Adding a little juice to Scratch a Saying →
Game developers use the term “juice” for the small animations, particles, sounds and vibrations that make an action feel satisfying. I wanted to experiment with more of it, so I made Scratch a Saying, or Skrapelykke in Norwegian, an app where you scratch away foil to reveal a saying you can save or share.
A scratch card with a saying underneath
I have always liked the small ritual of a scratch card: the foil, the pause and the reveal. Scratch a Saying keeps that ritual and changes the prize. Under each card is a saying that might be funny, useful or worth sending to someone.
The app has more than 2,600 Norwegian sayings across eight categories, with English sayings available as an option. They are dealt from a shuffled deck, with no repeats until every eligible saying has appeared. Each saying also keeps its own combination of card design and foil.
Once a card is revealed, you can save it as a favorite or share it as an image card. The app is free and does not require an account.
Making the scratch feel right
The interaction worked once the foil disappeared beneath a finger. It started to feel like a scratch card when I added the details around that action.
Small flakes follow the finger while you scratch. A progress bar shows how much foil remains. Once enough is gone, the rest clears away, the phone gives a small haptic response and confetti fills the card before the sharing controls appear.
The favorite, share and new-card buttons have their own reactions too. They choose from a pool of short movements and particle effects, so consecutive taps do not always look the same. Occasionally, a tap gets a larger confetti reaction. The current version uses movement, particles and haptics, without sound.
Small details in other products
Working on these details made me pay more attention to how an action feels after it technically works. The scratch interaction could have been a simple tap, but the foil, feedback and reveal make it feel like the thing the app is named after.
I want to use more of this in future products. Confetti does not belong after every click in professional software. Clear acknowledgement, good transitions and the occasional playful detail can still make routine work feel better.
