( Case study · 01 / 05 )
Tipico
Getting more people to stick around on Germany's №1 sportsbook, now in the US.
- Role
- UI/UX Designer
- Type
- iOS & Android app
- Year
- 2022 to 2023
- Tools
- Figma, Design system, Prototyping, Usability testing
( Overview )
Tipico is Germany's №1 sportsbook, and its US app has more than 125,000 active players on iOS and Android. While I was there I worked on redesigns and new features, teamed up with people across the company to set our goals, and looked after a big design system.
Three of those projects are below: a rework of our most visited screens (Project “Clear”), a brand new betting product (Prebuilt Parlays), and a rebuild of the app's second most visited page (My Bets).
It all added up. While I was on the team, retention climbed from 21% to 46%, and Tipico jumped from 12th to 4th in the UX rankings of US sportsbooks.
( Chapter 01 / 03 )
Project “Clear”
A push to rework the UI and UX of our most visited screens, making them faster and richer so we could close the gap with the competition.
- 01Understand where things stood
- 02Research the market and gather inspiration
- 03Run a design workshop and ideate
- 04Build first designs and prototypes
- 05Develop and ship
- 06Test, gather feedback, iterate
Where we stood
Eilers & Krejcik's 2021 quarterly gaming report ranked Tipico 12th among US sportsbooks. A quick survey of 450 customers told us why: the app was hard to use and harder to get around. When we asked what fell short next to other apps, 77% pointed at promotions and 51% at the interface itself.
The research also told us exactly what players cared about. Game lines and parlays dominated bet preferences, and a third of players bet a few times a week. Speed to bet was everything.
89%
of players bet game lines, with parlays close behind at 78%
$170.50
average deposit amount
$87
average single bet
The homepage
The homepage is where people find their favorite leagues and bets, so it got the first pass. To design it honestly, I had to name the main task. Why do people open the app at all? Simple: they come to place a bet. Every decision after that got measured against it.
✕ What needed fixing
- 01Too cluttered
- 02Quick links got overlooked, so engagement stayed low
- 03Top Events ate 33% of the screen and was mostly a jumping off point
- 04It often repeated the same content as Featured
✓ How we fixed it
- 01Used Hick's Law to cut the clutter; account settings moved into a hamburger menu
- 02Swapped Top Events for Prebuilt Parlays, which people engage with far more
- 03Folded Top Events into the Featured section
- 04A new icon set for a fresher look and feel
Leaning into the brand
Tipico is a red, black, and yellow company. The brand and marketing always were, but the product wasn't. The old UI leaned on blues and greens, so we pushed the brand red through the interface and gave it a positive spin.
The league & event pages
About 54% of bets get placed at the league and event level, so these pages got their own pass. Team names were cutting off past a character limit, and stats panels opened by default, which pushed the actual bets below the fold. We lined up the names and logos and kept event stats closed by default, so more bets show at a glance.
Measuring results
We set the targets up front: conversion (how many finish the main task), time to bet (how long it takes), retention (how often people come back), and daily and monthly active users. By August the numbers had moved. App Store five star ratings were up 82% since January, monthly bets per person climbed from 13.5 to 22.3, and the time from picking a bet to placing it dropped from 2.1 minutes to 38 seconds.
( Chapter 02 / 03 )
Prebuilt Parlays
Ready made parlays, offered like products, to make betting simpler for casual players and take the mystery out of parlays for newcomers.
Why we built it
- 01People found it hard to build their own parlays. A survey showed about 40% of parlay bettors would be keen if we suggested some
- 02New customers didn't really get parlays, so prebuilts work as a gentle intro to a feature that can feel intimidating
Brainstorming
A lot of digging went into the most popular leagues, teams, and markets. The leagues were obvious (NFL and NBA), but the real challenge was picking the right markets to combine. The data pointed to game lines (who wins), spreads, and player props.
Design decisions
Plenty of competitors ship prebuilts as big flashy banners. I steered away from that on purpose, because people tune banners out (banner blindness). I wanted these to feel like part of the product, not a marketing push.
Three rules shaped the card:
- 01The header carries the sport icon, event time, matchup, and type of parlay
- 02It stays visually consistent with the betslip and My Bets, which keeps people from getting confused
- 03Picking an offer feels exactly like tapping the regular odds buttons used everywhere else
~31%
of all bets are now prebuilts (Mixpanel, since the June launch)
~60%
of prebuilts get placed from the homepage
League level
surfacing followed once the feature earned it
( Chapter 03 / 03 )
My Bets
The most visited page after the homepage, where players track their money. The problem: it barely told them anything beyond won, lost, or still going.
What players said
A quick survey turned up real confusion. Straight from players:
“Where are the odds?”
“The information is confusing”
“I don't know which ones are live”
“Feels cluttered”
“Does the open mean expand?”
“Am I supposed to cash out now?”
✕ What needed fixing
- 01Headers didn't give enough information
- 02The buttons were overwhelming and the hierarchy was off
✓ How we fixed it
- 01A clear, simple way to know the status of every bet
- 02More about each bet, with the market and odds on every card
- 03A calmer, clearer cashout button
Results
- 01Easier to scan and a better experience overall
- 02A more engaging live betting experience, with more sessions per person on live events
- 03Active player days went up 46%
( Outcomes )
21→46%
Retention while I was on the team
12th→4th
In the UX rankings of US sportsbooks
2.1m→38s
Picking a bet to placing it
13.5→22.3
Monthly bets per person
( Next project )