Racing Gaming and Liquor WA Licensing System UX Redesign

The Background

The Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor in Western Australia manages licensing across the alcohol, gambling and racing industries. Their licensing application system was outdated and entirely offline. Applicants were struggling to complete forms correctly, with a 0% success rate on the first attempt. The burden fell equally on staff, who were caught in a cycle of resubmissions and manual processing that had become the norm simply because it had always been that way.

Mettro was brought in by lead agency Lighthouse to serve as the UX and UI design and strategy team, working closely with their team throughout the project.

The Challenge

Converting a paper-based licensing system to a digital one is far from simple. It requires more than replicating existing forms online. It demands a thorough understanding of the entire process to build something that actually works better, not just differently.

The Department knew change was needed but was uncertain about how to get there. They had done things the same way for a long time. The challenge was not only fixing a broken system but bringing the client along through the process and helping them see what was possible.

Our Approach

Mettro ran intensive stakeholder workshops to map user journeys, identify pain points, and uncover where the process was failing both applicants and staff. Rather than arriving with a predetermined solution, the team worked iteratively, giving the Department ownership of each step and validating decisions along the way.

The project was framed not just as a customer experience upgrade but as a staff empowerment initiative. The people processing applications every day understood the problems better than anyone. Mettro’s role was to listen, translate that knowledge into a well-designed digital solution, and make sure the Department felt confident in what was being built. The result was a streamlined, intuitive digital form designed to reduce friction and eliminate the resubmission cycle. Mettro’s UX design and UI design work was built around the Department’s operational reality from the start.

The Outcome

First-time application completion rates rose from 0% to 85%. The fully digital licensing process reduced resubmissions, saved time for both applicants and staff, and gave the Department a clear demonstration of what collaborative digital transformation looks like in practice.