A and B menu test
Switch the state below to see how each variant behaves. Variant A keeps the top menu quiet and lets the component carry the message. Variant B moves the state up into the menu and adds a small alarm clock when time starts to run out.
Stress-tests legibility against the busiest game art from the brief.
A places the promo directly under the Free Spins component. B pushes it below the spin controls, so the CTA stays cleaner.
The top menu stays calm. The detailed state lives inside the component, next to the CTA.
Free Spins
Active
BET
£0.10
WIN
£0.00
The gift icon carries a state badge. The counter turns green when healthy, and an alarm clock pulses near expiry.
Free Spins
Expiring soon
Heads up, 12 ending soon. No rush, only use them if you want to.
BET
£0.10
WIN
£0.00
If I could put this in front of real players
Find them
Get to your Free Spins from the home screen.
Fix it
Your spins are blocked. Work out why and carry on.
Decide
Spins expire in 5 minutes. Up to you.
Wrap up
Spins are done. Read the result and exit.
What I would look at: first tap, whether the state was read correctly, how the error gets resolved, and whether the expiring state feels informative or pushy.
Accessibility risk
Roughly 1 in 12 men have some form of colour vision deficiency. In casino and sports betting the audience is mostly male in all three markets in the brief, so colour on its own is not enough. That is why every state pairs colour with an icon, a label and, where it can, a different shape.
Brazil
62% of sports bettors are men
DataSenado, last 30 days
A majority-male base, so CVD probably affects around 5% of active users.
Great Britain
41% of men vs 34% of women gamble online
Gambling Commission, last 4 weeks
Men sit at roughly 55% of online gamblers, so around 4.4% of the base is potentially affected.
Finland
75% of men vs 65% of women gamble yearly
THL and Peluuri, 2023
Higher male participation, and a higher gambling-harm rate too (6.6% vs 1.8%).
| State | Risk with CVD | Design response (colour + icon + label + shape) |
|---|---|---|
| Active (green) | Green may not read as 'positive' for red/green CVD. | Check circle, plus an 'Active' label, plus a green chip. Never just a green dot on its own. |
| Error (red) | Red can lose force or blend with dark tones. | Warning triangle, plus a 'Bet too high' label, plus a red border and an 'Adjust' CTA. |
| Expiring (amber) | Amber can sit close to green or red in some CVD types. | Clock icon plus 'Expires in 14 min' text. Avoid using an amber bar by itself. |
| Paused (amber) | Amber on its own can read as warning or inactive. | Pause icon, plus a 'Paused' label, plus a 'Resume' CTA. |
| Completed (green) | Green on its own may not signal success. | Check or winnings icon, plus a 'Complete' label, plus the value highlighted. |
| Top gift badge | A colour-only change in the badge is missed. | The badge changes shape and symbol: number, clock, pause, warning, check. |
Impact on Option A
The top menu stays quiet. The state is communicated inside the component, where there is room for the icon, the label and the CTA. This is why A is still my baseline.
Impact on Option B
A colour-only badge would fail this audience.
The short version: colour is a supporting cue here, not the main one. If you stripped the colour out of every state, you should still be able to tell them apart by icon and label alone.
Icon recognition
I would not pick between these from the desk. Put both in front of players, see which one they name correctly without a label.
Free Spins identity
Header chip and menu badge
Hypothesis
Gift carries reward semantics but is generic. Star is brand-aligned (MGM) and reads as 'special offer'.
Winner / Completed
Spins finished, winnings credited
Hypothesis
Trophy reads as sport and competition. Medal reads as achievement. Trophy may feel more 'won', medal more 'earned'.
Expiring urgency
Time-sensitive promo chip
Hypothesis
Clock reads as neutral time. Timer reads as countdown pressure. Worth checking if Timer pushes the anxiety too far.
