Upvrd: Gamification & Mascots for EdTech (2024)

Nilanjan Debnath

Completed work

Motion Designer

Product Strategist

Digital illustrator

Adobe After Effects

Adobe Illustrator

Midjourney

Education

01 Objective

Gamification of an B2B employee upskilling App.

Upvrd aims to upskill employees, designed to enhance learning efficiency and reducing cost for organizations.

My Role

Lead Motion and Gamification Design

Timeline: 3 Months + Ongoing Team: Founder, Product Manager, Animator, Interns Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Midjourney, Lottie & Rive

02 Challenge

Motivation: The app experience should immerse the viewer, away from their daily grind.

Mascot design: Range of motion & emotion, with considerably different attitudes.

AI tools: Engineering prompts to build a design system.

How do they gamify?

Accountability and Motivation: Personality and tasks align with gamification principles like variable rewards, progress mechanics, and loss aversion.

Narrative Depth: Progress isn’t just about completing tasks; it’s about uncovering new facets of Shamrin and its mystical inhabitants.

Emotional Connection: Characters provide feedback, celebrate milestones, and soften setbacks, making the process less transactional.

Pathways shift and shimmer, guiding each visitor towards their unique path of enlightenment.

Make real impact through donations

03 Motivation Strategies

3.1 Identifying root of the problem

Workshop with the Founder

3.2 Building Gamification framework

Integrated frameworks by Yu-kai Chou (Octalysis) and Nir Eyal (Hook Model) to build sustainable engagement loops.

3.3 Narrative Design & World Building

Shamrin Valley

The Celestial Oasis, a mystical environment with stages, quests, and chapters to guide users through their learning journey.

Stages introduce new characters and rewards to foster a sense of exploration and progress.

04 Mascot Design

4.1 Defining jobs

Each character plays a specific role in the gamified ecosystem.

Tatelle Buddy & guide

Nilli Messenger bird

Trillo Treasure finder

Partho Insight giver

Mishka Playful ally

They contribute to the user's learning journey while ensuring that every interaction feels purposeful and rewarding.

05 Prompt engineered design system

Generated images with consistent style and biomes using prompt-engineered pathways in Midjourney.

Allows generating any asset with consistent style with stage wise color palette.

500+ unique backgrounds, demons and generated artwork

06 Results and Expansion

This project demonstrated how effective design can transform a traditionally dry and corporate-driven activity into a joyful, gamified experience:

The app was received positively, earning funding from Apollo Pharmacies India.

Undergoing Beta testing.

The process reaffirmed the importance of balancing fun and accountability in corporate learning. By crafting delightful interactions and a robust reward system, the app became a powerful tool to nurture employee growth without reliance on negative emotions like fear or self-doubt.

Planned: Migration from Lottie to Rive.

Why hire a consultant like me?

1. By integrating motion design, UX expertise, and gamification– I build engaging products that pull users emotionally and intellectually. Taking a holistic approach.

2. My strategies don't just solve problems– they also drive innovation, keeping you ahead of the curve with a forward-thinking vision

3. By specializing in next-gen touchpoints, I leverage industry-leading frameworks to create intuitive and delightful interactions.

Collaborate with someone who sees the big picture, aligns with your goals while ensuring your product never fails.

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