Website design is something that has always undergone tremendous changes since its inception. Designers have always searched for innovative ways to engage their audience and keep them immersed in what they are seeing. Gamification is the latest example of this quest. In this blog, let us briefly look at this trending design that has captured the interest of designers worldwide.
Gamification
The pressing question is “What is Gamification?”. It is the technique of including game-like components in an app to motivate users and boost engagement. You can see it across a wide range of industries and settings including education, fitness, business, website technology, and software. When you use gamification on your website the purpose is to boost user engagement. It also improves the loyalty and motivation of website visitors.
Gamification elements
Many designers use different gamification elements to gamify their websites which may have nothing to do with any games. Some important elements include:
Points
If you have played a digital game in your life, you know grabbing as many points as you can is the most important part of the game. You can give your visitors points for an activity or action they do on the website. Allow them to accumulate these points as they perform different actions. The user will now have a clear, straightforward way to monitor their progress. Offer rewards that can be redeemed through these points. This will motivate users o take action.
Achievements and badges
Duolingo, an educational website is a good example of how you can use achievements and badges outside of games. The users will get a badge or reward for reaching a particular system milestone. You can give your website users a badge after they have accrued a specific amount of points or finished a set of tasks. Allow them to put it on their profile and share it on socials. This will also help with your social media marketing campaigns. It can also encourage more people to engage with your website and take part in competitions.
Competitions and leaderboards
Encouraging competition with other users is a good way to increase engagement. This will motivate users to spend more time on your website. Allow users to accumulate points in the competition and publish leaderboards based on these points. Let users compare their advancement to that of their rivals and give rewards to top scorers.
Unlocks
We all know how gaming is about completing challenges and unlocking new levels. You can allow your users to unlock new website features after accumulating a certain number of points or completing a specific challenge. You can also give them an exciting challenge after a set level. A “Surprise Me” unlock taking them to your new product can serve as a unique form of advertisement. This can increase the amount of time they spend on your website.
Progress bars
You can persuade your users to try different features and challenges on your website by using completeness trackers and progress bars. Many websites like LinkedIn use this feature to indicate the user’s profile completeness. Help them complete different actions on the website using these progress bars like making a purchase, filling out forms, etc. If you are selling a product, you can include checkout progress bars to indicate the stage of checkout the customer is in. All these will improve the experience of the user.
Random chance
Everybody loves playing a game of chance, be it picking out a random card or spinning a wheel. You can include a random chance element into your website like a spin wheel. Offer a reward to your user that they can redeem within a specified time limit. E-commerce websites like Amazon use this kind of gamification to motivate users to take part in games and shop more. You can use these games like the spin wheel to entice site visitors to subscribe to your email newsletter.
Communities
Online communities are an indispensable part of video games. You can incorporate this into your website when you are gamifying it. Allow users to get a membership and join your website community to meet and discuss issues with like-minded people. Many companies like Dell allow users to form such communities. This will foster a sense of loyalty amongst your clients, and you can motivate them to spend more time on your website talking with their friends.
Conclusion
The idea of gamification has been around for some time. It offers designers better, more effective ways to create websites. Gamification increases customer loyalty, user engagement, and business profits. So consider gamifying your website and capitalize on these advantages.
