The Winning Seat App Redesign
The Winning Seat is a mobile app that blends sports, sweepstakes, and real-time competition, offering fans the chance to win cash prizes during live games. To improve engagement, retention, and overall usability, we redesigned the app’s interface for both iOS and Android, refining user flows and optimizing the experience to keep players engaged longer.
Graphic User Interface Designer | September 2022
01. The Challenge
The original app had usability issues that made navigation and gameplay less intuitive. Key challenges included:
A confusing onboarding process that led to user drop-off.
Cluttered UI elements that made it difficult to focus on key game interactions.
A lack of consistent engagement drivers, impacting daily active users and session length.
We needed to streamline the experience, making it easier for users to join contests, track their progress, and stay engaged throughout live games.
02. The Process
User Research & Competitive Analysis – We studied user feedback, app store reviews, and analyzed competitor apps to identify opportunities for improvement.
Redesigning the UI & UX – We refined the interface to improve navigation, enhanced visual hierarchy for better readability, and introduced clearer call-to-actions for user engagement.
A/B Testing & Iteration – We ran simultaneous cross-platform tests to fine-tune elements such as button placements, color contrasts, and interactive elements to maximize usability.
Implementing Engagement Features – We added subtle gamification techniques, improved notifications, and streamlined the onboarding process to increase retention.
User Personas
To better understand our target users—their goals, needs, interests, and influences—we relied on qualitative and statistical data to define three key market segments. This helped us set aside personal biases and design with user motivations in mind. We kept these personas broad to avoid assumptions based on age or gender, ensuring a more objective approach to our design decisions.
-
Motivation: Turn passion and knowledge into winnings
Story: This fanatic wants to further elevate their live-action experience and competitive edge by waging bets against their friends, winning prizes and gaining bragging rights.
Conversion Method: Increase number of live-action events, Introduce in-app wagers among members
-
Motivation: Curiosity, Increase Knowledge/Interaction, Prizes & Offers
Story: This casual fan loves a good game of chance and any opportunity to win some prizes while their partner yells at the tv.
Conversion Method: Free Platform, Simple UI/UX
-
Motivation: Root for their team, the thrill of winning, save money, support local
Story: Whether their favorite team or alma mater is playing or not, they represent the biggest redemption ratio, being the most likely demographic to cash in their offers at local businesses. Got to save some money towards student loans.
Conversion Method: More win opportunities, daily check-ins for local offers
03. Wireframing
I sketched multiple design variations for each main screen, and as a team, we reviewed them, selected the strongest elements, and aligned on a final design direction. I then created low-fidelity wireframes to map out the new user flow before developing high-fidelity prototypes in Figma.
Once the wireframes were well-defined, our engineers conducted usability testing. Based on the findings, I refined the designs before finalizing the high-fidelity prototypes.
04. UI Design
After resolving usability issues, I created the first high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. Our design aimed to enhance clarity, accessibility, and engagement, incorporating a gender-neutral aesthetic that better reflected our diverse user base. We introduced a soft, sporty grey background with vibrant primary colors, unique shapes, identifiable icons, and 3D assets to add a sense of playfulness and interaction. The addition of a bottom navigation bar provided quick access to key screens, improving accessibility and user flow.
05. The Results
More intuitive navigation, leading to improved user flow and reduced friction.
Increased daily active users (DAUs) through improved onboarding and engagement tactics.
Enhanced in-app time and session length, making gameplay more seamless and enjoyable.
06. Key Takeaways
Simplicity drives engagement – Reducing clutter and refining navigation improved usability and retention.
Gamification matters – Strategic tweaks to incentives and notifications helped increase daily participation.
Testing leads to growth – A/B testing on UI elements allowed us to fine-tune details that enhanced the overall experience.
By redesigning The Winning Seat, we created a more immersive, user-friendly app that kept fans engaged and excited throughout live games.