Good game design is easy to overlook, because when it works properly and as it should, players rarely notice it. This isn’t something unique to gaming; it’s a particular foible of human nature – we’re more prone to ignore good things and focus on the negatives.
In his 1864 novel Notes From Underground, Russian author Fyodor Dostovesky captured this brilliantly when he wrote:
“Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness”
All of which is a rather circuitous way of saying that if an online casino has great game design, then they can make money without necessarily gaining any plaudits. If, however, the layout of their games is ever so slightly off, they will lose customers at almost the same rate that they rack up poor reviews.
So, how can they ensure that their website design isn’t going to drive customers away and why is catering to the every whim of your customers so important in the online gambling industry? Read on to find out…
Thoughtful Design in a Thoughtless Industry
In Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World, the fictionalised people of the future take a substance called Soma to feel blissful and to ward off any so-called negative emotions.
The book, written in 1932, is perhaps closer to the truth of the modern-day consumer world that we live in, than the often-referenced 1984 by George Orwell. Online gambling is a great example of this.
The market is incredibly saturated, and as such, gamers can get their dopamine hit easily and readily. Which is why it’s so, so important for casino sites to ensure that their game design is absolutely on point.
It’s not just because if they don’t, they will lose out on customers, but if they don’t produce the very best product that they can and instead go for an average to good design, they’ll still miss out on customers because of the competitive nature of the industry in which they operate.
The sites that don’t prioritise this find themselves relegated to the abyss when up against high-quality sites like https://casino.draftkings.com/ and that’s not a good place to be!
Strategic Layout In-Game
The look and feel of a casino website are incredibly important. But in-game is where players spend most of their time, so the design there needs to excel also. Being visually appealing to players is, of course, a concern, but it’s a secondary one in-game.
In-game, developers and designers put the majority of their efforts into directing players to do what they want them to do, which is wager more money and to play for longer.
The icon to leave the game for example, should be a heck of a lot smaller than the big, shining icon that calls the player to spin the reels one more time, or shuffle the deck once again.
The visual elements in the game need to be eye catching and ever changing to minimise the chance of players getting bored. But also, beyond that, the game itself needs to function well.
The roulette grid must be clear and visible. The numbers and icons on the cards in blackjack have to be legible and so on. But again, the main concern of any casino operator is to make sure that in-game, players want to stay wagering as long as possible.
Technological Adaptation
Nowadays, technology is simply becoming a synonym for Artificial Intelligence, and that’s no different in this article.
The way that AI is being used in website design, though is different to what you might first think.
Rather than being used to develop and design sites, AI is being used to analyse them. That’s because there’s a global pushback amongst all sectors at AI design. People are sick and tired of seeing the same AI posters. The same AI memes and the same AI videos.
Instead, they want realism. They want to feel that there is at least a modicum of human connection when they are online. Which is why we’re seeing a revival in authentic online casino sites, but also a much more rapid rate of change.
The latter is due to the insights that large companies are gaining from AI that scours not only their own sites, but the sites of their competitors, and works out exactly what players like and dislike.
For other industries, this rapid rate of change might seem at first to be daunting. But the world of online gambling, and gambling in general, is more than used to adaptation and change.