In an industry where many platforms offer the same games and promotions, design becomes one of the only remaining differentiators. But according to Fraser Dunk, CEO of Jurnii and certified customer experience specialist, most operators are still underestimating the impact of user experience, and the result is silent, unmeasured churn.
The Silent Cost of Small Frictions
For Dunk, the problem rarely stems from major bugs. Instead, it’s the small inconsistencies that quietly stack up.
“Most users don’t convert because something didn’t meet their expectations,” he explains. “It could be misleading copy, unclear buttons, or inconsistent layouts. Each one adds friction. Eventually, people just leave.”
While these issues might appear minor on their own, they compound across a journey. From clicking a banner to completing a deposit, users rely on familiar design patterns to make fast, intuitive decisions.
When those patterns break, even slightly, trust begins to erode. “88% of users stop using an app after it glitches. You often won’t know there’s a problem until they’re gone.”
Why Operators Struggle to Differentiate
In a market where most operators offer the same events, odds, and games, UX has become one of the few places left to stand out. But Dunk believes the industry is still stuck in an outdated mindset. “There’s a plague of acquisition at all costs. It’s what people are measured on. But it’s five to 25 times cheaper to retain a user than to acquire one.”
He points out that customer journeys are largely the same across platforms, regardless of region or regulation. But yet, UX is often where customers feel the biggest difference.
“Most players have three to five accounts. The one they keep using is the one that works best – the fastest, the cleanest, the least frustrating.”
To stand out, Dunk follows five core principles:
• Set clear expectations
• Design for fast failure recovery
• Create relevant, targeted journeys
• Use micro-interactions to build trust
• Maintain a unified UX across products
“You can’t have a sportsbook that looks one way and a casino that looks like it belongs to a different company,” he says. “People want one smooth experience, not two disconnected ones.”
Designing for When Things Go Wrong
For Dunk, one of the most common mistakes in UX is assuming everything will go right. But most user journeys include problems, and how a platform handles those issues is what defines the experience.
“Most tools we use in the industry are reactive. You only find out something is broken because someone leaves or your numbers drop. But 91% of people who experience an issue won’t even contact support. They’ll just disappear.”
At Dizon, his team led a programme called “Fix the Roof”, aimed at improving what happened after things went wrong. That meant providing clearer error messages, ensuring agents had the data they needed to solve problems quickly, and building recovery paths users could follow without help.
“The aim wasn’t to remove all problems. It was to make the experience better when problems happen.”
How GenAI Is Changing the Workflow
Generative AI is now accelerating how UX teams work, not just what they produce. Dunk has seen firsthand how it’s transforming the pace of design.
“Tasks that used to take days, like reviewing user research, mapping journeys, or building early designs, now happen in minutes.”
With the right tools, teams can go from transcript to insight to prototype far more efficiently. “It means we can test ideas faster, fail faster, and learn faster,” he says. “The repetitive tasks are automated, so designers can spend more time on strategic work.”
He also sees this as a leveller for smaller teams. “You don’t need a huge research team anymore to get value. You just need the right input and the right system.”
Tying UX to Commercial Outcomes
Despite the benefits, UX still struggles to gain traction with leadership teams. Dunk believes this comes down to language.
“Senior leaders care about metrics like GGR and churn. UX teams talk about flows and usability. You need to connect the two.”
The most effective UX teams, he argues, are those that translate experience improvements into business terms. That means identifying which user behaviours correlate to commercial performance, and prioritising accordingly.
“You have to break down business metrics into experience metrics you can influence. Then you measure the impact of every change.”
This approach helped his teams move UX from an afterthought to a growth driver. “If you can show that improving onboarding reduces churn, or that fixing a button improves conversion, it becomes a business case, not a design choice.”
Where UX Should Sit in the Business
There’s no single home for UX inside an organisation. It often sits under product, marketing, or support. But for Dunk, the most effective structure is commercial.
“The best CX team I’ve worked in sat under commercial. Everything we did was tied to a revenue goal. That gave us focus and influence.”
He sees UX not as a function that owns decisions, but one that enables better ones. “It should give product teams the insights they need, help marketing understand the journey, and support leadership in making smarter choices.”
But too often, he says, UX is sidelined. “It gets parked where it’s safe, where it can’t cause trouble. But without customers, there’s no business. And UX is what keeps customers coming back.”
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