How to stand out when regulation frames design?

Much has been written by analysts and experts about the ‘new normal’ that industries will face following the coronavirus pandemic. The gambling sector has experienced a huge uplift in fortune with ACI Worldwide, a universal payments company, reporting a 97% increase in transaction volumes when comparing March 2020 with 2019.

There is also an uplift in subscribers, both known and unknown. Recent research on forced experimentation suggests a good proportion will remain long after the outbreak has ended.

With increases in subscribers and transaction volumes, the sector is coming under greater scrutiny and must deal with more regulation and bigger fines. There will also be wider variation between how markets approach regulation. It was reported recently that Spain, Belgium and Latvia were taking different approaches to regulation amidst concerns over coronavirus.

Regulation already provides a seemingly ever-closing net within which the gambling sector must operate. Historically, this has resulted in a vanilla experience for customers, where many find it hard to tell the difference between operators. Therefore, what differentiates each operator is the brand, the deals and the advertising – not the experience.

The ‘new-normal’ for operators could therefore be described as more and different subscribers; evolving behaviours and engagement; wider international variation; all against a backdrop of increased regulation and a spike in fines.

Operators that want to retain the uplift they are seeing, understand the ‘new-normal’, stand out in the crowd and elegantly address regulation, must put the customer experience (CX) at their core. It is the single attribute that connects all these and provides a strategic platform beyond technology.

Few operators truly have CX or even user experience (UX) in their DNA. This is typified by the first UX research brief we receive from most operators almost always being to evaluate the registration and deposit process. To use industry parlance, good UX at this level should be a “table-stake”.

Steps to success

Where do you start? Step one is to develop a clear vision of what customer experience means to your organisation and what your aspirations are. This is the foundation of your CX strategy and needs to be established within the commercial context. To take root, it must deliver positive ROI, solve a problem (i.e. how to differentiate in the new-normal) and not be a vanity project.

A clear CX strategy will provide the context within which you address regulation. There is no avoiding your need to conform, but that approach can be framed by the experience you aspire to deliver. It will provide a different dimension to your brand and enable you to differentiate and to stand out, not just visually.

Step two is to develop an intimate and up-to-date understanding of your customers. This goes beyond transactions, game preferences, analytics and even personas. Most operators have vast amounts of data regarding their users and customers. Few genuinely know who they are – and no, sitting in a room with your colleagues creating proto-personas is not the answer.

You need to understand who your customers really are. Their behaviours, aspirations, journeys and how you fit into their lives. Critically, particularly at this time, is that this is truly “up-to-date”. Done properly it will not only provide the platform against which design decisions are made, it will also advance your strategy in addressing the ‘new-normal’.

Finally, you need to implement your strategy. This must encapsulate how your staff fit in, their role and how they add value. It is as much a cultural change as it is a technological, design or operational challenge. It is necessarily a top down activity because if CX is in the organisation’s DNA it is everything.

Paul Blunden – UX24/7 CEO and founder

Paul Blunden is the founder and CEO of UX24/7 and works with global boards and digital teams to help them deliver better digital products worldwide. He has spent nearly 20 years in the design research sector and during that time has helped leading brands enter new markets, develop new digital products and optimise existing products.