Overview

The majority of Barstool Sportsbook's users didn't know about the myChoice rewards program because it provided very niche value to a small percentage of players. In this project, I revamped the way users interfaced with their rewards, which created a new cross-sell opportunity for the company and increased app engagement across primary user groups.

Problem

Context

Barstool Sportsbook & Casino is a gambling app with two main parts: the Sportsbook is where users can place bets on the outcomes of real-time sporting events, and the Casino offers a large collection of digital slots and table games. While the majority of the app's users exclusively stay within the Sportsbook, the Casino is more profitable for the company.

myChoice is Barstool Casino's rewards program that originated in their brick and mortar casinos. By playing games, users would earn myCash which could be redeemed for prizes (i.e. branded dinner plates, hats, and other merchandise). Once the Barstool Sportsbook & Casino app launched, however, the majority of users were unaware of the program's existence. Moreover, they had little interest in the myCash prizes. We saw this as a great cross-selling opportunity to revamp the rewards program and increase user engagement across both sides of the app.

Pain Points

Here's what we discovered from user research:

Only a small percentage of users regularly placed bets in both the Sportsbook and Casino; most exclusively used one or the other
Users voiced that if they could bet in the Sportsbook and Casino using the same source of funds, they would be more likely to do so
They wanted the ability to place bets using their bonus reward funds

Goals

Based on the information above, the goals of this project were to:

Increase the percentage of Sportsbook users who played in Casino, and vice versa
Help users feel confident and informed when betting in both Sportsbook and Casino
Make it easy for users to spend the bonus funds they earn

Process

Challenges

Due to reliance on third party providers, our system couldn't process bets by directly drawing from users' myCash balance. Instead, I had to build a separate flow that enabled the conversion of myCash.
I had to consider that myCash conversion could be initiated from different parts of the app, such as from account settings or during the checkout process of placing a bet.
The scope of the project changed several times, so I had to keep revisiting our goals and constraints as the project grew to make sure we were still creating an optimal experience for users.

User Flows

At this point I mapped out the necessary user flows for myCash conversion and placing bets using myCash.

Components

I also built a component library for both flows that included all the different states and combinations of UI elements.

Designs

The final screens feature flows that allow users to place Sportsbook bets with their accrued myCash. If they have myCash that needs to be converted, they can do so within the bet-placing flow or from the account settings page. Keep in mind that the majority of these screens are designed to be in a drawer overlay.

myCash Conversion

Placing Bets with myCash

Interactive Prototype

Here is an interactive prototype demonstrating how placing a bet with myCash might work with myCash conversion.

Conclusion

Outcomes

After shipping these designs, we received overwhelmingly positive user feedback. Users loved the ability to place bets using their myCash, and expressed that it was a huge incentive to play in both the Sportsbook and Casino. They also felt that the betting and conversion experience was smooth and intuitive. By repurposing the usage of myCash, we were able to create new user value and increase engagement across the app for all primary user groups.

Final Thoughts

I felt that the bonus fund allocation process could be simplified if we operated on the assumption that users wanted their myCash to be depleted before real cash. While this was something I tried to push for, it was a constraint I had to accept because the company wanted to account for edge cases surrounding promotion eligibility. The bet-placing process could also be simplified if myCash could directly be drawn from the user's account balance, but we were restricted by our dependencies on certain third party providers. If both these changes were to be implemented, I think the myChoice loyalty program would be even more successful.

x

myCash Overhaul