“This is where things often go wrong” – Frank Litjens on the messy balance in online casinos

Behind the scenes at online casinos, a battle is raging that players rarely see. It is not about profit or loss, but about control, rules and choices that shape the experience. 

“This tension is only growing.” Frank Litjens, Head of Product & Platform at Fair Play Online Casino, explains why.

“Compliance is not a legal issue but a product issue”

According to Litjens, it all starts with a misunderstanding. Many people think that compliance is a matter for lawyers, but in practice the responsibility lies with product teams.

“Rules don’t just stay on paper.”

They turn into buttons, notifications and mandatory steps within the platform.

You see this immediately reflected in how a player uses an account. Think of deposit limits, verification processes and cooling-off periods.

“Everything has to happen at the right moment.”

Each of these elements must appear without the player dropping out.

“Every interruption is a risk”

Building such a platform is all about timing. When do you intervene? When do you let someone carry on playing?

“Every interruption has an impact.”

Litjens describes how every moment of intervention poses a risk

If you intervene too early or too strictly, players will drop out. If you’re too lenient or unclear, you’ll run into problems with regulators.

“That balance determines everything.”

“Small choices have big consequences”

What appears from the outside to be a simple design choice turns out, in reality, to be a difficult decision. Product teams must constantly balance compliance, conversion and trust.

“These are never small decisions.”

A notification must be clear, but not intrusive. A restriction must feel fair, but also be effective.

“What is clear enough?”

According to Litjens, that is where the real challenge lies.

“It’s similar to e-commerce, but goes much further”

Litjens compares casino platforms to e-commerce, where rules such as taxation and anti-fraud measures also influence the user experience.

“But here, it affects almost everything.”

Virtually every part of the product is subject to regulation. As a result, he believes that many compliance issues are not legal errors.

“They are design choices that don’t work out well.”

“This is where things often get messy”

The crux of the problem lies in the implementation. Everything has to be right behind the scenes, whilst continuing to run smoothly on the front end.

“And that’s precisely where it goes wrong.”

Workflows feel too strict or, conversely, too vague. Players become frustrated or don’t understand what’s happening.

“That’s where the tension arises.”