THE PROBLEM

Understanding the First-Time Deposit (FTD) Challenge

For many new users, making their first deposit is a crucial moment—one that sets the tone for their entire experience. However, through a detailed audit of our registration and FTD journey, we uncovered multiple pain points that hindered user confidence and engagement.

As part of a broader update to COGS (Customer Operation Games System)—our back-office system that manages promotions and transactions—we overhauled the entire system, including the bonus engine. These improvements allowed us to revisit the FTD journey, ensuring users clearly understood their options and felt encouraged to complete their first deposit.

This case study explores how we redesigned the journey to make first-time deposits seamless, transparent, and engaging for users on the app.

ANALYSIS & DISCOVERY

Uncovering Pain Points

To understand why users struggled with making their first deposit, we conducted a full audit of the registration and FTD journey. A key source of insight was our customer support data, which revealed a recurring issue: users frequently reached out for help with the Sign-Up Bonus.

Despite offering a welcome bonus to encourage first-time deposits, many users were unaware of how to claim it, couldn’t find it, or didn’t receive it. This led to frustration and an increased volume of support tickets.

Customer Support Insights

To quantify the impact, we analysed support cases related to Promotions, focusing specifically on the Sign-Up Bonus.

September Data (8,816 total promotion-related cases) 2,371 cases (26.9%) were about the Sign-Up Bonus—a significant portion of all promo-related inquiries.

73%

1,729 cases (73%) were users reporting they had not received their bonus.

6.2%

147 cases were users who couldn’t find the bonus.

6.2%

148 cases were users who didn’t understand how the bonus worked.

These findings showed that many users struggled with the process, either because they missed key information or found it unclear.

In response to these insights, we applied a quick fix to the cashier screen, adding a copy prompt above the bonus card to clarify that users needed to click the card to claim their bonus.

We then analysed the impact of this change by reviewing the January support data.

December Data (11,503 total promotion-related cases)
2,389 cases (20.8%) were about the Sign-Up Bonus, showing a reduction in overall bonus-related inquiries.

55%

1,314 cases were users reporting they had not received their bonus.

9.1%

218 cases were users who couldn’t find the bonus.

11.8%

282 cases were users who didn’t understand how the bonus worked.

While there was a noticeable reduction in the percentage of users not receiving their bonus (from 73% to 55%), the percentage of users who couldn’t find or didn’t understand the bonus increased, indicating that confusion still remained even after the quick fix.

ANALYSIS & DISCOVERY

Defining the New Flow

With a clear understanding of first-time depositors' challenges, our next step was to redefine the user journey to make the process intuitive, transparent, and frictionless.

We facilitated cross-functional workshops to achieve this, bringing together designers, developers, compliance, and business stakeholders. Through these sessions, we mapped out an ideal best-in-class journey that addressed user pain points while aligning with business objectives.

Recognising technical and regulatory constraints, we iterated toward a minimum viable product (MVP) that balanced impact with feasibility.

(Example: A bonus progression tracker was initially proposed to enhance user motivation but was deprioritised due to technical complexity.)

Key Enhancements in the New Flow

Organic Entry Points & Bonus ID Tracking

To create a seamless deposit experience, we introduced Bonus ID tracking to ensure users received the correct welcome offer.

Personalised Bonus Assignment: Users saw the Casino or Sports Welcome Bonus based on where they started registration.

Seamless Bonus Application: A unique Bonus ID followed users from registration to the cashier, maintaining consistency.

This ensured clarity and alignment between the registration journey and first-time deposit process.

Rewards Screen Transparency

A dedicated rewards screen now presents the bonus details, Terms & Conditions, and an opt-out option upfront, eliminating uncertainty.

Clear Payment Guidance

To prevent failed transactions, payment methods are now grouped into “compatible” and “incompatible” categories, making it clear which methods qualify for bonuses.

Improved Visual Clarity

The default bonus selection is now indicated with a card-style visual, improving discoverability and reducing missed claims.

VALIDATION AND IMPACT

Testing & Iteration

With the newly designed First-Time Deposit (FTD) journey in place, we moved into the testing phase to validate our solutions and measure impact.

Usability Testing & Feedback Loop

We conducted five moderated usability sessions with first-time depositors to observe interactions with the new flow. Key takeaways included:

Clearer Bonus Selection: 4 out of 5 participants immediately understood how to claim their bonus.

Payment Method Awareness: Some users still missed the “incompatible” payment warning, prompting further refinement.

Adjustments:
Increased visual emphasis on incompatible payment methods with a warning icon and tooltip.

A/B Testing & Impact Measurement

To assess real-world effectiveness, we launched an A/B test across a 10% user segment over four weeks, tracking key metrics:

Bonus Claim Rate
Old flow: 61%
New flow: 79% (+18%)

Customer Support Cases (Bonus-related)
Old flow: 2,389 cases in January
New flow: 1,542 cases (-35%)

Conversion Rate (FTD Completion)
Old flow: 42%
New flow: 56% (+14%)

KEY TAKEAWAY

Final Refinements & Rollout

Based on insights from usability testing and A/B testing, we made final refinements before a full rollout:

Further streamlined payment method messaging.

Improved opt-out visibility for users who prefer not to claim bonuses.

Updated confirmation screens to reinforce claimed bonuses and prevent confusion.

Following these updates, the new FTD journey was fully launched across all app users, leading to a smoother, more transparent deposit experience.