Lucky Number App
A culturally localized iOS app I built to help Singapore Pools lottery players get latest results and discover their lucky numbers. Try here 🔗
This was not a great project, and these are some of my learnings.
Existing apps are ugly. I can fix that
Consider:
- Why are these apps so outdated and uninspired in design, yet have so many reviews?
Along the way, I realised the target audience, older people who would use these apps, probably don't care because they aren't the type to obsess over our standards of user experience - apps simply have to be functional. They aren't likely to find alternatives and switch over to a new app too, as long as their current app works.
I found a niche. I can win
I knew that it would be futile to try to win the possibly hundreds of lottery result apps in the App Store. This led me to think of a lottery player's journey - where and how could I serve them?
From my experience, I know that many lottery players rely on more than chance - they draw inspiration from dreams, license plates, family birthdates, or seek guidance from temples and fortune-tellers to select "lucky" numbers. I saw an opportunity to digitize this behavior.
But I didn't manage to crack how to really sell this to users. I believe that for older, more traditional audiences, a digital experience can never replace the ritual of visiting temples or human fortune tellers. While I wanted to reinterpret the cultural logic behind it in a lightweight, accessible way for a mobile context, I never really validated that people, regardless of age group, needed it.
- Older users are probably less likely to use a mobile app for lucky numbers, due to accessibility and tradition
- Younger users that are more mobile-native, are probably less likely to demand a ritualistic/superstitious way of getting 'lucky' numbers
That said, it was a good experience building and launching an iOS app for the first time. I also made $1.25 as of press time, so you could say I am now an internet entrepreneur.
Even though I knew this app was doomed, I thought this was a good opportunity to have my own product to apply some of my learnings from the Reforge Growth Series, I experimented with:
- Acquisition Loop: Shareable number cards designed to spark conversation and virality (e.g. "My lucky numbers for the $12M TOTO draw"), with the app name and logo attached for viewers to find the app
- Engagement Loop: Timely, contextual push notifications aligned with jackpot events and cultural dates (e.g. $12M draw today! Get your lucky numbers now")
📈 Outcomes
I earned $1.25 😎