According to a recent article I read, there are over 5,000 people employed in the UK online gambling sector today. Judging by my recent experiences, few of them have ‘user experience’ in their job title. What amazed me was how most of the sites I looked at were clearly not focused upon the novice gambler experience. Maybe they work seamlessly for a seasoned gambler, but for a ‘newbie’ like me, it was so painful that I gave up in the end.

Betting on the next Chelsea manager

Before this weekend there’s been a lot of debate among fellow Chelsea fans over whether Avram Grant will still be Chelsea manager next season. So much so, that I began to feel pretty strongly about the whole thing and in a debate I was challenged to put my money where my mouth was. So that’s what I decided to do. The idea of going online to place a bet felt a lot less daunting than walking into a betting shop, so I started working my way through a few of the more well known gambling sites. Before long I found myself very confused.

Most, if not all the websites I looked at have no ability to search, which I found distressing as they assumed that I knew exactly what I was looking for and where to find it. Finding the Football or Soccer sections seemed to be a struggle and, even when I did, I found nothing that would allow me to bet on the next Chelsea manager. Overwhelmed by the bombardment of ads, promotions and betting options, I struggled to find a betting site that would guide a new user to make clear decisions. I found that I could bet on almost any competition I liked that was happening now or in the immediate future. I could even bet on who would win the Premiership next season, but there was absolutely nothing on future manager predictions. Since this weekend where Grant was sacked, many of the sites now have clear promotions to the various betting options leaving me frustrated that these weren’t clearly available only a week ago.

Little support for gambling ‘newbies’

Intrigued by the online betting user experience, I decided to continue my investigation by looking at the betting for Euro 2008. Although most of the sites listed the betting options in order, from the favourites to the least favourites, I still managed to get myself confused when trying to work out odds like 13/8. Like most other betting ‘newbies’ I just want to know how much I can win if I bet a certain amount, but very few sites let me work this out without forcing me to take the bold step of actually placing a bet.

Many of the sites listing Euro 2008 betting options required a certain level of understanding of gambling terminology with terms like ‘Antepost Betting’ and ‘Double Chance’. These sites made me feel like I didn’t belong, but even worse, they made me feel stupid. As a new user, I required: good navigation allowing me to quickly find what I wanted to bet on, some tools to help me decide which bets might be sound than others (e.g. links to football statistics), a clear way to understand the different betting options, and a method of clearly working out what I would win on each bet.

Poor online user experience

It’s predicted that in 2 years time, the UK gambling market will increase to £1.6bn with 2.1m active gamblers. This growth can be achieved much quicker if these sites paid more attention to improving their user experience.

Customer acquisition and retention are key in the online betting market with the number of sites competing for business. The sites which take the biggest market share over the coming years are likely to be those investing in customer experience for people new to online betting. I found it surprising the barriers customers have to overcome before converting.

Understanding customer requirements and improving usability is not an expensive endeavour, but all too often we see websites that fail to meet the needs of large groups of their audience, and on the face of it, the online betting market appears to be no different.

Are you meeting the needs of your customers online?

Related services: Customer requirements capture, Usability testing, and Customer experience research

We’ve all been there, in an electrical retail store buying a TV, DVD player, Hi Fi, or similar. Just when you’ve found the right product, in stock, at the right price, the pleasant sales person starts twitching and suddenly transforms into the Werewolf of insurance. Run for the hills.

Customer goals vs business goals

All you want to do is pay for the TV, have someone load it into your car, and away you go. So you have to wait for the Werewolf to take a breather in his well rehearsed drivel while the knot in your stomach gets tighter. When you get the opportunity to jump in with a quick, ‘No, it’s ok, I’ll take the risk’, he continues as if his newly enlarged pointed ears can’t process customer objections. It can get to a point where you would actually prefer not to buy the product and go elsewhere. What a shame.

Staff incentives move focus away from customer needs

Let’s look at this from the Werewolf’s perspective. They are well trained in the different products available, and they are also well trained and experienced in asking the right questions to understand the customer’s needs before making recommendations. The retailer will put a lot of effort into the retail customer experience to ensure customers return and, ultimately, choose this store to part with their cash. On top of all of this, the sales person is then told that at least 10% of their retail sales must come from selling insurance. Suddenly, all the previous training, and all the marketing that the retailer puts into ‘customer experience’, might as well be thrown to the wolves.

The issue here is that the customer receives a very good retail experience up to the point of selecting a product. The customer expectation at this point is to pay and have their new TV loaded into their car. At the point of choosing the TV, and being told that it is in stock, most people (if they are like me) are looking forward to getting home as quickly as possible to set the TV up in time for the football. This nice and happy thought is then rudely interrupted by the previously pleasant sales person, who now has large fangs, forcing an extended warranty down your throat.

I don’t mind being asked if I want to extend the warranty, and to be told that it can be extended any time in the first year, but when I inform him that I do not want an extended warranty (doesn’t my household insurance cover most of this anyway?) I expect the matter to be closed, and to return to my vision of my living room as a surround sound cinema complex!

Retailers are not listening

What’s worse is that this has been going on since I worked in a large electrical retailer, and that was 15 years ago, and people would have this same conversation then. What is the point of all the training and retail customer experience activity to only let the whole thing down at the end of the sales process? From a retailer’s perspective they will often still get the sale, so the lesson is not learnt and we all have to put up with this because it is the norm. Well, I’ve spoken to a couple of people recently who have decided to walk away as soon as the Werewolf refuses to listen to the objection to extended warranty. If we all did this do you think they might finally listen? Come on Mr Retailer, let us buy our goods and enjoy them, or I might have to resort to browsing in your store and buying online.

Are your staff incentives having a negative impact on your customer experience?

Related services: Customer Experience Research, and Customer Journey Mapping