Secret Santa
Secret Santa
A seasonal game built into the Noon Minutes app, designed end-to-end to drive holiday engagement and gifting.
A seasonal game built into the Noon Minutes app, designed end-to-end to drive holiday engagement and gifting.
TEAM
1 PD + 1 SPD + 1 VD + 1 PM
1 PD + 1 SPD + 1 VD + 1 PM
TIMELINE
1.5 month
1.5 month
Platform
Mobile - Android, iOS & Web
Mobile - Android, iOS & Web
Company
Noon Minutes
Noon Minutes
Secret Santa
A seasonal game built into the Noon Minutes app, designed end-to-end to drive holiday engagement and gifting.
What are we solving?
What are we solving?
The holiday season is prime time for gifting, but driving meaningful engagement and purchase behaviour is harder than it looks. We needed a way to get existing Noon Minutes users excited, active, and shopping, without it feeling like a sales pitch.
The holiday season is prime time for gifting, but driving meaningful engagement and purchase behaviour is harder than it looks. We needed a way to get existing Noon Minutes users excited, active, and shopping, without it feeling like a sales pitch.
The holiday season is prime time for gifting, but driving meaningful engagement and purchase behaviour is harder than it looks. We needed a way to get existing Noon Minutes users excited, active, and shopping, without it feeling like a sales pitch.
How did we solve it?
How did we solve it?
We brought the classic Secret Santa game to life inside the app. Users could create groups, add friends, share interests, get matched with their Santa, and eventually get the big gift reveal, all in one place. Festive visuals, thematic ambient sound, and personalisation options like group themes and interest tags made it feel like an experience rather than a feature.
We brought the classic Secret Santa game to life inside the app. Users could create groups, add friends, share interests, get matched with their Santa, and eventually get the big gift reveal, all in one place. Festive visuals, thematic ambient sound, and personalisation options like group themes and interest tags made it feel like an experience rather than a feature.
We brought the classic Secret Santa game to life inside the app. Users could create groups, add friends, share interests, get matched with their Santa, and eventually get the big gift reveal, all in one place. Festive visuals, thematic ambient sound, and personalisation options like group themes and interest tags made it feel like an experience rather than a feature.
The Process
The Process
Key Considerations
Key Considerations
Scoping vs. deadline
Scoping vs. deadline
Scoping vs. deadline
With one month for design and one for development, the scope had to be honest. That left no room for the fuller vision: in-person group flows, personalised gift stores, richer micro-animations. We made the cut deliberately and shipped something solid rather than something incomplete.
With one month for design and one for development, the scope had to be honest. That left no room for the fuller vision: in-person group flows, personalised gift stores, richer micro-animations. We made the cut deliberately and shipped something solid rather than something incomplete.
With one month for design and one for development, the scope had to be honest. That left no room for the fuller vision: in-person group flows, personalised gift stores, richer micro-animations. We made the cut deliberately and shipped something solid rather than something incomplete.
M-web constraint
M-web constraint
M-web constraint
We hosted the game as an m-web link within the app rather than building natively. It was the right call for the timeline, but introduced UX compromises we had to consciously accept, including the absence of loaders and a learning curve working with a different team and tech stack.
We hosted the game as an m-web link within the app rather than building natively. It was the right call for the timeline, but introduced UX compromises we had to consciously accept, including the absence of loaders and a learning curve working with a different team and tech stack.
We hosted the game as an m-web link within the app rather than building natively. It was the right call for the timeline, but introduced UX compromises we had to consciously accept, including the absence of loaders and a learning curve working with a different team and tech stack.
Personalisation hit a wall
Personalisation hit a wall
Personalisation hit a wall
The plan was to serve gift suggestions based on each user's stated interests. A sync issue between the m-web flow and app data meant everyone would have seen the same recommendations. That defeats the purpose, so we shelved it.
The plan was to serve gift suggestions based on each user's stated interests. A sync issue between the m-web flow and app data meant everyone would have seen the same recommendations. That defeats the purpose, so we shelved it.
The plan was to serve gift suggestions based on each user's stated interests. A sync issue between the m-web flow and app data meant everyone would have seen the same recommendations. That defeats the purpose, so we shelved it.
Monetisation scope arrived during go-live
Monetisation scope arrived during go-live
Monetisation scope arrived during go-live
Once development was nearly done, the monetisation team came on board to integrate brand partnerships. Accommodating that within a visual framework we thought was closed meant reopening decisions. A good reminder that scope can shift late.
Once development was nearly done, the monetisation team came on board to integrate brand partnerships. Accommodating that within a visual framework we thought was closed meant reopening decisions. A good reminder that scope can shift late.
Once development was nearly done, the monetisation team came on board to integrate brand partnerships. Accommodating that within a visual framework we thought was closed meant reopening decisions. A good reminder that scope can shift late.
Final Flows
Final Flows
the
the
experience
experience
that went
that went
live
live
Outcome
• The feature generated significant inorganic & organic marketing. Users were actively sharing and posting about it, giving us visibility that outpaced our competitors during the season. • Only ~5% of active groups completed the full funnel from creation to santa assignment. While that number was underwhelming, given this was a first-time feature with no prior benchmark, this is a reasonable baseline to build on. Next time we work on improving retention for such activations. • The SKU-level order data from this event gave us our first clear map of gifting-heavy categories on the platform. Genuinely useful data that we didn't have before and can now act on.
• The feature generated significant inorganic & organic marketing. Users were actively sharing and posting about it, giving us visibility that outpaced our competitors during the season. • Only ~5% of active groups completed the full funnel from creation to santa assignment. While that number was underwhelming, given this was a first-time feature with no prior benchmark, this is a reasonable baseline to build on. Next time we work on improving retention for such activations. • The SKU-level order data from this event gave us our first clear map of gifting-heavy categories on the platform. Genuinely useful data that we didn't have before and can now act on.
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