Horse Racing: Stats and Insights

Strategic Direction, Ideation, Concepts, Product Creation

Client

Sportsbet

Date

2022-2023

Roles

Planning, Research, Workshop facilitation, Design Lead, Stakeholder Management

Area of the business

The Horse Racing, Dog Racing, and Harness Racing divisions contribute significantly to Sportsbet, accounting for 70% of the annual profits. As the Senior Designer in this team, I played a key role in helping shape the strategic direction and generating innovative ideas for this sector.

Opportunity

Each year, Sportsbet creates a comprehensive corporate strategy to guide its commercial objectives. The company also runs a monthly customer research survey, providing valuable feedback from our clientele. This data is essential in identifying customer pain points and opportunities for improvement.

One area that stood out was the Racecard section on both the Sportsbet app and website. It had remained largely unchanged for some time, according to feedback from our surveys. Additionally, competitors in the sports betting market have made significant strides in improving their offerings in this area. The decline in turnover for this segment of the business further emphasised the need for updates and innovation.

The Process
In this phase, we outlined clear timelines, scheduled recurring project meetings, and set up regular stakeholder check-ins to keep everyone aligned throughout the design process. We also created a centralised repository for all project-related documents. Tools like Miro have been invaluable in providing a collaborative space, especially during workshops.

Initial Research
Before diving into ideation workshops, we conducted extensive customer research to inform our design decisions. For this project, we facilitated one-on-one testing sessions where customers walked us through their journey with the current racing product. We asked them to describe their decision-making process and gather insights into their experiences. This research included both regular racing customers and sports bettors who only occasionally placed horse racing bets.

Competitor Analysis
Before we began ideating, we conducted an in-depth competitor analysis to understand how other players in the market were approaching racecard design. We discovered that some competitors were effectively streamlining their racecards, offering a more user-friendly way to access key information. Although Sportsbet provides comprehensive racing statistics, the overwhelming amount of data could sometimes confuse customers. Unlike our competitors, Sportsbet lacked an intuitive method to help users easily identify key insights.

User Analytics
Our user analytics team played a vital role in understanding how customers navigated the app and website. They provided insights into user behavior and highlighted potential friction points, enabling us to fine-tune the user experience.

Workshops

The next step in my process is to initiate ideation workshops. I intentionally invite individuals from diverse roles across the organisation, as I’ve found that this diversity of perspectives leads to a richer pool of ideas. Although horse racing may be a niche area, not everyone at Sportsbet is well-versed in betting on it. Involving people from different backgrounds brings fresh insights and fosters dynamic discussions.

To kick off these workshops, I create a Miro board and outline a clear agenda. I incorporate icebreakers to ensure participants feel comfortable and engaged. I also invite subject matter experts to share their insights and provide thought starters to stimulate discussion if necessary. Additionally, I gather existing research, competitor analyses, and relevant data to serve as a reference during the workshops.

Typically, these workshops span two days. By the end, we have a clear set of customer problems to address, initial ideas, and sometimes even early-stage concepts. This collaborative approach helps us leverage the collective expertise and creativity of the team, driving innovation and problem-solving.

Re-group

Following the workshops, we reconvene as a project team to determine the most promising direction to pursue. We revisit the company’s commercial strategy and review the initial research to ensure we’re still addressing the original customer problems and pain points, while also staying aligned with our business objectives. This process helps us confirm we’re on track and allows for any necessary adjustments to our approach as we move forward.

Post-workshop Inital concepts miro board

Initial Concepts, Low-Fidelity Designs, and Prototypes
After generating ideas in our workshops, we move on to developing initial concepts and low-fidelity designs. These early-stage designs are shared with stakeholders and undergo initial user testing to gather valuable feedback. Throughout this process, I regularly reference our Miro board and revisit the core customer problems and pain points to ensure we remain focused on addressing the right issues. This helps us stay aligned with our goal of improving user experiences and making their lives easier. The iterative nature of this approach ensures we refine our designs based on real-world feedback and continue making progress toward better solutions.

Idea: Card layout. Reduce cognative load

Idea: Show the stats and insights you want to see

Idea: Race Summary and key insights

Idea: Racecard explained

Customer Research - Round 1
Our approach to user testing is tailored to the specific nature of the concepts and user groups involved. For initial concepts, we often conduct unmoderated user testing, which allows us to engage a broader customer base and gather diverse feedback.

Customer Research Round 1 Analysis

After completing the initial testing phase, we compile a summary of key takeaways and outline a recommended direction for the concepts. This stage typically involves narrowing down the number of concepts based on the feedback received. We then present our findings, along with our suggested approach and rationale, to stakeholders. This transparent communication ensures everyone is aligned and helps stakeholders understand the reasoning behind the proposed direction.

High-Fidelity Designs
During this phase, the Racing: Stats and Insights designs were refined into three final concepts. We chose to develop three distinct ideas to give customers the option to streamline content on the racecard and quickly find key information to support their decision-making. Each concept focused on presenting relevant data clearly and efficiently, enabling users to make faster, more informed choices.

Customer Research - Round 2
The three final concepts underwent testing with a smaller group of users, with a more in-depth analysis. Typically, these sessions are conducted via 45-minute Zoom calls, where we guide customers through the prototypes and engage them in task-based activities. This approach provides valuable insights into user interactions, preferences, and pain points, allowing us to refine the concepts further before finalizing implementation decisions.

Customer Research Round 2 Analysis

After the second round of testing, we present the refined concepts, incorporating user feedback, alongside the high-fidelity designs to stakeholders. This stage allows us to finalize delivery timelines.

At this point, senior designers may take a step back, allowing midweight designers to focus on refining the final user interface (UI). Midweight designers collaborate closely with developers and quality assurance (QA) teams, reviewing user journeys, designs, and micro-animations to ensure smooth integration and functionality. Senior designers remain involved by offering design critique, participating in future testing phases, and supporting stakeholders throughout the product delivery process. This collaborative effort ensures that the final design is successfully translated into a fully functional product.

Finished product

The completed product, Fast Form, was designed and launched to the public in March 2023.

Upon release, it showed promising adoption, with 80% of active users engaging with Fast Form. It quickly became the most utilised section of the Racecard during its debut week.

In the weeks that followed, Fast Form maintained a consistently high usage rate, with daily engagement ranging from 76% to 81% of daily racing active users.