CA Lottery Scratchers UX Study
The California Lottery promotional website, calottery.com, has significant potential to enhance user engagement and drive lottery sales. However, three critical usability and promotional challenges hinder its effectiveness. While exploring the site for a class project, I identified issues that limit its accessibility and fail to capitalize on its unique features, such as the “Second Chance” option and interactive winner maps.
For example, many users, myself included, are unaware of the benefits the site offers. Despite playing scratchers for fun with family, I didn’t realize the Second Chance feature could lead to additional winnings until this research. The website’s presence is hidden in fine print on tickets and lacks a convenient, user-friendly way to connect players to its resources.
This report outlines these problems and explains how addressing them could encourage greater participation in the lottery while potentially increasing ticket sales and engagement with Second Chance games. The first issue, lack of visibility and accessibility, highlights an opportunity to bridge the gap between casual players and the site’s valuable features.
Missed PR Opportunity:
Strengthening the Lottery’s Connection to Education
The California Lottery website misses a significant public relations opportunity by failing to effectively connect users with the educational funding initiatives it supports. Many users perceive the idea of lottery proceeds benefiting education as a vague or even dubious claim. However, the website provides real, compelling examples of how funds are used, such as a video highlighting a Pleasant Hills school district that leveraged lottery contributions to update vital equipment.
Why This Matters
By integrating these success stories directly into lottery tickets and scratchers—via QR codes or a more prominent callout—the California Lottery could counter misconceptions and emphasize its positive impact. Bridging this communication gap would not only enhance the lottery’s reputation but also encourage more users to engage with the site and participate in its games.
Lack of Branding Consistency: Missed Opportunity for Cohesion
One of the most glaring issues with the California Lottery experience is the absence of a cohesive branding connection between the game cards, tickets, and the website. Despite the availability of various touchpoints—website, app, tickets, and scratchers—none of them share a consistent visual identity, which represents a missed opportunity for deeper user engagement. The use of metaphors and visual cues in design could significantly enhance user recognition and response, but in this case, there’s no attempt at visual unity across platforms.
Why This Matters
Without a consistent branding presence across tickets and the website, users are left with a disjointed experience, reducing the chance of driving traffic to the lottery’s online platform. As “funding is based on sales,” improving the visual connection could lead to higher engagement and, ultimately, more sales—benefiting not only the lottery but also the schools and communities that rely on its funding.