Affordability Checks

Reimagining Affordability Checks: Simplifying Compliance, Reducing Churn

Transforming a clunky chatbot experience into an empathetic, user-friendly flow that meets compliance and improves engagement.

My contribution

I led the redesign of LiveScore’s affordability journey, collaborating with stakeholders to improve compliance workflows. I crafted user-friendly flows, redefined the Responsible Gambling tone of voice, and integrated the process into the app’s UI. By replacing the chatbot experience with an in-app journey, I enhanced usability, reduced churn, and ensured alignment with UKGC regulations.

The problem

HMW improve our affordability check UX so that our users experience less churn and complete the journey?

The target audience

High spending LiveScore Bet Users who are able to afford their gambling habits.

A little bit of context

LiveScore’s Responsibility to Protect Users from Gambling-Related Harm

The UK's gambling regulations, including Responsible Gambling (RG) measures, aim to protect individuals from harm and ensure fair practices. These rules are enforced by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) under the guidance of the Gambling Act 2005.

We Use Affordability Checks to Promote Safer Gambling

As part of our Safer Gambling Practices, we conduct Affordability Checks when users exhibit higher spending patterns. These checks ensure responsible play and may result in account restrictions to protect users from potential harm.

To Help More Users Complete the Journey, We Needed to Reduce Churn in the Affordability Check UX

Only 31% of users who reached the 80% threshold for Spend Controls completed their Affordability Checks through the FAQ page chatbot. We identified high churn in the user journey as a key barrier and set out to improve the process.

Some challenges we faced

Redefining the Tone of Voice and UI for Responsible Gambling

With LiveScore’s User Interface being primarily black, we felt we had to rethink how we communicated with our users. A different tone of voice and UI was needed to create a friendlier and calmer experience compared to our usual approach.

Adapting to New UKGC White Paper Regulations

Due to the new UKGC White Paper regulations, we needed to implement a restriction where users hitting £1,000 Net Deposit in 24 hours required direct contact to verify their affordability. This requirement led to integrating this flow into the broader experience we were already redesigning.

The process

Ideating with our main stakeholders from the get go

To tackle the challenge of reducing churn, we initiated a collaborative workshop with key stakeholders, including the Head of Engagement and the Responsible Gambling team. Together, we explored the question, 'How might we create a seamless and engaging affordability journey?' Instead of voting, we prioritized open discussions, enabling us to align early on key priorities like a user-friendly tone of voice and frictionless UX.

What was clear to us is that we wanted a seamless journey and User Experience as well as a redefined Tone of Voice on the RG journeys.

Establishing a Friendly Tone of Voice

To shift the perception of Responsible Gambling, we reimagined the tone of voice to be friendly, trustworthy, and calm—akin to 'a sober friend at the pub.'

This was supported by a UI refresh, introducing LiveScore’s calmer blue tones to create a welcoming experience distinct from the usual black interface. The revamped copy emphasized empathy, reassuring users they were supported throughout the journey.

Mapping complex flows

Given the complexity of affordability checks, we prioritized flow mapping to address triggers, restrictions, and backend processes.

These detailed flows were critical in designing an experience that balanced compliance with user ease. Collaboration with the Responsible Gambling team ensured accuracy and feasibility before diving into wireframes.

From an external chatbot to a custom build Affordability Questionnaire.

The initial chatbot-based journey felt clunky and disconnected. By embedding the affordability questionnaire directly into the app, we created a cohesive and intuitive experience. This allowed us to introduce two trigger points for the flow while simplifying navigation and ensuring consistency with the product's overall design.

To get stakeholder buy in and feedback we wireframed the flows in low fidelity

Let’s be real, flows are great, but sometimes they can be daunting to people. So in order to present the flow to a wider stakeholder group and get their thoughts we decided it’d be best to quick prototype and run a quick moderated test to make sure we felt a certain level of validation;

We tested a low fidelity prototype with a pinch of salt

To validate the redesigned flow, we tested low-fidelity prototypes in a quick, moderated study.

The learnings
While the feedback confirmed the questionnaire’s clarity, users found its 12-step format overwhelming.

The iteration
To address this, we divided the questionnaire into two parts, providing a sense of progress. This iteration reduced initial churn and improved user engagement, as evidenced in subsequent rounds of testing.

Adapting to Regulatory Changes

Midway through the project, new UKGC regulations introduced additional trigger points. Adapting quickly, we revised the flows to accommodate these changes while maintaining the seamless experience already designed. This iterative approach ensured compliance without sacrificing usability.

Delivering and Descoping

Faced with competing priorities and technical constraints, we streamlined the scope to launch the most impactful flow first. This focused approach allowed us to meet critical business goals while leaving room for iterative improvements post-launch.

We ended up having to descope one flow and focus on launching a single one.

Due to the complexity of the two flows juxtaposing between each other and the bigger tech effort required as well as business priorities to work on other projects we had to descope some of the flows. The good thing, doing so wouldn’t affect the journeys, considering each flow worked well independently.