Being a startup in an oversaturated industry, Smarkets initially found it hard to make their brand stand out from the crowd. They had a clear vision of disrupting the industry by infusing it with the principles that had helped make the financial markets flourish and were looking for a brand and product that would show this.
During my time at Smarkets, we have continuously worked to improve both of these areas. To bring the best experience possible to our users and ensure that they have a consistent journey end to end.
Smarkets logo
Branding
To help the brand stand out amongst the hustle and bustle of a very loud and boisterous industry, I worked with the team to bring something that could work against the status quo but still stand its ground.
What we came up with was a logo that was simple, dynamic and versatile enough to evolve in line with the company. Accompanied by a visual style that provides the same level of flexibility meant that it could fit in amongst the variety of sports, markets and venues as required.
Smarkets outdoor branding
Pushing boundaries
To help solidify the differences between Smarkets and its competitors, we conceptualised and vigorously tested various approaches with the help of other teams. Each endeavours to improve a different key metric at the various stages of a customer's lifecycle: activation, retention, and awareness.
One such approach saw the birth of a content hub that utilised the data within the companies' betting markets to produce a real-time data visualisation of the 2018 US midterms. That has since been iterated on and used for various political events that Smarkets offers.
Smarkets desktop and mobile app
Product
Working with the design team, I helped bring several key features to the desktop app, such as data visualisation for football matches. Alongside the continual development of the desktop product, a complete redesign and rebuild of the mobile apps were completed. Allowing users to take the Smarkets experience on the go with them.
Continuous iteration
Through listening to user feedback and constant user testing, we continuously improve both product versions, which we monitor through various metrics. A process that allowed the mobile app to become the highest-rated betting app in both app stores quickly.
I worked diligently with the design team to make this constant loop of feedback and design extend to everything we touched, bringing in other departments when needed to build a complete customer view.
