PlayGreen was a betting app that offers an engaging and responsible gambling experience.Spent 2 years as an in-house product designer at Playgreen, a US-led sports betting app operating across Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. Working within a 2-person design team, I owned the design and iteration of 5 core feature areas — betting flows, onboarding, gamification mechanics, statistics dashboards, and engagement notifications — all shipped to a live user base. Collaborated directly with developers and conducted user research to inform product decisions throughout the product lifecycle.
Year
2023
Client
Playgreen
2 years
In-house designer on a live product with users across 3 countries
3 markets
Product scaled across Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil simultaneously
5 areas
Feature ownership: betting flows, onboarding, gamification, stats, engagement
US-led
Working in English with a US-based CEO and cross-functional team
Approach
The approach to designing PlayGreen centered on creating a culturally tailored and user-friendly betting app for Ecuadorian and Brazilian users. This process involved thorough user research, market analysis, and localization to ensure the app resonated with its target audience. Key elements included integrating both sports and casino betting, emphasizing responsible gambling, and introducing innovative features like community-driven betting pools and eco-friendly rewards. The result is an intuitive, engaging, and culturally relevant app that stands out in the betting market.
Research and Discovery
The project began with extensive research to lay a solid foundation for the app’s design:
User Research: Conducted interviews, surveys, and focus groups with sports and casino bettors to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points.
Market Analysis: Analyzed leading sports and casino betting apps to identify best practices, trends, and areas for innovation.
Regulatory Review: Investigated industry regulations and responsible gambling practices to ensure compliance and promote user safety
User Research and Insights
The UX strategy focused on creating an intuitive and culturally relevant experience:
User Research: Conducted surveys and interviews with users from Ecuador and Brazil to understand their betting habits, preferences, and cultural nuances.
Localization: Designed the app with localization in mind, ensuring that language, currency, and regional preferences were seamlessly integrated into the user experience.
User Testing: Performed multiple rounds of testing with target users to refine the design, ensuring it was both user-friendly and culturally appropriate.
Design Process
The UI design was crafted to appeal specifically to Ecuadorian and Brazilian users, with a vibrant, modern aesthetic:
Visual Design: Employed a color palette and visual style that resonates with Latin American users, incorporating elements that reflect the local culture and sports enthusiasm.
Responsive Layout: Designed for optimal performance on a variety of devices common in these markets, including smartphones and tablets.
Interactive Elements: Created engaging, intuitive icons and interactive features that enhance the betting experience, with a focus on easy navigation and real-time engagement.
Key Features
The final design of PlayGreen successfully caters to the unique needs of Ecuadorian and Brazilian users, combining sports and casino betting with innovative features that enhance the overall experience. The app not only meets market demands but also introduces novel functionalities that differentiate it from other betting platforms. This project demonstrates my ability to design culturally aware, user-centered applications that incorporate both standard and cutting-edge features to deliver a truly unique product.
Testing and Refinement
Maintaining the design system involves creating new features, redesigning and reconfiguring components, variants, and local variables. In my role, I was able to create multiple animations in Figma for the application, participated in user testing and feature iteration, and led the creation of animations, components, variants, and styles under documentation in Notion that made the work easier and more intuitive for everyone on the team.