Digital Experience Design
As our final graduating capstone project, my team looked at how to promote conservation engagement through the use of gamification. We were asked to carry out a research project to understand whether we could help the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation promote conservation engagement by utilizing gamification strategies. Over the course of 8-months we had worked to develop a report and other deliverables including a gamification and implementation strategy guide and a working protoype of the digital experience.
University of Waterloo
ENBUS402
The Problem
The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation (FOG) is a charitable-grant making organization focused on protecting the Ontario Greenbelt. While they have implemented different engagement strategies before, they were interested in the concept of gamification and wanted to learn more about it in context of carrying out environmental engagement. The main goal of the organization was to see if they could leverage gamification strategies to encourage citizens in the Peel Region to partake in conservation actions and adopt green infrastructure to their homes.
We began by conducting a client interview to understand more in depth the needs and expectations of FOG before moving on to begin our research.
Research & Methodology
We gathered our research from various sources including industry papers, academic papers, articles and interviews from academics. The information collected was used to better understand how gamification tools may be used to motivate conservation efforts in individuals as there is little real life evidence of its implementation specifically in context of environmental conservation activities. Our research helped us to identify key components that were commonly found in a successful gamification strategy. However, to showcase the application of gamification in practice and test its appeal to potential users, the team decided on building a prototype and implementation guide to supplement our research report.
User Personas & Applying Gamification
To begin developing our implementation guide (a.k.a. the Playbook) we first began the identification of user segmentations through the creation of user personas. The personas were created based on our research and current literature about different generational markets and their existing engagement levels with regards to environmental conservation. From this stage we applied the appropriate frameworks and gamification elements identified from our research to guide our development of the Playbook.
Wireframes, hi-fi Mockups & Prototype
When it came to stage of wireframe designs we began by building the frames for the onboarding process followed by an example of an activity and rewards redemption process. We established a colour scheme early at the onset of the design and custom illustrations to help provide a clear visual branding to the application.
Throughout the development of the design, we conducted several design iterations after initial feedback and user testing. Adjustments include changes in button sizes and placement of different interface elements.
The hi-fi mockups were created through Sketch and we provided a preview of the prototype for users at our capstone event using Sketch Mirror.
The Playbook
The booklet we developed details the application of gamification in the recommended engagement strategy. It also provides a breakdown of the 1-year timeline and implementation strategy for the roll out of activities. Lastly, we also included a section on design resources as a starting point for the development team if FOG decided to build and launch this application.
