Pioneering Compliance: Leading the First Casino App Redesign to Meet Apple’s Guidelines
Project Summary
I led the complete redesign of a casino app to comply with Apple’s new guidelines, ensuring continued availability on the App Store. The redesign was completed within a challenging three-month deadline, balancing compliance requirements with maintaining the app's usability and visual appeal.
Responsibilities
- UX Strategy and Design Leadership
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Stakeholder Communication
- Iterative Design and User Testing
Timeline & Team
Completed in 12 weeks with a cross-functional team working closely with product management, design, and development teams to ensure alignment with Apple's guidelines and our app’s functionality.
Results
The redesigned app received Apple’s approval and was successfully launched on the App Store, becoming the first casino app to meet the new guidelines. The project not only ensured the app’s availability but also positioned it as a market leader, with enhanced usability and accessibility.
Casino App Update
APPLE THROWS THE INDUSTRY A CURVEBALL
Facing the need to comply with Apple's new guidelines, our casino app required a complete redesign within a challenging three-month deadline. The urgency stemmed from the necessity to ensure our app's continued availability on the App Store and maintain compliance with Apple's evolving standards. Essentially, Apple had decided not to allow WebView apps for casino games. Which is what every industry app was using.
“Guideline 4.7. HTML5 games distributed in apps may not provide access to real money gaming, lotteries, or charitable donations, and may not support digital commerce. This functionality is only appropriate for code that’s embedded in the binary and can be reviewed by Apple. This guideline is now enforced for new apps. Existing apps must follow this guideline by September 3, 2019.”
Role and Approach
The team and I worked closely with the Product Manager to initiate the redesign effort. We first gained a thorough understanding of the specific changes mandated by Apple’s guidelines.
Collaborating closely and effectively with the development team, we meticulously created detailed wireframes that served as the foundational framework for our comprehensive design work.
These carefully crafted wireframes not only served as a blueprint for the subsequent design iterations but also helped ensure alignment with both Apple's stringent requirements and the overall functionality of our app.
This process significantly contributed to building a cohesive and user-friendly experience.
Wireframes designed by Charlie Mitchell, Nina St. Peter and Beth Disrud.
Design Process and Methodologies
We made sure to follow Apple's guidelines and used native functionality wherever possible. This gave us a greater chance of approval, and allowed us to focus on the app's usability and visual appeal.
These designs were presented to stakeholders for comprehensive feedback and thorough evaluation. Concurrently, we conducted multiple user research studies, as indicated in the sample below, to gather valuable insights into the new app architecture.
By carefully analyzing this feedback, we iteratively refined our design choices to better meet user needs. Some of the findings, such as the unexpected preference for tap over swipe gestures, were indeed surprising and provided us with crucial direction.
High-fidelity designs by Charlie Mitchell.
Before redesigns began, we audited the structure of the current app, including how games were organized. Through a series of card sort exercises, we were able to organize our app content in a more concise manner. Research conducted by Nina St. Peter using Optimal Workshop.
Throughout the design process we conducted a series of A/B tests to validate our designs as they evolved. We made sure to let the research inform our decisions regarding design decisions—even when results were surprising. Research conducted by Nina St. Peter using UserZoom (now UserTesting).
Collaboration & Implementation
Close collaboration with the development team was essential throughout the process.
We collaborated closely to thoroughly address the various technical constraints we encountered and to ensure the overall feasibility of implementing our design solutions within the tight timeline we were operating under.
Regular communication and consistent feedback loops facilitated a seamless integration of the design updates and development iterations, enabling us to effectively stay on track to meet our important deadline.
Long-Term Impact
By complying with Apple's guidelines and delivering a compelling user experience, our app gained a competitive edge in the highly competitive casino app market.
The successful redesign not only enhanced the app's usability and accessibility but also reinforced our commitment to meeting the evolving needs and expectations of our users.
Conclusion
By strategically aligning our design decisions with comprehensive user feedback and careful consideration of technical feasibility, we not only ensured adherence to industry standards but also significantly enhanced the app's competitive positioning by being among the first to successfully release it to the market.
Success Indicators
REDESIGN RESULTS
100%
App compliance with Apple's new guidelines, ensuring continued availability on the App Store
3 Mos.
Time taken to pivot, redesign and launch the app, meeting a challenging deadline
1st
Casino app to meet Apple’s new guidelines in the industry