Client
The National Lottery
Year
2024
EVOLVING THE NATIONAL LOTTERY APP
As part of the National Lottery’s efforts to refresh its digital experience, I was tasked with researching how their app could evolve to drive greater user engagement—especially around key moments like draws. The focus was on understanding what keeps users coming back to apps, identifying common engagement drivers, and exploring how these could be applied to the National Lottery’s platform.
UNDERSTANDING ENGAGEMENT IN APPS
To answer these questions, I conducted research into what makes apps successful at retaining users. What features encourage repeat visits? What patterns exist across high-engagement platforms? Alongside this, user research was carried out to understand how players currently interact with the National Lottery app and its draws.
MAPPING KEY ENGAGEMENT THEMES
The National Lottery
Entertainment
Research
Mobile App Design
3 Weeks
what keeps users coming back?
ENGAGEMENT DRIVERS
01
Loyalty is a key element in company reward systems, which use tangible rewards, personalisation, gamification, and progression to boost user engagement and loyalty. This benefits both users, who enjoy perks, and companies, which see increased engagement, retention, revenue, and satisfaction.
STARBUCKS offers stars for purchases and personalised offers.
DUNKIN' Rewards motivates return visits with points.
User Research Insight
There is appetite for loyalty rewards for longstanding players. Some players who have been playing since 94 feel they have seen no reward for their continued play and forgotten about by the National Lottery.
Impact for TNL
Introducing a reward system in the National Lottery app can boost user engagement in lottery games. This is achieved through strategies like points-based rewards, tiered loyalty programs, gamification features, personalised offers, and effective communication to keep users engaged.
02
In-store customers can have their retail experience enhanced through a companion app offering additional benefits such as unlocking discounts, rewards or loyalty points. Promoting app use to retail customers also aims to increase product sales and customer engagement.
MCDONALDS enhances user engagement with the Monopoly promotion, through offering incentives exclusive to the companion app. Customers are encouraged to engage with the app through the ‘Double Peel’ promotion, through scanning the ticket from the purchase they gain an extra chance at winning prizes through the app with a novel ‘digital peel’ experience
User Research Insight
The concept of creating a digital replica of their physical ticket continues to test well with players. This is because they like the nostalgia and sentimentality of creating and holding a physical ticket, but fear losing it.
Impact for TNL
The in-store experience of purchasing a physical ticket can be further enhanced by pairing with the app, encouraging a greater conversion of physical ticket customers to want to play digitally. Greater incentives for users to bring their tickets into the app could be offered, such as loyalty points or the chance of winning a lucky dip for example.
03
iOS apps can drive user engagement by surfacing live information on the lock screen. This feature ensures that users receive real-time updates related to the app's key features, even when their phone is locked. By providing users with useful and current content, apps can keep them engaged and informed, encouraging regular interactions and increased user satisfaction.
SAS uses Live Activities to keep passengers updated on their flight status directly from the Home Screen. Travelers can see real-time boarding updates, gate changes, and baggage claim details without unlocking their phones.
UBER EATS leverages Live Activities to show the status of food deliveries at a glance. Users can track their order’s preparation, courier location, and estimated arrival time in real-time without needing to open the app.
User Research Insight
Whilst there was little appetite to sit and watch a live draw (in the format that it used to be shown) some players said they would engage with a lighter touch live experience e.g. if they were watching TV and a notification appeared on their phone.
Impact for TNL
To reimagine the Lotto Live Draw on iOS, Live activities could be utilised to surface the results of this live event to users in real time.
04
TIKTOK shows users content through the ‘For You’ page, using an algorithm to show more content based on what they like to view.
CLASSPASS also uses a ‘For You’ page to promote classes it thinks the users will like based on their history, location etc.
User Research Insight
The My Home area of the app has tested well due to the perception of personalised content which acts as shortcuts to their most frequently performed actions.
Impact for TNL
Offering users a personalised experience can lead to greater engagement with content, this could include promoting selected games, numbers or other forms of media related to the live draw.
05
Community-driven features are essential for enhancing user engagement in various apps. They foster a sense of belonging and shared interests, fuelling engagement through social interaction, challenges, goal-setting, content sharing, recommendations, community events, support, and user-generated content. Users connect, motivate each other, and participate actively, forming a strong sense of community.
RUNNA fosters a strong running community through its dedicated feed, where users can share progress, training insights, and race experiences. This interactive space keeps runners motivated, connected, and engaged with like-minded athletes.
GOODREADS boosts user engagement through community features like book discussions, reading challenges, and user recommendations.
User Research Insight
Some players are encouraged to play via family and friends, but do not play as a syndicate. Encouraging community play with people who are known to the player will be a natural transition from existing physical play behaviours into the digital experience.
Impact for TNL
The National Lottery can learn from these community-driven features. Building a sense of community around lottery games in the app can enhance user engagement through challenges, shared goals, and content sharing. User-generated content, like personal lottery stories, can strengthen connections among users, leading to increased participation and revenue.
