Building playful, ephemeral and time-bound digital products

Make the ad itself the product people seek out.

Instead of interrupting users with ads, create an experience where the ad is the sole reason to open the app—e.g., a daily scratch-off lottery-style ad that must be fully revealed before anything else happens.

Why: When the ad becomes the content, users opt-in willingly, increasing attention and retention.

"what if you can make an ad that is the product? What if ads could be the product?"

Use once-per-day resets to create ritual and anticipation.

The scratch-off app refreshes only once every 24 h at noon GMT, forcing a shared global moment and giving users a reason to return daily.

Why: Scarcity and routine drive habitual usage; everyone scratching at the same time builds collective excitement.

"it only resets once a day... you only get to do it once a day"

Keep rewards rare and mysterious to maintain suspense.

At most 5 % of users win a coupon or prize; most reveal nothing, mimicking real scratch-off tickets.

Why: Low odds preserve the cheap thrill of uncertainty and prevent the reward from becoming an entitlement.

"the odds are very low... it has to remain a long shot and a bit of a mystery"

Add playful physical interactions like blowing into the mic.

After scratching off the digital ticket, users blow into the microphone to scatter virtual “dust,” deepening immersion.

Why: Multi-sensory actions make the digital feel tangible and memorable.

"you have to go like this, into your microphone... it would blow off the dust"

Let creations disappear to remove the pressure of permanence.

The shower-door sketch app fogs over and erases drawings within seconds, just like real steam on glass.

Why: Ephemeral canvases encourage experimentation; users aren’t paralyzed by the need to save or perfect their work.

"I like it because it's so ephemeral... it's like this perpetual idea board where I don't have to erase anything"

Obsess over tiny details to avoid the uncanny valley.

Finger pressure, steam texture, drip randomness and audio must replicate the exact feel of drawing on a steamed shower door.

Why: When simulating something simple, any slight mismatch breaks immersion; perfection in the mundane creates delight.

"the nothing that it does needs to be just so right to feel as natural as it would to really draw on a steamy shower door"

Introduce opening and closing hours to online experiences.

Examples include a daily 3-minute instructional video that starts at noon GMT with no rewind or archive, or a TV that only shows live channels when turned on.

Why: Time gating restores the “you had to be there” feeling and combats endless on-demand overwhelm.

"there's something about that moment... tied to that would be neat to have"

Design software to feel cozy instead of clinical.

Use rounded aesthetics, conversational copy and human touches to counter the sterile minimalism dominating modern apps.

Why: Warmth fosters emotional attachment; cold interfaces feel interchangeable and forgettable.

"I find a lot of software to be very clinical and cold... try to make them feel cozy and comfortable"