SENIOR PRODUCT DESIGN . LEO VEGAS INTERVIEW
One small component,
a lot of moving parts.
I treated Free Spins as more than an in-game UI component. The challenge was to turn a hidden reward into a clear engagement moment, helping players discover, understand and activate bonuses without adding pressure or interrupting gameplay.
- 8
- COMPONENT STATES
- 4
- PLAYER FLOWS
- 6
- SUCCESS METRICS
- AA
- BASED ON WCAG 2.1
Free Spins
Active
Available
30/30 · £0.10
The brief
"When players are in a Slot game, they often forget they have Free Spins and use their own money instead. We want a new in-game component that makes Free Spins obvious in every state."
The brief asked for minimised and expanded views, mobile only, and localisation for markets like Brazil and Finland. I approached this as a reward visibility and activation problem, not just a layout task. The component needed to work across busy game screens, different providers, changing states, different currencies and longer translated strings.
Product opportunity
The real challenge is not just showing Free Spins. It is helping players discover, trust and use a reward at the right moment.
Player behaviour
Players are focused on the game, not on checking reward menus. The component needs to create awareness without breaking concentration.
Business impact
Clearer reward visibility can support higher bonus activation, fewer expired bonuses and better return-to-game behaviour.
Responsible design
The experience should make bonus conditions transparent without using pressure, dark patterns or manipulative urgency.
Success metrics
I would measure success through player understanding, reward activation and responsible engagement.
01
Free Spins discovery rate
Do players notice that Free Spins are available during gameplay?
02
Bonus activation rate
Do players start using the reward once they have seen it?
03
Bonus completion rate
Do players complete the Free Spins journey successfully?
04
Expired bonus rate
Are fewer rewards expiring unused?
05
Eligible game entry rate
Do players move from reward discovery into a game where the bonus can be used?
06
Support contact reduction
Are fewer players contacting support about unclear bonus rules?
What the player has to answer in one second
01
What is this?
The player should recognise it as a reward without stopping to decode the UI.
02
Can I use it?
The state has to be obvious: available, active, paused, blocked, expiring or completed.
03
How many?
The counter has to stay legible on any game background, in every supported language.
04
What are the rules?
Eligibility, expiry and bet limits need to be explained in normal words, not hidden in legal copy.
05
What do I do next?
The CTA should match the player’s current state: start, resume, adjust bet, view games or dismiss.
Explore the case study
Four ways into the work
State model
Eight states. For each one: the message, the behaviour, the CTA, the accessibility label and the product logic behind it.
Interactive prototype
Tap through discover, use and recover on a phone, the way a player would meet it during an actual session.
A and B menu test
The quiet rewards menu next to the state-aware one, so the trade-off between visibility, interruption and activation is visible.
User flows
Four flows: discovery, gift entry, error recovery and expiring. Each one connects user behaviour with product outcome.
I approached Free Spins as a retention and reward engagement system, not just an interface component.
The design connects player behaviour, bonus activation, accessibility, localisation, responsible gaming and engineering handover from day one.