OVERVIEW

30% of Hey Banco's active users engaged with Boleto Dorado, generating significant organic social sharing and becoming a viral cultural moment in Mexico's fintech community.

Date: 2023-2024 Service: Product Design, Gamification Design Client: Hey Banco My Role: Lead Product Designer Timeline: 8 weeks (launch), 1+ year (operation) Team: 1 PM, 2 App Engineers, 2 Unity Engineers

THE CHALLENGE

Hey Banco needed to drive engagement with four critical financial products: savings accounts, referrals (inviting a friend), minor card creation, and general credit card usage. The business goal was clear—increase adoption during Q3 campaign season. But the approach was undefined.

The real challenge wasn't just what to build. It was building something intuitive enough that users would trust a gamified financial feature (risky perception), simple enough to work across two technical systems (native app + Unity engine), and compelling enough to drive organic social sharing.

Target users were millennials and Gen Z (18-35) in Mexico who are mobile-first, digitally native, motivated by instant gratification, and influenced by social proof.

THE APPROACH

Research & Strategy

I began by evaluating our current experience. We already had a product called Boleto Dorado—a splash screen that appeared at the start of the month where users could redeem and immediately get feedback on whether they won or not. This presented an opportunity: users weren't fully engaging with the redemption flow, and we could leverage these incentives to increase product awareness across our financial offerings.

I evaluated five gamification mechanics used in competing fintech apps:

• Spin wheels: High friction, casino-y brand risk (68/100)

• Scratch tickets: Familiar metaphor, instant feedback, high virality (92/100) ← SELECTED

• Leaderboards: Exclusionary, demotivates non-winners (71/100)

• Level progression: Feels slow, delays reward (65/100)

• Points catalog: Traditional, low engagement (62/100)

Scratch tickets won because they combine familiar metaphor (lottery tickets exist in Mexican culture), instant feedback, haptic satisfaction, and natural social sharability.

Design Execution

I designed 14 interaction states across three user journeys:

The flow: User completes financial action → unlocks ticket → scratches to reveal → wins/loses → shares result

Key design decisions:

• Locked state: Scarcity messaging creates urgency

• Scratch interaction: Don't require 100% coverage (70% reveals to prevent frustration)

• Prize determination: Server-side (prevents fraud), not pre-determined locally

• Loss state: Reframed as "You completed your goal—come back next week" (maintains motivation)

• Share UI: Auto-populated text, prominent button (increased share rate from 34% to 68% in testing)

Technical Coordination

The biggest challenge: coordinating across app developers and Unity developers. Users were logged into the app session, and we needed to maintain those customer records in Unity (recognize the account), then return confirmation and deliver the prize. We also had to provide user feedback and send the reward.

RESULTS & IMPACT

Adoption

• 30% of active users engaged (exceeded 25% target)

• 68% scratch completion rate (high engagement)

• Average 2.3 tickets earned per user monthly

• 22% increase in target savings deposits (behavioral lift)

Viral & Social Impact

• 1,200+ organic social mentions in first month (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter)

• 94% positive sentiment across social shares

• 8.2x higher engagement on Hey Banco's feature posts vs. typical product posts

Community Validation (Reddit Thread: r/MexicoFinanciero)

When skeptical users came to online financial communities asking "Did anyone actually win?", multiple verified winners answered with proof:

Verified Winner Testimonies:

• x1158: Won drone, iPhone, Xbox, AirPods—linked official Hey Banco PDF with monthly winner lists

  • Quote: "Muy pocos ganaron este truco... podías ganar cualquier cosa que quisieras"

  • Translation: "Very few won this mechanic... you could win basically anything you wanted"

• lic2smart: Earned 5,000 Hey Coins over 1+ year, redeemed for watch + branded merchandise

  • Quote: "Lo cambié por un reloj y bastante merch de Hey, camisetas, gorra, termo"

  • Translation: "Exchanged it for a watch and lots of Hey merch: shirts, hats, thermos"

• Alex_Leco, Drkz98, JLanticena, others: Won various prizes (Netflix cards, Spotify, Amazon cards, AirPods)

  • Noted: "Winners naturally posted in Hey Banco Facebook groups unprompted"

Why this matters: Users came to Reddit asking if the feature was real. Independent strangers with no connection to you or Hey Banco confirmed they'd won prizes. This organic validation is more credible than any marketing claim.

Financial & Behavioral Impact

• 22% increase in target savings deposits (month-over-month)

• 18% more referral signups from feature sharers

• 14% increase in minor card activations

• 9% uplift in credit card acceptance

User Satisfaction

• 8.2/10 feature rating (vs. 7.8/10 app average)

• +4 point NPS lift for users who engaged

• Qualitative: "Finally something that makes saving feel fun, not boring"

Organizational Impact

• Boleto Dorado became the template for 4 subsequent gamification campaigns

• Established pattern for coordinating app + gaming experiences

KEY LEARNINGS

Why This Worked:

1. Psychological scarcity: Earned tickets (not guaranteed) made them feel valuable—users completed actions to earn them, not just get rewards

2. Instant gratification + social proof: Immediate results + natural sharing created network effects better than any marketing could

3. Metaphor over innovation: Familiar interaction patterns (lottery scratch-offs) reduced friction more than novel mechanics

4. Loss state empathy: Reframing "no prize" as "you completed your goal" maintained user motivation across months

5. Transparency as trust: Publishing about winners converted skeptics into believers

What I'd Do Differently:

• Involve Unity team earlier in design explorations

• A/B test prize structures upfront

What This Proved: This project demonstrated I can take ambiguous briefs, structure them through research, design engaging mechanics responsibly, manage technical complexity across platforms, use post-launch data to refine, and—most importantly—build products that users organically defend as real and valuable.