Product
Bet365 Affiliate Admin: Redesigning a Legacy Tool
Modernising a WinForms affiliate admin tool to reduce friction, prevent costly errors, and prepare the platform for cloud migration. Jan 2025 - Dec 25 | Product Designer | Bet365 x CGI/BJSS/Sparck.
Confidential
UI screens are confidential for this project. A workflow diagram later in this case study captures the governance improvements introduced in the redesign.
Projected savings
Millions of pounds (projected)
projection
User errors
Errors reduced in affiliate flow
qualitative
Follow-on work
Additional work lined up
qualitative
Context
The problem
Bet365's Affiliate Administration Tool had been serving Finance and Marketing for years, but the WinForms system was dated, confusing, and prone to user error.
Mistakes were costly, and with internal teams at capacity, BJSS (Sparck's parent company) was brought in to redesign and migrate the tool to the cloud.
I was the first-ever designer BJSS placed on a Bet365 engagement and the only designer on the project, responsible for driving the UX and UI vision while navigating a tightly controlled legacy environment.
With no direct access to end users, research relied on stakeholder proxies and playback sessions.
Goals
- Reduce friction and user error in a high-stakes legacy admin tool.
- Introduce role-based access tailored to department needs.
- Prepare the experience for a cloud migration.
- Deliver new features projected to save the business millions of pounds.
Outcomes
What I delivered
User-facing: streamlined affiliate creation and reduced errors with clearer workflows and decision points.
Business-facing: role-based access by department, a change request holding bay to prevent costly mistakes, and a deductions section projected to save millions of pounds.
Delivery: mapped user needs to business requirements, stayed aligned with internal Bet365 design guidelines, and collaborated closely with developers, the PM, and stakeholders.
Process: requirement mapping with a stakeholder who had over a decade of tool usage, feedback sessions with Marketing and Finance, and a two-month delay before moving from mid-fidelity prototypes to high-fidelity wireframes using Material UI defaults once Sketch access was granted.
Tools: Sketch, Microsoft Whiteboard, MS Teams.
System workflow diagram
- Legacy flow had one holding bay for affiliate changes. We introduced three additional holding bays to reduce user error.
- Changes are no longer instant. Requests are routed for review to prevent costly mistakes.
- Each holding bay creates a clear audit trail: who requested, who approved, and when.
- Role-based access applies across all modules (specific permissions not shown).
"We know from our weekly meetings that the teams are actively using the tool and no tickets have been logged with the service desk since its release. The feedback has been overall supportive of the release and the impact it's making across departments."
John Ball, Head of Customer Experience
Outcome
Results
The redesigned tool introduced role-based access, a change request holding bay, and a deductions section projected to save the company millions of pounds.
A streamlined affiliate creation flow has already reduced user errors.
Trade-offs
Bet365 initially planned a new internal design system, but capacity issues stalled progress. I advocated an early pivot to Material UI so the team could keep momentum and avoid weeks of rework.
A two-month delay in Sketch access meant early momentum came from requirement mapping and stakeholder alignment before high-fidelity design work could begin.
Accessibility notes
Formal accessibility requirements were not provided, so we relied on Material UI's baseline accessibility patterns (focus states, contrast defaults, keyboard navigation). Any deeper auditing and assistive-tech testing will be handled during the cloud migration phase.
What I would improve next
Once access is approved, I'd validate the new flows with real end users and map the highest-friction steps across the affiliate, deductions, and finance settings journeys.
I would streamline the holding-bay review stages where safe, while preserving the audit trail and control needed for high-risk changes.
To measure impact, I'd pair usability testing with usage analytics and qualitative service-desk signals to confirm error reduction and adoption.
Want faster value inside complex organisations?
I modernise legacy admin tools and workflows to reduce friction, prevent costly errors, and support cloud migration.