Paddy Power – Driving Innovation in Betting & Gaming
At Paddy Power, I built the foundation for leading at the intersection of strategy, execution, and team development across web, mobile, and innovation projects. I delivered large-scale design solutions that balanced brand consistency, usability, and conversion while driving emerging tech initiatives like voice-activated betting and social features to keep the brand ahead of market trends. Developing scalable design systems and frameworks ensured platform efficiency, while data-driven decision-making through A/B testing and analytics sharpened performance. Collaborating with cross-functional teams, I navigated regulatory challenges without compromising user experience. As a senior designer, I mentored junior team members, led critiques, and refined design processes—proving I don’t just manage design, I lead it. I set clear strategic direction while ensuring teams deliver innovative, high-impact work at scale.
Roller Casino & Paddy Power Vegas – A Platform for Innovation
As the sole Product Designer for Paddy Power Vegas and Roller Casino, I transformed these white-label apps into testing grounds for innovation. Working end-to-end across UX research, wireframing, prototyping, and delivery, I ensured seamless experiences across responsive web and native iOS for mobile and tablet. Our cross-functional team, spanning product, marketing, and engineering, leveraged in-person user testing, live observations, and user panels to validate and refine our designs.
Key improvements included:
Navigation enhancements for better usability and engagement.
3D gamification elements to introduce Easter eggs and hooks.
A modular design system to ensure UI consistency and scalability.
Branding and CRM improvements, including email templates and landing pages.
Core journey optimizations to drive conversion and retention.
Full product redesigns based on real user insights.
While these apps were eventually retired, our work earned industry-wide recognition, winning multiple awards, including EGR Innovation of the Year. More importantly, the insights gained directly influenced Paddy Power’s broader product strategy, proving the long-term impact of innovation-led design.
Impact & Recognition
Our work on Roller Casino led to industry-wide recognition, winning multiple awards in 2013:
🏆 EGR Innovation of the Year
🏆 EGR Mobile Casino Product of the Year
🏆 Best Tablet App – Mobile Gaming & Gambling Awards
Revitalizing Last Man Standing – A Cross-Sell Opportunity for Paddy Power
Last Man Standing was a hugely popular knockout football competition at Paddy Power, but it operated as a disconnected, outdated experience. Its lack of integration with Paddy Power’s core platforms, mobile support, and inconsistent branding meant it failed to drive engagement beyond its niche audience. My challenge was to modernize and integrate it, turning it into a seamless, high-converting product within Paddy Power’s ecosystem.
Driving Engagement Through Smart UX & Integration
Leading UX strategy, research, and design, I worked across distributed teams during Paddy Power’s high-stakes merger with Betfair. Despite shifting priorities and a departing Product Owner, we delivered key improvements:
Seamless platform integration – embedding Last Man Standing into Paddy Power’s main site and app.
Mobile-first redesign – transforming an inaccessible legacy site into a responsive, high-performing experience.
Brand & UX refresh – aligning the product with Paddy Power’s bold, engaging identity.
Enhanced onboarding & engagement loops – improving retention, leaderboard clarity, and cross-sell opportunities.
Data-driven decision-making – user testing overturned assumptions, leading to a refined, user-approved experience.
Lessons in Leadership & Impact
Though the final iteration wasn’t launched due to the merger, the process reinforced key leadership skills: scaling UX within a complex business, aligning teams around a shared vision, and driving impact through research-backed design. This project wasn’t just about modernizing a product—it was about shaping a strategy for deeper engagement, cross-sell potential, and long-term scalability.
Diverse Digital Projects at Paddy Power
During my time at Paddy Power, I had the opportunity to work across a vast and varied digital landscape, collaborating with some of the industry's most experienced teams. My work spanned product and web design, app development, advertising innovation, and high-profile brand partnerships.
I contributed to the nine verticals of the Paddy Power .com site, shaping experiences across multiple betting markets. I also played a key role in evolving the brand’s award-winning blog, enhancing engagement and content discovery.
Beyond the core platform, I helped launch a new Android app, worked on both iOS and Android mobile and tablet experiences, and designed landing pages and key components for the Arsenal FC website. Additionally, I was at the forefront of pioneering HTML5 advertisements and motion design, creating homepage takeover banners for national newspaper sites and innovating within digital advertising strategy.
Paddy Power’s structure provided an exceptional learning environment, with dedicated UX, UI, photography, and video teams, multiple creative directors, and a collaborative, fast-paced culture. This experience allowed me to refine my expertise in cross-platform design, creative strategy, and high-impact digital campaigns while contributing to some of the most ambitious projects within the company’s ecosystem.
Creative Leadership & Impact at Paddy Power
Throughout my time at Paddy Power, I had the opportunity to lead high-profile creative initiatives that shaped the brand’s marketing and product experiences.
One of my standout achievements was winning the pitch to lead the creative direction for Paddy Power’s "Exhilaracing" Grand National Campaign in 2015. My vision for the campaign—featuring dynamic horse racing photo manipulations—was executed as a 360° marketing initiative, spanning 300 shop window posters across the UK and national print advertisements.
Another milestone was leading the E-Gaming platform re-theme. Through user research and behavioural insights, we uncovered that many players envisioned themselves in a James Bond-esque world when engaging with online casino games. My successful pitch for a dark, immersive, and sophisticated 3D environment became the foundation for the brand’s new creative direction, elevating the gaming experience.
Beyond the work itself, Paddy Power was defined by its strong culture and collaborative teams. Working alongside talented creatives, researchers, and marketers, I thrived in an environment where bold ideas were encouraged, insights drove decisions, and execution was always at the highest level.
