Case study · Sky Bet · 2024–2025
Merging two design teams to move 9 million customers onto one platform
How I brought Sky Bet and Betfair designers together, delivered a platform migration on an 18-month deadline, and restored Sky Bet’s character when customers missed it.
The challenge
Sky Bet, the group’s largest brand, had 18 months to move onto the platform first built for Betfair. Half the design team I took on came from Sky Bet and worked very differently. “This is not how we do it at Sky Bet” was a fair reaction, and some stakeholders were harder to bring along than the designers.
My role
I was brought in as Senior Design Manager to lead design through the migration, drawing on the Betfair rebuild. I spent my first two months aligning how product, design and engineering worked, then led the sports design team and owned the UX/UI and prioritisation workstreams.
The approach
Set the operating model
Templated user stories didn’t land, so every ticket became a hub linking to the Confluence pages product and engineering already used.
Make progress visible
Workstream sessions and fortnightly sports-wide reviews kept decisions on track. People were won over by seeing the benefits, not by being told.
Build one team
Stand-ups, peer reviews, retros and weekly health checks, with one-to-ones and engagement surveys telling us when to change how we worked.
Release in stages
Releasing to small groups of customers first meant feedback arrived while there was still time to act on it.
Mapping the journey
Before the move, design and product walked the same bets through the old Sky Bet app and the Betfair platform, screen by screen, flagging gaps, wins and research insight. This one is placing a single, alongside how it works on Sky Bet today.
“I can see everything I want all at once. I like to be able to control what pops up.”
Key decision
Ship Betfair in blue, then bring Sky Bet back.
Leadership chose a quick reskin so we could test the product with customers early. I backed it, as the old app was still live during beta. Feedback was clear: it felt like Betfair in blue.
So design and product audited the old app to pin down what made it feel like Sky Bet. That set the brief for a second phase: blue mastheads, the promotions carousel and the Sky Bet font first, then the content hierarchy, the bet slip and My Bets.
Before and after · Sky Bet, 2023 to 2025
Old Sky Bet home, 2023 
Home on the shared platform 
Horse racing 
My Bets, with older bets one tap away
Leading the team
One team, with a lead from each side.
I started with one lead. Six months in, I made the case for a second, so both the Sky Bet and Betfair designers had a lead they trusted. The core team of ten worked alongside dedicated researchers and design system designers.
Health checks and one-to-ones told me when a process wasn’t helping, and I changed it. By 2025, the leads were resolving issues directly with each other.
Results
- 9m
- Sky Betting & Gaming customers moved onto the shared platform in 2025.
- 18 months
- To deliver the migration on deadline, including a second phase that brought back Sky Bet’s character.
- 10
- Designers in one team, half from Sky Bet and half from Betfair.
- 2
- Leads, one from each side, after I made the case for an org change.
- The staged rollout caught the “doesn’t feel like Sky Bet” feedback before full launch.
- Other design teams adopted our ticket approach and team health checks.
What I learned
Change lands when people can see how it helps them.
Brand is part of the experience, too. A reskin wasn’t enough for customers loyal to Sky Bet.
What I’d do differently
Understand how things work before changing them.
I’d spend longer understanding existing processes and ways of working before bringing in change.
Journey map · Sky Bet before, Betfair, Sky Bet today
Place a single
01
Home
- Sky BetFeatured cards take you straight into the big matches.
- BetfairLots of content, with tighter spacing and smaller type.
- ResearchCustomers liked featured cards because they surface the matches they came for.
The cards instantly attract me and it makes it easy to browse for the matches I’m interested in
- TodayThe Sky Bet look is back: blue masthead, shortcuts, a promotion, then quick links.
02
Football
- Sky BetA landing page for each market coupon.
- BetfairStraight into coupons, with popular bet builders showing how often they’ve been backed.
- ResearchCustomers wanted popular bets backed by what other customers are doing.
A number that says 7000 people have added to bet slip, something that will encourage me that it is popular
- TodayFootball has its own home again, with tabs for in-play, accumulators and featured matches.
03
Find the match
- Sky BetA long list of dedicated coupons, including All Matches By Day.
- BetfairNo All Matches By Day, one of Sky Bet’s most-used journeys. Matches are found with filters instead.
- GapLosing All Matches By Day was a clear risk for regular Sky Bet customers.
- TodayAll Matches By Day is back as a quick link on the home page.
04
Choose the day
- Sky BetEvery day is listed, so advance bets are quick to find.
- BetfairFilters cover today, tomorrow and the day after, then group everything later.
- WinFiltering coupons by competition and market saves going back and forth.
- TodayForm and league position open under the match, without leaving the list.
05
Add to bet slip
- Sky BetThe slip stays minimised, so you keep your place.
- BetfairThe slip opens over half the screen as soon as you pick.
- ResearchCustomers preferred the quick bet slip minimised, so they control when it opens.
I can see everything I want all at once. I like to be able to control what pops up
- TodayPicks collect in a slim bar at the bottom, so you keep your place.
06
Stake and place
- Sky BetA full-screen slip that uses the phone’s keyboard.
- BetfairQuick stake buttons and a built-in keypad, carried through to the receipt.
- WinQuick stakes save time, especially in-play, and work best when personalised.
- TodayA full-screen slip with quick stakes and a built-in keypad.
What it led to
Evidence for the second phase
Mapping every core journey this way gave us the evidence for what to bring back. It shaped the second phase: Sky Bet’s content hierarchy and the behaviour of the bet slip and My Bets.