Pinnacle Sportsbook
TL;DR / Summary.
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I designed UI enhancements for the Sportsbook using brand guidelines, UX specifications and a large reusable design system to handle complex, multilingual content. After collaborative reviews and stakeholder sign-off, I handed designs to developers with assets, prototypes and an atomic style guide. Post-launch, I performed quality checks and analysed user data to guide ongoing improvements. Continuous, data-driven iteration helped create a more consistent, user-focused Sportsbook experience.
The Brief.
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Pinnacle’s core product is its Sportsbook, which attracts tens of thousands of daily visits and is a major offering in the betting industry. As the lead UI designer, I joined during the early stages of a major redesign; aimed at making the interface more engaging and user-centric. Since its launch, features continued to evolve, with updates driven by both brand consistency and user/stakeholder feedback. As part of ongoing improvement, I received briefs containing content and UX wireframes for a wide range of design tasks, including:
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Horse Racing
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Live Centre
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My Account
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Game Lines
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Bet Slip
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Matchup & League pages
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Scoreboards
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Iconography
Some projects required extensive cross-team collaboration, while others were quick turnarounds. All required desktop/mobile designs and light/dark mode variations. Because the Sportsbook spans many countries, each with its own rules, regulations, and behaviours, designing holistically and flexibly was essential.
User Experience.
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UI work always commenced after the UX handover, supported by close collaboration across teams. Competitor analysis helped us understand design patterns, common pain points, and opportunities for improvement. User personas and available qualitative/quantitative data guided decisions and highlighted user preferences and behaviours.
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Wireframes and user flows were reviewed collaboratively, often with Q&A sessions. I contributed alternative solutions when helpful, ensuring the final design supported user goals and aligned with technical feasibility. Prototyping and micro-animations were introduced to clarify behaviours for developers and to improve the handover experience.
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Greater inclusion of usability testing, such as field studies, interviews, or focus groups, helped strengthen insights into user needs and validated design decisions early on in the workflow.
UI Conceptualisation.
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I designed the UI for each task using the Sportsbook’s brand guidelines and UX specifications, often exploring alternate concepts to improve usability and push brand development. Effective redesigns relied on understanding what did and didn't work on the existing site, as well as evolving user needs. Clear affordances, consistent signifiers and strong feedback systems helped create an engaging, branded experience.
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Because the Sportsbook handled large amounts of varied data across many languages, the UI needed to be flexible, simple and space-efficient. Designs had to function seamlessly in both light and dark mode and across mobile, tablet and desktop.
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To streamline work on such a large product, I built a comprehensive Sketch-based design system containing reusable components: colour palettes, icons, buttons, containers, game lines, odds states and headers. These symbols allowed teams to produce new or updated UI quickly and consistently.
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Once UI concepts were complete, I presented them to relevant teams for review and refinement. After incorporating feedback, I held a final presentation with stakeholders and external teams to secure approval before development.
Early iteration of the wireframes
Development.
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During handover, I supplied the Development Team with all assets, final designs and, when necessary, prototypes demonstrating expected behaviour. I also produced an atomic style guide, breaking the interface into atoms (colours, typography), molecules (fields, odds) and organisms (forms, game lines) to support consistent implementation.
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Developers used this stage to ask questions and flag constraints; when clarity was needed, I created micro-animations to illustrate interactions. As the build progressed, ongoing flexible collaboration ensured both UX and UI requirements were properly maintained.
Adding favourites micro-animation
Navigating to more markets micro-animation
Scoreboard goal change micro-animation
Game line goal change micro-animation
Post Production.
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After launch, I completed front-end quality checks, flagging visual or functional inconsistencies for developers to correct so the final product matched the approved designs. Using KPIs, user feedback, heat maps and session recordings, we evaluated performance to identify improvements.
Deeper, more frequent data analysis would further strengthen decision-making for future updates. As part of continuous optimisation, the Sportsbook benefitted most from data-driven, user-centred design decisions that improved usability, clarity and overall satisfaction.