BetMate
Case Study
Purpose:
When BetMate entered the DALI Lab, the project was just a concept. There was software for betting odds for moves and game matches; however, there did not exist a current interface for users. The DALI BetMate team was tasked with creating a web platform for users to fully bet on live chess games. The partners defined very broad and vague deliverables for the inital 10 week sprint.
Timeline:
10 weeks
Team:
Archita Harathi - Designer
William Perez - Designer
Wylie Kasai - Design Mentor
Tags:
The Challenge
When BetMate entered the DALI Lab, the project was just a concept. There was software for betting odds for moves and game matches; however, there did not exist a current interface for users. The DALI BetMate team was tasked with creating a web platform for users to fully bet on live chess games. The partners defined very broad and vague deliverables for the inital 10 week sprint.
Competitor Research
Kicking off our research stage, the design team conducted Although the chess and gambling markets are large, the interecting markets remain relatively open. Competitor research uncovered the large complexities of chess notation, betting metrics, and communicating data since the design team had limited expereince with both chess and betting.
Identifying our Users
The candidates given for the user interviews were primarily chess oriented. Though we got a deeper understanding of the needs of chess players of all levels, our research fell a bit short when it came to fully understanding betting. However, we leveraged our access to stakeholders and reached out to our partners for additional betting insights.
From user interviews we were able to narrow down our persona to the intrigued amateur. Though we were compelled to cater to a competitive and exeprienced autdience, since Betmate is an up and coming platform we wanted to cater to as many audiences as possible.
Pain Points
Handwriting personalized notes for post-drill feedback.
Identifying VIP members & distributing correction time accordingly
Scheduling drill instructing lessons an selecting course topics
Providing personalized post-drill feedback to each student
HMW create a simple user flow to solidify our main features while also encouraging engagement?
User Journey
We mapped out the user flow for the BetMate platform, breaking down users’ thoughts throughout every step primarily focused on the betting flow for users during a chess game and ensuring an enjoyable user experience.
Ideating and Iterating
To begin the ideation process for BetMate’s betting mechanism we utilized the Crazy 8 sketch technique. This design sprint method allowed the team to think of innovating the structure and hierarchy in which we displayed the betting data to the user. I used a thick pencil brush on my iPad in order to avoid spending too much time on the finer details. Afterwards, I went back to annotate the core functionality of each sketch. The Crazy 8’s process is fun and messy. After dot voting as a team, we moved foward with the following crazy 8s:
Betting Mechanism: A Closer Look
As we moved into grayscales, we began to run into understanding roadblocks betwen the move and game betting. The partners revealed that we had to seperate the current designs into two seperate betting componets: traditional betting for overall game betting & pool betting for specific move betting.
The next point of discussion was getting feedback on the iterations of the betting flow. After recieving constructive feedback from designers in the lab, we decided to move forward with a token click. Since chess moves can range from a few seconds to mintues and possibly hours, the betting flow needed to minmize the time needed to interact with the betting buttons per each chess move.
Reflecting on Research
Reflecting on the challenge of solidifying a solid UX for this chess betting project was an enormous feat as neither I nor my design partner and mentor had any chess or betting expereince. Though we struggled to understand the functionality of pool betting and house betting intitally, the mulitple iterations that followed clearly targeted the pain points of users (limited time, knowledge of chess notation and betting odds, and being overwhelmed) while emphasizing a delightful user expereince. Asking for help and clarifying any confusion through detailed communcation with our partners was vital. Communication internally between my design partner, mentor, and I was crucial as I was new to the designer role in the lab.
Logo Discussions
The partners brought forth a logo created by one of their partner’s. They had a personal attachment to the logo; however, it catered to the masculine dominated chess and betting field. In efforts to break away from those sterotypes, the design team presented a new version. After mulitple conversations and justifying the logo as a means of appealing to a broader audience, the partners agreed to adopt the new logo.
Rebranding
Once we settles in with the logo change, this opened the door for a major changes to the user interface in regards to color. After curating a mood board, we began to explore two potential options: a neon and pastel option. After recieving feedback, we decided to move forward with the neon and gradient focused designs because it created a more cohesive style with the dark UI. The other pastel graphic designs distracted the user from the main chess betting content.
With the poopularity of emojicons as an extension of any language, we leveraged the use of emojis throughout the site’s designs. We didn’t want to completely immerse the user with these emoji’s, presenting the design team a challenge in regards to the in-app currency we presented to the user. Ultimately, we moved forward with the money bag emoji for consistency in style across the platform.
The visuals pair well with the engaging prompt of the platform. I will be using this for my own enjoyment.
Reflecting on Research
Reflecting on the challenge of solidifying a solid UX for this chess betting project was an enormous feat as neither I nor my design partner and mentor had any chess or betting expereince. Though we struggled to understand the functionality of pool betting and house betting intitally, the mulitple iterations that followed clearly targeted the pain points of users (limited time, knowledge of chess notation and betting odds, and being overwhelmed) while emphasizing a delightful user expereince. Asking for help and clarifying any confusion through detailed communcation with our partners was vital. Communication internally between my design partner, mentor, and I was crucial as I was new to the designer role in the lab.
Check out the fully functional Figma prototype!
william pérez
