Top 10 Signs You’ve Found a Great Online Casino – Our Tips for Spotting the Best Operators

As a team that consists of regular gamblers, we know that the best online casino can be tedious. Our specialists understand that the process may seem straightforward at a glance. But trust us when we say, this is not typically the case.

There are numerous online casinos in the market with many more rising up each day. So, how do you tell if you have come across a top online casino? Read on as we share some of our strategies that will surely help you too.

Why should you play at a reliable online casino?

Now you may wonder, why can’t I register at any casino I come across? From our experience, registering with an unreliable platform can cause you to lose money. This is either through playing unfair games or a shady casino that vanishes when you register.

So, how did we deal with this? Here are some areas we believe you should factor in during your search.  

Licensing 

Licensing is important in all areas of life. For instance, would you let a surgeon without a license operate on you? We bet not! So, look at an online casino in this manner, too. A reliable casino site should have a license from the proper gambling authority. This body will monitor the casino and ensure no shady practices.

Don’t worry if you are unsure how to find a casino license. Our experts have found that you can easily find the licensing body’s seal under the home page. If you see one, register. But if you don’t, we advise you to find another site. 

Security and Safety 

Many of us had bad experiences playing on unsafe sites. We learned from our mistakes and now understand the site’s safety is crucial. This becomes more important since you’ll enter your site information. Many players have told us stories of how a platform refused to pay out. In some instances, they sold their information to fraudulent individuals.

We understand the stress this brings, which is why we suggest you go for a safe platform. Our specialists recommend a site with the following:

  • Proper identity verification
  • SSL encryption
  • Frequent RNG audits. 

Great Reputation 

If you have heard bad news about a banker from many customers, would you still save your cash there? We want to believe you wouldn’t, right? Well, this is the same approach we feel you should take with choosing a casino.

Since you can’t go around looking for people who have wagered on a site, we suggest you use the Internet. Enter the name of the site on Google and read through the experiences of other players. If you find mostly good comments, you can go ahead. However, if nobody has anything good to say about the site, it is wise to find another option. 

Bonuses and Promotions 

The top companies understand the importance of minimum deposit bonuses and focus on offering start deals to attract and reward players. For example, Casino Rewards is a leading brand operating 29+ acclaimed online casinos powered by Microgaming software. Focusing on low deposit bonuses, Casino Rewards provides quality gameplay and rewards to players on any budget. 

Rather than relying on a single welcome bonus, the best operators provide a range of ongoing and limited-time incentives to keep gameplay interesting. Reload bonuses on deposits, cashback offers, and free spins give players extra value to their gambling experience. VIP programs with tiered benefits and personalized promotions cater to high-rollers and loyal customers.

Game Selection 

Most of us spend the majority of our time shuffling between games at online casinos. This is what keeps the experience fun, aside from winning money, of course. We suggest you look for a site with plenty of online casino games from well-known software providers. 

Ideally, we prefer names like Microgaming, Playtech, and NetEnt to be behind the titles. But if you find other reliable names, it shouldn’t be a problem either. Also, the site should offer you options when it comes to its games. Look out for online slots, blackjack, roulette, poker, live dealer games, and progressive jackpots. With this kind of selection, you’ll always have something to play. 

Safe Payment Methods 

We understand how annoying it can be when you have issues making payments on any platform. Therefore, our experts suggest you only register on sites with plenty of payment options. Ideally, we recommend looking for eWallets, credit/debit cards, and bank transfers. If you love staying anonymous when gambling online like us, make sure the site supports cryptocurrencies too.

Seamless User Experience 

An online casino should be a place to ease up and have fun. This means you don’t want to register on a site that is difficult to use. We have observed from our time on online casinos that great sites are very easy to use. You can register in minutes and also find links to useful parts of the site on the home page.

Responsive Customer Support 

Imagine running into a problem with your bank account with no help in sight. Or perhaps you tried to contact the support team, and there is no phone number or email available to get help? This could be frustrating, right?

If you are not careful, you can also experience it in online casinos too. Therefore, we suggest you pick only trusted online casino sites that offer different ways to get help when you need it. Our experts believe that top sites should feature phone, email, and live chat options. The support team should also be professional and understand how the casino works so they can help you out in a bind.

Mobile Functionality 

By now, you probably know the convenience a mobile device offers. Top casinos know this too, and that is why they take measures to ensure you can access the online casino from your mobile phones. This could be through a mobile casino or a mobile app that you install and play on the go. We particularly love casino sites that offer both, as they let you choose which you prefer.  

Proper Responsible Gambling Measures 

If you spend time at online casinos a lot, you may have come across the term responsible gambling. Let’s define this in simple terms for you. Responsible gambling simply has to do with you gambling in a responsible manner.

We observed that not many online casinos understand this as they only want your money. Top sites on the other hand, like those we recommend, have tools to help you gamble responsibly. Some tools we expect to find and suggest you look out for are time-outs, self-exclusion, and account closures.

Finding the best operators should not be challenging

As you can see, you don’t have to fret when looking for the right online casino. While we recommend you opt for top brands from Casino Rewards, many reliable options are still available. Simply use the 10 tips we have provided in this guide, and you’ll surely find one that suits your needs.

Tips on How to Measure User Experience: A Guide to Effective Evaluation

Imagine a world where doctors prescribe medicines without diagnosing the illness or pilots take off without pre-flight checks. In the digital world, numerous businesses operate similarly, disregarding the crucial practice of evaluating user experience. However, as you might assume, it’s a great mistake, and we recommend not to repeat it in practice.

So, how can you measure UX? And what metrics should you be tracking?

This article will serve you as a comprehensive guide on UX design, providing tips on measuring UX and offering you a list of important KPIs to track. 

What is UX, and Why Is It Important to Measure It?

User experience (UX) is the sum of all the user’s interactions with a product or service, from the first time they encounter it to the last. A good UX will keep users coming back for more, and it will help you attract new users. At the same time, a bad UX will frustrate users and drive them away.

By measuring UX, you can make data-driven decisions about improving your products and services and creating a better user experience.

Tips for Measuring UX

Tip 1: Use a Combination of Qualitative and Quantitative Data

It is important to use both qualitative and quantitative data to measure UX correctly. Quantitative data, such as task completion rates, error rates, and time on page, can provide you with objective insights into how users are interacting with your product. However, quantitative data alone cannot tell you why users are behaving in a certain way or how they feel about their experience.

To get a more complete picture of the user experience, it is important to also collect qualitative data, such as user feedback, surveys, and interviews. Qualitative data can help you understand users’ motivations, pain points, and overall satisfaction with your product.

Let’s take a simple comparison. Quantitative data is like a map. It can show you where your users are going, but it can’t tell you why they are going there or what they are thinking. At the same time, qualitative data is like a compass. It can help you understand your users’ motivations and goals.

Tip 2: Forget Perfection, Embrace Iteration

While trying to reach the perfect UX, we often forget that perfection is a moving target. User expectations change, technology evolves, and so should your UX. Instead of striving for unattainable goals, focus on iterative improvement. Regularly collect feedback, A/B test designs, and adapt to changing user needs. Consider UX as an ongoing journey, not a final destination.

Tip 3: Dissect the Micro-Moments

In the era of micro-interactions, measuring UX requires dissecting every micro-moment. These brief interactions often go unnoticed but significantly impact overall satisfaction. Use event-tracking tools and micro-interaction analysis to gain a microscopic view of user behavior. By optimizing these micro-moments, you can get a lot of helpful information on how to keep users engaged and delighted.

Key UX KPIs

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is one of the fundamental KPIs in the world of UX. It measures the percentage of users who take a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up, or subscribing to a newsletter. 

For example, let’s imagine an e-commerce website that wants to improve its conversion rate. By analyzing user behavior through tools like Google Analytics and heatmaps, they discover that users often abandon their shopping carts at the payment page. By optimizing the design of their payment process, they see a 20% increase in conversions.

Task Success Rate

Task success rate measures the percentage of users who successfully complete a specific task on your website or app. This can range from finding information to making a purchase. 

For instance, let’s say an online banking app wants to measure task success in transferring money between accounts. They conduct usability testing with real users and discover that 30% of users encounter difficulties during the process. After redesigning the interface and simplifying the steps, the task success rate improved to 95%.

User Engagement Metrics

User engagement metrics include time on site, pages per visit, and interaction with specific features. These metrics help you understand how engaged users are with your content or application.

For example, let’s consider a situation, when a social media platform observes a decline in user engagement. By analyzing user data, they identify that a recent app update has made the user interface less intuitive. After going back to the previous design and adding more engaging features, user engagement metrics return to their previous levels.

Usability Testing Metrics

Usability testing is a qualitative approach to measuring UX. It involves observing real users as they interact with your product and collecting feedback. 

For instance, let’s say a mobile app for public transportation conducts usability testing. Users struggle to find the nearest bus stops due to unclear signage. By redesigning the interface to include clearer directions and maps, the app becomes more user-friendly, resulting in increased user satisfaction.

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is a crucial KPI that indicates the percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can be a sign of poor UX. 

Let’s take an example of a website that notices a high bounce rate on a specific page. By analyzing the article’s content and user feedback, they realize that the content and the design are outdated. After updating it with fresh information and more engaging design elements, the bounce rate decreases significantly.

Conclusion

To sum up, measuring user experience is paramount in ensuring that your products and services resonate with your audience. By following the methods and techniques outlined in this article, you can start a journey of continuous improvement, encouraging user satisfaction and loyalty. 

Remember that the user experience is not a static concept. It evolves over time. Regular evaluation, flexibility, and adaptation are the keys to continuous success. As you embrace these tips and integrate them into your design and development processes, you will find yourself on a path toward creating exceptional, user-centric solutions that will set you apart from your competitors.

User Experience (UX): Process and Methodology

What is user experience (UX)? The most complete guide to UX Overview, UX Process and UX Methodology for UX practitioners.

History of User Experience (UX)

The concept of User Experience (UX) has been around earlier than the abbreviation UX itself. When you conduct user research through methods like survey or interview, it is a process of user-centered design aiming to improve the experience of users for products and services. When you design products to be comfortable for both right-handed and left-handed people, you are trying to create the best user experience for all your users without bias.

It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the term user experience or UX was made famous by Don Norman. He is the author of best-selling “The Design of Everyday Things”. Through the book, he popularized the terms “user-centered design”. In addition, he emphasized the importance of design as the communication between consumers and products.

What is User Experience (UX)?

UX stands for user experience. While user experience is the general practice of focusing on creating a good and satisfying experience for users of products and designs, different practitioners and companies may have varying definitions and thoughts toward UX.

ISO 9241-210 defines user experience as a person’s perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service. On top of this, it considers user experience to “include the users’ emotions, beliefs, preferences, perceptions, physical and psychological responses, behaviors and accomplishments that occur before, during and after use.

In its latest UX Industry Report, Loop11 found that

  • 56% of respondents has a basic definition of UX with 14% referring it as just user experience and; 14% saying that it involves identifying all the touch points a user has with business; 16% describing it as a series of methodology aimed at meeting a user’s requirements; and another 12% saying that UX is the experience a user has with digital interfaces.
  • However, there’s a growing 21% of respondents referred UX as understanding the “emotions” that a user may experience. This emotion may be good or bad and occur in their interactions with a business’s offering.
  • Another 18% went further to emphasize that UX should focus on fully meeting the users’ need, even delighting them.

Why is User Experience (UX) important?

Global consumers are getting pickier than ever before. Unlike the earlier generations, we have more information symmetry thanks to the world wide web and proliferation of internet economy. E-commerce is growing, rapidly. In the face of intense competitions, even the slightest lift in user experience can help you to stay ahead of competitors. UX is relevant and applicable across all product categories and services, ranging from machinery, electric and electronic appliances, smartphones to a web portal or automated teller machine (ATM).

  • Increase customer satisfaction.

Enhance your customer satisfaction by improving the usability and pleasure of interacting with all touch points across platforms and devices.

  • Understand your audiences.

By conducting UX research, you will gain insights into how a user behave and react to your products and services. The same website design can be just nice for users in the USA; not complicated enough for users in China or Japan; but too complicated for users in Indonesia at the same time. This difference in perception of user experience across countries and regions has prompted some global e-commerce brands to release different website designs catering to the specific markets.

  • Good UX is good business.

An investment in UX sees a lower cost of customer acquisition, lower support cost, increased customer retention and increased market share.

Overview of User Experience (UX) in Industry

A profession in UX is still relatively new and might be one of the newest alongside profession in artificial intelligence. Therefore, most people outside the technological sphere would be scratching their head if you say that you are a UX researcher.

Depending on business strategy and budget, companies may decide whether to build an in-house UX research team or outsource to external UX consultants.

Building an in-house UX research team vs outsourcing

It is definitely not cheap to build a team from scratch. Somehow, it may be even harder to convince the management to allocate budget for something completely new

Firstly, you will need to prepare a detailed proposal with

  • Mission statement and objective
  • UX processes and deliverable
  • Expected outcome
  • Resources planning in term of headcount with the corresponding roles and responsibilities,
  • Financial budgeting and forecasting

Yes, it is time-consuming and not as straightforward as it seems!

If you think that these steps are onerous but still want the best of UX for your products or services, outsourcing to an agency will be the best option for you. Just engage an agency for UX consultancy! They will be able to perform an initial assessment on your products or services, followed by the adoption of some suitable UX tools to achieve your intended mission statement.

Latest Industry Trend

If you are curious to know whether how other companies are doing, there are two main trends in the industry:

  1. Have an in-house UX research team while engaging consultant for UX audit
  2. Outsource everything about UX

Tech companies tend to have in-house UX research team due to the secrecy and pace of their trade. They continuously roll out new technology and products that are not only confidential but also require speed in testing and launching. Hence, these companies usually have the presence of an in-house UX research team. They usually integrate their user experience (UX) functions within the development team to form the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

In addition to their in-house UX research team, these tech companies also regularly engage external UX consultants to perform UX audit or digital audit on their products, services or websites. Through the UX audit or digital audit, companies will get to know about the latest UX or technology trends. Moreover, they will be able to assess their digital performance with a benchmark to industry peers.

On the other hand, some non-tech companies might decide to outsource the entire UX functions to external consultants. The consultants will be in charge of developing the personas, storyboarding, UX guidelines, etc. They will also conduct regular UX research using tools like usability testing to understand the users’ perceptions toward the products and services.

Regardless of whether you are an in-house UX researcher or a UX consultant, these are the SOP in UX that you should know:

User Experience (UX) Process and Methodology

  1. User Research
  2. Design
  3. Wireframing
  4. Prototype
  5. Testing
  6. Implementation and Launch

The first trigger point in UX process will normally be stakeholder interviews. In the case of in-house UX team, stakeholders include internal management and product team. For external UX consultant, you have external stakeholder which is your client organization; and also your bosses or sales team as your internal stakeholder.

A well-structured stakeholder interview or workshop allows you to gain insights of management directions, company values, and culture, challenges faced and also strategy to achieve certain goals. Be sure to avoid UX jargon! Just try to make the stakeholders comfortable and convey whatever within the topics.

As UX is an user-based approach and methodology, you are not expected to get any solutions or answers out of the stakeholders. Ultimately, stakeholders will be the one deciding the goals while user research will provide solutions to reach the goals.

1. Always start with User Research

If you ask an experienced UX researcher what is the best UX for your website, product or service, most likely you will not get an answer. A UX researcher should always be mindful of the differences in opinions and perceptions toward a good user experience. Do not make assumptions based on your experience. If you do so, you will not be able to understand the needs of users. Instead, conduct research on the target users to learn from their perspectives.

On top of this,  perceptions of a good user experience vary across demographics such as age, education, nationality etc. It is important to involve the correct users in your research. Below are some of the most commonly used research methods in UX:

User Interview

A user interview is a qualitative, one-to-one and one of the most commonly used research techniques. It is a guided conversation where the researchers ask questions and take down the responses from the participants. The advantage of interview lies in its flexibility and a well-structured interview enables researchers to gain detailed information and deep insights into the users.

The latest interview trend has moved beyond merely collecting attitudinal data of how users feel. You can also include some usability studies during the interview session to observe how the users behave when interacting with a website, product or service. You will be surprised that attitudinal data and behavioral data are not actually consistent.

It is up to you to structure your 1-hour interview with various tasks and activities.

Survey

A survey is usually used when you need to collect a large sample size. It can be conducted online and offline through paper surveys (please do not use it anymore, it is not good for Earth and difficult for you to compile the data).

While the survey is administered through a questionnaire with a list of questions (in the form of multiple choices, rating scale or open-ended), it is almost an art to make it not too short in order to collect enough information and not too long in order not to turn respondents away.

Focus Group Discussion

In a focus group discussion, five to ten participants are gathered together to discuss a series of questions. This enables the researchers to gather as diverse views as possible. Many agencies have tried to recruit groups of participants from diverse demographic backgrounds to avoid group think behavior among the groups.

Friends group where a group of friends is invited is also on the rise. It is believed to be good for idea generation.

Card Sorting

Card sorting is a method commonly used to aid the design of information architecture, workflows, menu structure or website navigation paths. The researchers will first write down the key elements or concepts on index cards. The users will then reorganize the cards to establish structures or relationship.

Sales Analytics or Web Analytics

All historical and current raw data from audience demographics, page visits, bounce rate to sales performance can be measured and analyzed to provide key insights into user behaviors.

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis is more than just examining the website, app, product, service, marketing strategy etc of your competitors. Conducting usability testing on competitors’ products and services provides you with their plus points and minus points to learn from.

2. Start Designing with User Inputs

Users may think of the appearance of a website or product when we talk about design. They will describe it as pretty or not pretty.

However, as a UX professional, you should be aware that design is more than appearance. Steve Jobs once said that design is not just what it looks like and feels like; design is how it works. UX design comprises UX elements from information architecture, visual design, interaction design, content strategy to sitemaps.

After gaining more understanding of your users from research, you can first create a set of personas, storyboards, user journey map and ecosystem map.

Personas

Persona is a fictional character created to describe a specific end user. Example persona is a frequent backpacker with name, age, job details, education, location, income level, family members and friends, familiarity with technology, hobbies, goals, characters etc explained and elaborated in details.

With a set of personas, team members will be able to stay on the same page by imagining the same person and referring to this person in the discussion. Let’s refer to the example below:

Example Persona: Alex, a 24 yo backpacker
During a meeting, you can say “Alex would not like this feature” and everyone will immediately know that you are referring to a young backpacker instead of a elderly.

User Journey Map

A user journey map is an illustration of the interaction between a user with a company, product or service at every stage of engagement from researching, making the decision, purchasing to post-purchase. It includes the personas, time frame, and actions for each stage, touch points and sales channels, emotions, and experience.

There’s no one-size-fits-all user journey map as each company is unique and objectives of user research may vary. A good and comprehensive user journey map explains user experience from a user perspective for the understanding of researchers.

Storyboards

A storyboard is a comic strip used to capture a user’s interaction with a product or service. It allows researchers and stakeholders alike to visualize and brainstorm.

The next step in design is to come up with the proposals for UX elements (such as information architecture, visual design, interaction design, content strategy, sitemaps) and put them together as a prototype.

3. Wireframing

If you haven’t employed wireframing as part of your process, you should probably start doing so. A wireframe is a visual guide with the framework of your product. It allows you to define the information architecture, navigation design, and interface design.

Creation of wireframes has become relatively cheap and easy with many tools and applications online to help you do so. The most important advantage of wireframing is that it provides an early version of the product for you to review with both your internal and external stakeholders. Adjustments can be made easily to the wireframes before moving on to the more complicated process of technical development.

Paper Wireframe vs Low Fidelity vs High Fidelity

With so many tools out there to use for wireframing including Adobe Experience Design (Adobe XD), low fidelity is the least you should consider. Low fidelity wireframes are more abstract with fewer details; while high fidelity wireframes are more complex in the format of HTML or CSS.

4. Prototype

A prototype is the version 1.0 of your website or product.  It resembles the closet version of your final outcome.

A prototype allows the UX researchers to examine and identify any flaws, errors or inconsistencies in overall design and experience before it is converted to the actual version by the development team.

5. Testing

With prototypes, user testing can be conducted with users to validate the design flow and user experience. In some e-commerce companies, testing usually makes up a big bulk of daily routine of UX researchers. It allows them to continuously improve the product.

Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristic evaluation is the experts’ reviews of website’s usability according to a list of usability principles and common heuristics. While UX experts could never replace user testing, they are able to identify any discrepancies from the common heuristics. You can then eliminate these discrepancies before proceeding to user testing.

Usability Testing

In usability testing, participants are invited to perform a few guided tasks at the prototype and actual product. The settings are usually in the lab or in the form of contextual inquiry. Contextual inquiry is a semi-structured interview method to obtain information about the context of use. Users are observed and questioned while they work in their own environments to make them feel comfortable.

Usability testing might be one of the most used UX methods. It is very effective in identifying potential usability or design issues and explore the area of improvement in functionality. If conducted properly with a defined objective, plan and procedures, five participants are all it takes for usability testing.

A/B Testing and Multivariate Testing

A/B Testing is a method of comparing two versions of a website or product to determine which one has better performance. It is usually used to test new or experimental feature update before it is released.

On the other hand, multivariate testing has the same mechanisms and functions but it measures multiple variables as suggested by its name. The relationship among these variables is studied to discover the most effective design combination.

In recent years, A/B testing and multivariate testing have become very popular, especially for big data fanatics and big e-commerce sites. The quantitative nature of these two research methods involves a collection of a large set of reliable data. These data can be collected and analyzed quickly.

6. Implementation and Launch

After user testing, the validated prototype can finally be converted into actual product for UAT Testing before an official launch.

However, the role of a UX researcher does not end here. Research activities should continue to

  • monitor the user experience performance of website or product through suitable key performance indicators (KPI) or metrics
  • identify the area of improvements through user testing
  • propose new features to be implemented taking into account user recommendations
  • observe the industry trends, as well as benchmark against the competitors.
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