Chardae Sanders, Staff Writer
With just a little over two weeks of existence, DigDuck is a new visual messaging app that the Sentinel had the privilege of getting exclusive access into the interworking of the new app from creative director. DigDuck allows users to send teaser pictures to their friends, as a way of a pictorial game.
Users can take a picture and censor any part of the photo of their choice to create a guessing game among friends. For instance, if a user wants their friends to guess what restaurant they’re dining at they can take a picture of the restaurants sign and censor it for users to solve the picture “mystery.”
Though it’s not a mainstream app yet, DigDuck provides the organic elements of fun and user engagement that social apps should focus on. Though it is a free app to download, DigDuck provides a second layer to the visual messaging service that un-censors the photos.
Developed by Gabriel Brodersen, Head of User Experience (UX) and Features, the second layer can be activated through the apps primary means of payment, “ducks.” No, not actual money, but DigDucks, the preferred currency of the app. Each user begins with 100 ducks and can earn more ducks by creating and unlocking messages.
However there is an alternative payment with actual money for those who chose to buy. Users can make a minimum purchase of $0.99 for 100 ducks. One of the amazing features is that registration for the app does not require your life story, but simply your phone number. “We require the users cell phone number as a way to protect users, if a fellow DigDuck user is inappropriate, the number can be deleted permanently from DigDuck’s database,” expressed Jensen.
Ulrik Jensen provided a deeper insight, DigDuck, which he describes as fast and simple to use. First, capture a picture or grab one from your camera roll. Then you can censor off the interesting part by swiping your fingertip over the picture and add a teasing text. Send it to your friends or people nearby. In order for your friends to unlock and see the censored part of the picture, they have to give you some ducks. You earn and spend ducks by creating and unlocking interesting messages.
There are a few additional features to be added in the future. “We will add a video clip feature and some UX stuff next,” Jensen said. “Then we have some absolutely neat features in the pipeline that we cannot disclose at the moment.”
The creators of DigDuck want the app to stand out from the rest of the pack. “DigDuck has its own narrative, it takes into account that we are all curious,” Jensen said. “And if we cannot get the whole picture right away, we get even more curious. As a pleasant side effect we all love to be rewarded.”
“We think it is worth spending some “ducks” to get the whole picture and ding … you just earned 5 ducks!” Jensen said.
For more information about DigDuck visit www.digduck.com
