Increasing first-time deposit conversions by removing friction at critical points
Improving the first-time deposit workflow on Grosvenor Casino’s web and app platforms to increase successful deposits.
GROSVENOR CASINO APP & WEB • SENIOR PRODUCT DESIGNER • 2025
Introduction
Grosvenor Casino is part of The Rank Group, one of the UK’s largest gambling and entertainment companies.
The digital platform serves 1.7M customers annually, generating over £200M in digital revenue.
What is a first-time deposit?
How it works?
Promotional rewards are applied according to predefined rules, such as eligibility criteria, deposit requirements and wagering requirements. These rules determine how rewards are granted and used within the experience. The journey typically follows a simple flow.
The Problem
Internal data and customer support signals showed consistent confusion around promotional rewards during the first-time deposit. Users were unclear about how bonuses related to their deposits, what they would receive and when they would be available. Many reached the point of payment without a clear understanding of the value exchange.
Bonus-related queries averaged 2,200+ support cases per month, with many users believing their reward had not been applied correctly.
Problem to solve
“How might we increase user confidence in first-time deposits?”
Discovery
While the data highlighted confusion around promotional rewards, it did not explain where or why this breakdown was occurring within the journey. The goal of discovery was to understand how users formed expectations around bonuses, where those expectations broke down and how rewards were applied in practice.
To understand this in detail, I conducted support insight analysis, journey analysis, behavioural observation and system review.
The issue was not a single point of friction, but how value was communicated across the journey. Users formed expectations early but lacked clarity at key decision points, leading to hesitation at the point of deposit. Addressing this required making the value exchange explicit, clearly linking deposit, bonus and reward.
Customer support insights
Across an eight-month period, 18,160 support cases were recorded for the sign-up bonus, averaging 2,270 cases per month.
Analysing usage data
Mapping the first-time deposit journey
Bonus system journey walkthrough
Journey mapping
Understanding how the reward system works
Bonus reward system.
How the promotion engine determines bonus outcomes
Defining the MVP
Discovery revealed a broader opportunity beyond the deposit journey, including bonus flexibility, a promotion hub and post-deposit tracking.
However, delivering this end-to-end experience required significant platform changes.
We prioritised the highest-impact moment:
“Helping users understand what they will get before committing payment”
3 critical decision points
The main focus was on improving the key moments within the deposit experience. These occur around the cashier, where players make key decisions, making it the highest-impact area to address. The solution focused on reinforcing confidence across three key moments.
Solution
The approach focused on improving the above three critical points in the journey.
Clarify the bonus and eligibility before deposit
Problem
Players struggled to understand what the selected bonus meant before committing money. Key conditions, such as wagering requirements and reward activation, were not always clear during selection.
Design decision
Reward value, eligibility rules and wagering conditions were made more prominent in the redesign, allowing players to make more confident decisions before entering the deposit flow.
Receive offer step in registration flow
Bonus screen
Maintain visibility during payment
Problem
As players moved into the payment flow, visibility of the selected bonus weakened which created uncertainty at the point of payment.
Design decision
The cashier experience reinforced the selected bonus throughout the flow, allowing players to verify the reward while entering payment details. This helped to reduce uncertainty and reinforced trust in the payment.
Payment method
Deposit flow
Confirm the outcome after payment
Problem
After completing the transaction, players often struggled to understand whether the bonus had been applied succefully or not.
Design decision
Confirmation screens were redesigned to clearly show bonus status and what happens after the deposit. This resulted in fewer players needing to contact support.
Deposit successful
Impact
Success was measured across behavioural outcomes, user understanding and operational efficiency to ensure the changes delivered meaningful impact beyond interface improvements.
User behavioural impact
I ran a four-week A/B test on 10% of new sign-ups to validate the approach ahead of full rollout.
Support operational impact
Support data showed a sustained decline in bonus-related queries following rollout, particularly in the largest category of confusion-driven contacts.
Reducing front desk pressure through
self serve player entry
Reducing front desk pressure at Mecca Bingo venues and improving player access through a flexible sign-up journey
