Overview

I led the product and motion design for a fully integrated progressive jackpot experience within FanDuel Casino, designed to make jackpots a natural part of gameplay rather than a separate promotional destination.

The opportunity was to connect participation, real-time jackpot growth, and anticipation within the existing gameplay flow. I designed the experience around seamless opt-in, clear jackpot progression, and motion that made increasing value feel tangible.

The result was a scalable jackpot experience that became part of the core gameplay experience and supported significant engagement at scale.

‍

Problem

Progressive jackpots create value through momentum—the jackpot grows as players participate, creating an opportunity for anticipation to build.

But that value can be lost when the jackpot is disconnected from gameplay.

Players shouldn't have to leave their game, navigate to another destination, or encounter a separate promotional experience to understand the opportunity.

The challenge became:

How might we integrate progressive jackpots directly into gameplay so players can understand the opportunity, participate with minimal friction, and experience the growing anticipation in real time?

This led to three core product challenges:

Reduce friction
Make opting into the jackpot feel like a natural part of gameplay rather than a separate task.

Make the value tangible
Help players understand the relationship between playing, contributing, and the growing jackpot.

Build anticipation
Use real-time updates and motion to make the progression toward larger jackpot tiers feel immediate and meaningful.

‍

Design Decisions

01 — Bring the jackpot into the moment of play

Rather than creating another destination for players to discover, I integrated the jackpot directly into gameplay.

Players were already engaged in the experience, making it the most natural place to introduce the jackpot, explain its value, and provide an opportunity to participate.

This reduced the distance between discovering the jackpot and taking action, while keeping players within their existing gameplay flow.

More importantly, it established a simple feedback loop:

Play → Contribute → Jackpot grows → Anticipation builds

The jackpot became part of the gameplay experience rather than a promotion competing for attention.

02 — Make the jackpot progression easy to understand

A progressive jackpot can be difficult to understand if players don't have clear visibility into how it works or where the value is increasing.

I designed a clear hierarchy across the four jackpot levels:

Mini → Minor → Major → Mega

The interface made the current jackpot state immediately recognizable while maintaining a consistent visual language across eligible games.

The goal was to communicate value without interrupting gameplay.

The principle: The more dynamic the system, the easier it should be to understand at a glance.

03 — Turn real-time growth into anticipation

The jackpot was constantly changing as players participated, creating an opportunity to make that momentum visible.

I designed motion to communicate growth, progression, and increasing value rather than simply making the experience more visually exciting.

As the jackpot moved through its different tiers, the motion language increased in energy, speed, and visual weight, creating a sense of escalation.

This transformed an otherwise abstract number into something players could see and feel changing in the moment.

Motion became a tool for communicating momentum—not decoration.

04 — Make participation feel seamless

Opting into the jackpot needed to happen without disrupting the core gameplay experience.

I designed the interaction so players could understand the opportunity and participate while maintaining continuity with the game.

The experience prioritized:

• Clear opt-in
• Minimal interruption
• Immediate feedback
• Persistent jackpot visibility
• Clear contribution mechanics
• Consistent states across gameplay

This allowed the jackpot to feel like a natural extension of the game, rather than a separate feature layered on top.

05 — Create a scalable system across games

The jackpot experience needed to work across eligible slot and table games while maintaining a recognizable FanDuel experience.

I developed a consistent visual and motion language that could adapt across gameplay environments without losing the core hierarchy of the jackpot system.

The system established reusable patterns for:

• Jackpot tiers
• Real-time values
• Opt-in states
• Progression
• Feedback
• Motion
• Gameplay integration

This allowed the experience to scale while maintaining consistency across the product.

06 — Extend the product experience through motion

Because anticipation was central to the product strategy, motion became an important part of communicating the jackpot's progression.

I designed the motion system to reinforce:

Value → Momentum → Escalation → Reward

Increasing visual energy helped differentiate the jackpot states and gave the system a recognizable identity.

The motion language also extended beyond the product. Elements of the jackpot experience were later used in FanDuel marketing campaigns, creating continuity between the in-product experience and broader brand communication.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍