User experience has become one of the most critical factors to the success of every business. Companies with high levels of customer engagement are more successful than those with low to medium levels. This is because customers are more likely to return to a company that provides them with a great experience. There are many ways to improve the user experience, but one of the most effective is gamification.

Gamification is the process of adding game-like elements to a non-game environment. Doing this makes the experience more engaging and fun for users. When used correctly, gamification can be a powerful tool to increase customer satisfaction and engagement. Improving your user experience is key to the success of your business. 

Why is user experience critical to the success of every business?

Here are some of the reasons why your business should be focused on improving your user experience;

• Increased customer loyalty
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Higher lead conversion rates
• More engaged employees
• Lower cost of development for your product
• Increased brand visibility 
• Increased revenue and ROI

If you’re looking to improve your user experience and increase customer engagement, gamification is a great option. When used correctly, it can have a significant impact on your business. 

At this point, you might be wondering why companies struggle with designing an engaging customer experience, especially if it is as important as we say it is. 

Why are most companies struggling to create an engaging user experience? 

If your business struggles to engage customers enough to have them return and prioritize your product over your competitor’s product, it may be because your user experience is suffering from one of the following;

• The user experience is boring and repetitive.
• There is no reward for returning customers.
• The user experience is not easy to differentiate from your competitors.
• The customer journey is too long, which affects the user experience.
• The user journey is complicated to navigate for first-time users.
• There are service bottlenecks that cause users to disengage.
• Users don’t feel valued by the business.
• Users don’t feel like they are part of a community.
• Your user experience does not make your customers feel distinguished or exceptional.
• The users don’t feel like they have decision-making autonomy.

If you are a frequent reader of our blogs, you would already be aware that all of these user experience problems listed above can be solved with gamification. Here is how you can do that.

How to leverage gamification to improve the user experience and increase engagement

Before you decide to incorporate gamification into your user experience, you must first familiarize yourself with the Octalysis Framework. The Octalysis Framework is a gamification framework that focuses on the primary motivators of human behavior known as the eight-core drives. 

Appealing to these core drives effectively through gamification will result in highly engaged and highly motivated customers loyal to your brand.

The next step is choosing which of the various gamification tools and approaches best suits your business needs. One angle is to choose either implicit or explicit gamification design. 

Explicit design 

• The experience feels like a game
• The experience looks gamey or magical

Best suited for: younger people (below 45 years of age) and for products that are not ‘serious’.

Implicit design

• The experience feels clean
• Aims at creating efficiencies mostly
• Art work is minimalistic

Best suited for: older populations and for products that are serious like banking and insurance.

If you are looking to gamify your user experience, contact our team of experts today. We can help you create an engaging user experience to increase customer loyalty and brand awareness.