Role
Lead Product Designer
Client
William Hill
Year
2022
Team Size
8
William Hill is working to reshape its brand image and reduce registration drop-off rates. Previous research showed the brand was seen as "soulless" and focused only on profits. The registration drop-off rate was about 63%, rising to 97% for users who needed to provide extra information.
This project was not about re-platforming the current registration system, as we still had to accommodate legacy requirements essential to certain areas of the business.
Our key goals were to:
Enhance consumer perception of the brand.
Reduce the drop-off rate.
Minimise the number of users needing to provide additional information.
Improve the quality of the data we are collecting
Reduce fraud accounts
Analyse existing Journey
Registering for William Hill is a complex process involving soft background checks through a third party and multiple moving parts within a single user journey. To identify the pain points, it was crucial to thoroughly understand each step of the process across all countries.
Analysing errors at the end of the sign-up journey revealed significant shortcomings. Many of these issues could have been addressed earlier in the process. For instance, if a user attempts to register with an email already in use, we should notify them immediately through form field validation. However, our current system only flags this issue after the entire registration process is completed.
User-Testing
Customer information analysis
We created wireframes and prototypes for various registration journeys, including a multi-step process, a 4-step journey, and a 4-step journey with regrouped information. Initial tests using Usertesting.com showed positive feedback for the designs overall, but users found the multi-step journey frustrating, describing it as "feeling like it went on forever."
Next, we compared the two 4-step designs: one retained the original grouping of information, while the other organized the data into more logical categories. These were then tested against the existing design. The results strongly favored the regrouped prototype. Detailed findings from these tests are outlined above.
A significant challenge for the brand was the tone of voice used throughout the registration journey, which users described as "soulless" and "robotic." This reinforced the perception that "we didn’t care about our customers." User testing and analytics also revealed that poor error messaging and a lack of assistance throughout the process were major contributors to drop-offs.
To address this, we reviewed and rewrote every piece of copy to ensure it was helpful, empathetic, and easy to understand. Additionally, we audited every component to ensure they functioned correctly and aligned with the data we needed to collect.
In the first month, we saw a significant reduction in drop-offs, from 63% to 39%. The number of users needing to provide additional information for KYC purposes also decreased substantially.
While the quality of customers spending on the site improved, overall registrations dropped by 15%. This decline raised some concerns, but it can be attributed to a reduction in fraudulent accounts and fewer users creating multiple accounts.