Enhancing UX With Gamification Elements

It's estimated that there are about 2.2 billion gamers on this planet; this is about 1/3rd of the total human population! In case you haven't noticed, video games are insanely popular, and you need to take advantage of this.

While you can't turn your entire services and products into video game form, there are still ways you can emulate them to get better user engagement. For instance, you can gamify your marketing campaign!

Are you interested in learning more about gamification in UX design? Once you learn what gamification can do for you, you'll wonder why you haven't gotten into it earlier.

What is Gamification?

Gamification is the process of putting game elements into non-game activities.

When applied to Marketing, you can gamify things such as on your landing pages, apps, or emails. For instance, have you ever shopped online, gone to click away, and a big wheel popped up? This has probably enticed you to spin it and either win points or earn a discount.

Either way, this simple game mechanic regained your interest at a key moment and increased engagement with a product you may have otherwise abandoned.

This is gamification.

In general, there are a few components that are key to grabbing and keeping your users' attention. They are:

• Rules

• Motivation

• Goals

• Feedback

• Rewards

A great example of something that employs all these components wonderfully is the Fitbit. Exercise isn't very fun (for a lot of people), but Fitbit makes it so by ticking off everything on the above list. When users have goals, rewards, and motivation to look forward to, this encourages users to exercise so much more.

Examples of Gamification

There are several ways you can incorporate game elements into your UX. It's up to you which ones are best to use for the best results. Below are some examples you can consider.

Points Systems

This is a very simple type of gamification that's incredibly successful. All you have to do is implement a points system, such as a leaderboard for top viewers of your videos. That can bring out the competitive streak in your users.

You can also use a points system as a rewards system. For instance, if users score 100 points, then they get a 5% discount on their next purchase.

Badges and Stickers

This can be linked to your points system. Reward your most loyal fans or customers by giving them exclusive badges and stickers to display and use.

You can either make it a tangible reward to work towards (for instance, a certain badge after they've left reviews for your products 10 times) or you can give them out at your discretion. The mystery and exclusivity surrounding these things can be highly motivating for users.

Benefits of Gamification

As you can see, gamification takes the crucial elements of games and places them into your marketing the help you achieve goals for your campaign.

A main benefit of gamification is it changes the way people view your brand. With traditional marketing, users see you like a pesky fly buzzing about in their ear. But with gamification, you can still market to them, and they'll actually welcome it.

That's not the only benefit you'll get from gamification either. Read on to find out what else you can reap from it.

It Keeps Users Coming Back

If you do gamification right, it'll keep users coming back for more all the time. Whether it's because they love the game you've placed on your website or they're working towards racking up enough points for a discount, you've inadvertently created a loyalty program.

This helps your brand stay top of mind, meaning these users will most likely buy from you when the time is right. It can also help with brand awareness, as each time these users come back, they get more and more familiar with your brand and its messages.

You Can Capture Information Unobtrusively

Remember the wheel spin example from above? You can use this to capture user information without being too in their face about it. If they've landed on a space that gives them $5 off their next purchase, the next screen can be a form they can fill out so you can email them their coupon.

They get a discount, and you get their data. It's a win-win situation.

You can also put together fun and light surveys to get user feedback about your site and app. They'll enjoy answering the questions and they'll feel like their voices are being heard when you take their feedback seriously and implement changes based on it.

It Helps With Customer Retention

All too often we focus on acquisition and forget about customer retention. But the truth is, attracting a new customer costs 5 times as much as retaining an existing one.

Many elements of gamification work out in the loyal customer's favour. When they feel like they're being rewarded for sticking with your brand, it'll make it more difficult for them to choose a competitor over you in the future, even if they offer slightly better rates.

Enhance User Engagement With Gamification

By now, you should be convinced about how gamification can significantly increase user engagement for your brand. While gamifying elements like your landing pages and app may take some extra work and money out of your budget, it's definitely a worthwhile investment. You'll see that in no time at all, your ROI will skyrocket and that investment will pay for itself, and then some.

Would you like to boost your marketing and user engagement with gamification? Then get in touch with us now. We have 5 offices around the world, so we'll be able to help you from all corners of the globe!