Gamification in UX. Increasing Users Engagement

By far, the game’s category is at the top of the list of most popular types in the Apple Store, accounting for 21.49% of active users. That’s something to think about and analyze. So, people like games, that’s obvious. Everyone loves games, children and adults alike. What if you gamified your app? The gamification market size will reach $30.7 billion by 2025. So it’s worth implementing gamification into your application interface to catch the user’s attention and add some lightness and positivity to his working environment.

An excellent example of gamification in UX, the simplest thing is to implement a function of rewards for users’ achievements and the possibility to share it on social networks, as Monobank did. Active users of the bank’s services can get tips for certain transactions and link them on their social pages. It’s comparable to a quest to see who collects the most. Interesting, isn’t it?

Well, in this article, we talk about the gamification of your mobile app design and the benefits it provides.

Gamification in UX is an adaptation of gaming techniques to non-gaming processes. It’s often confused with mobile games as we are used to seeing them, but in fact, it’s two completely different processes. The goal of gamification is to make the user’s interaction with the product more intriguing and engaging, to improve performance by adding game elements or presenting certain content as a game. Gamification sets users a task, which they need to accomplish and get some reward. People work more accessible if they have a precise aim. In addition, if it has a fascinating presentation. 85% of employees stated that their work process has improved with gamification implementation.

So, we use the gamification UX concept to increase users engagement. But in which niches, exactly? There are areas of activity where it’ll be especially relevant.

Education

Now the learning process is becoming more and more interactive. Beginning at a young age, we can offer children mobile e-learning apps to learn new things and students in schools and universities to increase engagement. 67% of students said that gamified learning motivates and engages them to learn more than the standard education system.

Educational platforms, such as Duolingo for students to practice the desired topics independently. By the way, Duolingo has increased its user base to over 300 million by implementing gamified processes.

Read more about Education App Design in our blog.

Human Resources Management and Business

We can also use gamification in UX design in personnel management, namely in recruiting new employees, their adaptation, training, and their work in the company. Gamification in UX design can increase company productivity by 50% and employee engagement by 60%.

For example, Domino’s Pizza has developed an excellent strategy for attracting new employees and customers using the gamified platform Pizza Mogul. Everyone could take part and create his unique pizza recipe, which everyone can order at the pizzeria, and get a reward if other customers like your recipe. Thus, the company attracted new employees and customers, increased its brand awareness, and helped in the creative realization of the people who already work there.

The Marriot hotel chain hires employees through a fascinating quest. People go through different levels of acquaintance with the company, take tests and interviews as if they were playing a computer game. Whoever gets to a high level, 100%, gets a place in a company.

Marketing

In marketing, gamification manifests through various loyalty cards, bonus programs, contests and solves two fundamental problems: attracting new users and their retention. Gamification user experience in marketing includes status, new products, and free products. Status is the term of the client’s interaction with the brand. The longer, the higher their status, and additional bonuses, discounts, and services can be offered. Or, for example, when launching new products, the company can hold a vote on the website among customers to choose which item to release first. And then offer it in limited quantities in different retail outlets. It’s a kind of quest for customers who want to buy it.

As proof, clothing company Moosejaw used a gamified system that increased sales by 76% and made its social media impressions skyrocket to 240,000.

Healthcare

The gameplay encourages and motivates us. But there is a fine line to avoid becoming a burdensome addiction, especially if we are talking about the healthcare field.

For example, Fitness Syncer uses a type of gamification in UX called social motivation. The app collects data on how many kilometers people ran today. And presents it as a rating dashboard. So, users can see other people’s progress, which will motivate them to do better. Likewise, Mango Health, a medication-tracking app, encourages patients to take their medications on time through gamification. If users take a pill on time, it awards them points, which they can convert into gift cards or spend on charity.

Look also at the mobile design services we provide.

Gamification in UX isn’t an attempt to make a game out of an application or website, only to improve its functionality by implementing it. But how can it improve your UX design? First, gamification in UX prompts the users to perform a specific action. Gamification is 75% psychology and 25% technology. With its help, you can tell the users what to do, like sharing a link or trying new functionality. Another benefit and contribution of gamification are that it makes your design more lively and interactive. The conversion rate of websites with interactive content is almost six times higher than that of websites without it. The users remember a positive experience with the product, encouraging them to return to you again. Besides, gamification often implies a rating or reward system, making users excited and interested in the product.

If we’re talking about a staff training platform or an educational platform, gamification will help bring your users to the end of the training unagitatedly. According to statistics, 83% of employees who have received gamified training are more motivated.

Read more about Сonversion-Centered Design Principles in our blog.

A bit more data on the contribution of gamification:

Gamification is the usage of game techniques in non-game processes. But what elements of gamification in UX design are most often used in UX design? First, let’s analyze the essential methods.

Badges & stickers

Gamification is the usage of game techniques in non-game processes. But what elements of gamification UX design are most frequently used in UX design? First, let’s analyze the essential methods.

Leaderboards

The spirit of competition drives us to do better than the rest. So, add leaderboards and integrate the app or website with the user’s contacts into the interface design. That way, they can find their friends and colleagues and see their progress. However, if you apply for a leaderboard among colleagues of the same firm, it’s worth paying attention to each level of performance. So, the competition doesn’t cause moral pressure and isn’t destructive. Otherwise, it’ll give the opposite effect, and instead of users’ involvement and interest, you will get disappointment in the product.

Points

Points are another way to motivate the user to interact more with the product. For the successful completion of a specific action, they credit points to a virtual or, for example, bonus account. The primary purpose of issues is to give feedback to the user to see how well they are doing tasks. This system is most often used in educational applications or applications to improve productivity among staff.

Challenge

If you want to distract the user from the routine, change its presentation and offer him to participate in the challenge. Give him a task and a limited time to complete it, and draw a prize among the most active ones. This is an excellent way to boost engagement.

Constraints

Limited time is one of the gamification in UX design techniques. If we compare it to a typical mobile game, we can often see tasks that have a limited time to complete, after which the participant loses. In a gamification product, it’s different. Users see a valid offer, for example, for one day, after which either the promotion or the development disappears. Such time limits make users act and think faster.

Journey

This technique makes users’ adaptation in the app or website easier. A journey to gamification means you talk about the product’s function, how elements work, and where everything is located. In this way, the users will feel much more comfortable and won’t make mistakes.

Gamification in UX is a modern method that helps improve your product’s UX design and find more contacts points with the users. People like to try new things, and gamification in UX is one of the innovative technologies now at the peak of popularity. It turns interaction with an ordinary product into a fun and engaging experience.

Contact Gapsy studio, and we will help you create a modern product, including all UI and UX design trends and tendencies for 2022. You can see our impressive projects on Dribbble, as well as the list of services we provide.