following a bet.
3
Focus on Making it Sticky
Our focus was getting to MVP and an initial release ASAP. This approach made our team lose focus on our initial research findings to "fix the engagement cycle." Without a sticky central feature, our daily active user count dwindled. Pivoting this focus increased our user retention.
