Interaction Design @ SJSU
Gamifying the Workday
A sponsored class project, where the client asked for a web app redesign that would motivate their employees to stay with the company longer.
Jump to solutionExplore the prototype
Interaction Design @ SJSU
A sponsored class project, where the client asked for a web app redesign that would motivate their employees to stay with the company longer.
Jump to solutionExplore the prototypeSummary
During a graduate interaction design course, I worked with a classmate to redesign the employee dashboard for ACME, a fraud and identity theft detection company.
My classmate and I designed new interactions and features within ACME's existing web app to motivate case workers by addressing their goals and pain points with game design principles.
Role
Interaction Design
Game Design
Deliverables
High Fidelity UI
Game Flow Design
Tools
Figma
Timeline
Fall 2022
4 weeks
Problem
Case workers review up to 100 cases each week to flag suspicious activity for ACME. Each day feels the same for many case workers, leading to burn out.
Case workers are resigning from ACME, putting pressure on remaining case workers to handle the backlog of cases.
Design Brief
ACME sponsored this project with a sample design system and a brief describing the goals and pain points of their employees. They had recently seen a wave of resignations from their case workers, and challenged our class to redesign their system so case workers are motivated to stay at ACME longer.
Growth and impact are the top 2 motivators based on case worker's pain points and goals. My classmate and I targeted these motivators to design the new case worker software.
Adam
Case Worker
Goals
Pain Points
Mark
Manager
Goals
Pain Points
Design Process
Employees can be motivated with game theory as long as the game seems fair and the game outcomes match the employee's goals.
My classmate and I applied game theory to ACME's existing workflow by prioritizing business goals, matching case worker motivations with actions that lead to business goals, and implementing designs with the new game mechanics to help case workers reach their goals.
Step 01
Prioritize and gamify business goals
ACME relies on their employees to make recommendations on cases by marking them as fraud or a false positive. Each recommendation also trains AI models that influence ACME’s ability to automate fraud detection.
To meet ACME's business goals, our design must lead case workers to act on these 2 object-action pairs.
Based on ACME's business goals, my classmate and I chose 2 object-action pairs to gamify. This graphic shows that our design must motivate case workers to make recommendations for cases and AI models.
Step 02
Design for case worker motivations
We designed 2 tiers of games to motivate case workers as they make recommendations for cases at ACME: Game 1 motivates case workers by tracking their career growth as they work through cases, while Game 2 motivates case workers by highlighting their impact at ACME as they identify trends in fraud and communicate with their teams.
Motivators such as benefit, competition, and mastery encourage case workers to pursue rewards, promotions, and the opportunity to move on to Game 2.
Game 2 motivates case workers who have earned the 'Trendspotting' status, which allows case workers to own trends and gives them the privilege to earn additional points.
Step 03
Implement game mechanics
Both Game 1 and 2 follow the same reward structure: make case recommendations, earn points, get rewards.
The game's motivators and rewards evolve as case workers gain more experience, which keeps them engaged and looking forward to their next accomplishment at ACME.
This design plan and game flow shows how case workers are motivated differently by the 2 tiers of games as they gain experience at ACME.
Solution
Case workers need to see that their efforts are important and have meaning. My classmate and I adapted ACME's existing design system to motivate case workers by highlighting their career growth and impact at ACME with every case they review.
Now, case workers see how their daily efforts can lead to pay bonuses, prizes and promotions.
The Dashboard
Track progress towards pay bonuses and promotions
Case workers can earn points towards prizes, pay bonuses, and promotions by performing essential aspects of their role like making case recommendations and communicating trends in fraud with their team.
The dashboard gives case workers feedback on their progress towards privileges and bonuses, while leading them to take the next steps towards additional rewards and benefits.
Case workers see their individual impact and compare their team to top teams at ACME.
Managers adjust how bonuses and competition points are awarded while keeping an eye on KPIs.
The Queue
Leave feedback on cases to earn more rewards
The queue is where case workers are spending most of their time. Here, they're reviewing cases and are rewarded with points for leaving feedback for each recommendation.
Case workers leave comments and vote on fraud trends to communicate patterns across ACME. Points are awarded incrementally to encourage case workers to step through and learn about each stage of a complete case investigation.
Managers see who submitted trends, how the rest of the company is voting on trends, and can assign overdue cases to their top performers.
Comments are attached to each case and help managers resolve case worker's questions as they come up.
Arena Competitions
Earn prizes for competing with anyone at ACME
Case workers can opt in to compete for prizes by reviewing the most cases. New prizes are added to arena competitions each pay period to incentivize case workers to join new competitions regularly.
Case workers get feedback on their performance during any arena competition and see how they stack up to their fellow competitors.
Case workers compete with each other to win prizes like vacation coupons and charity donations.
Notifications show progress updates and use a call to action button to lead case workers back to their queue.
Disclaimer: The designs, content, and experiences portrayed are purely conceptual and not guaranteed to be built in their full actuality. Furthermore, "ACME" is a codename for the project during the visioning phase and will not be used in-market.
Reflection
Introducing gamification to enterprise software can be tricky, as employees generally can't opt out of the products their company uses. Our solution rewards required actions in ACME'S workflow and adds voluntary competitions to the mix, so case workers can focus on the basics of their career until they want to take on more.
In the future, case workers might have the opportunity to earn badges for learning new skills at ACME to inspire more growth and collaboration. I hope our ideas help ACME incorporate game elements to relieve burn out for their case workers!
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