Associate Professor & Head of Degree Program “Digital Entrepreneurship”, FH Joanneum
Strategic Designer & Innovation Consultant (Sustainable Impact & Systems Thinking)
“Emotional attachment to product ideas can prevent objective user validation, yet successful teams separate ego from feedback to create truly user-aligned experiences..”
Head of the Master’s Program in Content Strategy, FH Joanneum
Innovation & Digital Product Strategy Consultant specializing in Scaling, Design Thinking & Product–Market Fit
Dushan Jankovic
“Startups frequently misunderstand gamification as adding points or rewards, overlooking the psychological principles required to support intrinsic motivation and long-term engagement.
FH-Prof. Dr. Christian Friedl
Lena Robinson
FH-Prof. Dr. Bojan Jovanovski
“Startups struggle with gamification when they treat it as a superficial engagement layer instead of integrating it strategically into their core value proposition and lean product development process.”
“Founders often design for themselves rather than their target users, and this overconfidence weakens both engagement strategy and effective gamification implementation..”
Hello there
Im Gamebot
I will be your guide through your journey of
gamification.
I can show you how to use the
toolkit and which tools are best to build
your world!
lets set the metrics to help your growth
Step Forward
well done !
In real life, a weekly “Style Challenge” like this could realistically boost engagement anywhere from 15% to 40% in the first few months
well done
here is a new accessory for lily's planet
Planet
Gamification for Startups
Master's Thesis
Gamification
Project Overview
Client : Master’s Thesis Project
Industry : Startup Ecosystem, UX/UI Design
Timeline : 3 Semesters (2024–2025)
My Role : Research, Concept Development, UX/UI Design, Prototyping
This master’s thesis explores how startups can strategically integrate gamification into their UX/UI design processes.
Many early-stage teams struggle to implement gamification effectively, often reducing it to superficial reward systems without aligning them with intrinsic motivation or measurable business outcomes.
Over the course of three semesters, I conducted research, analyzed startup challenges, interviewed experts, and developed a structured gamification toolkit concept. The result is an interactive MVP that guides startups through defining engagement metrics, creating user personas, selecting appropriate game mechanics, and iterating through feedback , transforming gamification from a buzzword into a practical product strategy framework.
Design Solution
Gamification for Startups is a toolkit concept designed to help early-stage teams integrate meaningful gamification strategies into their products.
Many startups struggle to apply gamification effectively, often reducing it to surface-level rewards without strategic impact.
This project explores how a structured, design-driven toolkit can support startups in creating engaging, measurable, and sustainable user experiences.
Progression Systems
Core Motivation Methods
try out
Achievement & Mastery
Core Motivation Methods
try out
Narrative Engagement
Core Motivation Methods
try out
Core Motivation Methods
Autonomy & Choice
try out
Behavior-Based Mechanics
Variable Rewards
try out
Behavior-Based Mechanics
Challenges & Quests
try out
Behavior-Based Mechanics
Streaks & Habit Loops
try out
Behavior-Based Mechanics
Feedback Loops
try out
Variable Rewards
Sounds good !!
Age
Geography
Demography
18
35
female
male
active now
future
domination
?
%
%
%
Universities
Thrift stores
TickTock
Step Forward
Step Forward
Step Back
Library
Goals
Tools used this week
EPC happens meter
curent states
Real life accuracy
Day 3
variable challenges
sparkle startup
Core Product / Service
complite profile
increasing weekly
engagement
early growth stage
The startup’s core product is a curated fashion platform that offers unique, limited-run clothing and accessories, connecting style-conscious customers with fresh, trend-forward designs.
In real life, a weekly “Style Challenge” like this could realistically boost engagement anywhere from 15% to 40% in the first few months
Metrics Planning
Choose what success means for your startup.
Track it, tweak it, level it up.
you can come back to each selection
after an overview, let’s just choose
methods best for your progress tracking
Know Your Wins
Let’s Pick Metrics
Home
what is your startup stage?
#Keywords
sparkle
1 year
2-4 years
star
5+ years
nova
what is your goal?
Who are you?
Team
Solo
Me
What gamified elements do you use now?
Founder / Creative Director – Sets the brand vision,
manages partnerships, drives creative concepts.
maintaining consistent customer engagement while
scaling production and brand visibility with limited resources.
Team Composition & Roles
Biggest Challenges Right Now
What do you hope to get out of gamification toolkit?
sparkle startup
Help increase customer engagement, strengthen brand loyalty, and create repeat interactions by turning their shopping experience into an ongoing, playful journey rather than a one-time transaction.
The startup’s core product is a curated fashion platform that offers unique, limited-run clothing and accessories, connecting style-conscious customers with fresh, trend-forward designs.
Core Product / Service
Blue
save & continue
Add
members
Add
Goals
Me
I decided to create a A guided decision-making system tailored to startup maturity that would help apply the methods to the individual startups by creating virtual versions of them in the
app with a little ai helper.
what I learned from the experts
The journey begins with users creating their own “planet” as a representation of their startup.
Understanding both the startup and its target audience helps define a more effective gamification strategy.
This step clarifies future metrics and helps users define what they want to achieve with the app.
Gamification methods need to be measurable. Users can return to their selected methods and track progress using the metrics they defined.
Gamebot acts as a guide throughout onboarding and navigation, supporting users who are new to startups or gamification.
Previously defined metrics help track success. Achievements reward the “customer” persona on the planet with new accessories.
Bigginer startup in wienna Austria focused on fation and sustenebility
startup founder
"I can imagine users feeling proud about expanding their style range or getting recognition for creative outfit combinations. The question is how to make those elements feel natural and supportive rather than artificial or pressuring."
Testing
The persona creation and "world-building" element was the most emotionally engaging part — people connect with characters
To evaluate the concept, I tested a low-fidelity prototype of the toolkit with a startup founder from the fashion-tech industry. The prototype incorporated insights gathered during earlier interviews about their users and engagement challenges.
Users can get confused by overlapping concepts (like archetypes vs. metrics), so clarity in labeling matters
Descriptions and examples for unfamiliar metrics are essential, especially for non-design founders
The simulation/outcome preview feature generated genuine excitement and motivation to act
The Gamification Library filters were intuitive and well-received — structure helps
Design Rationale: Making Users Feel Real
"I'd want to understand the landscape of possibilities before diving into specific implementation details."
UX/UI
Future Development
The current prototype represents an early concept designed to explore how gamification can support startup teams in understanding and motivating their users.
Future iterations of the toolkit could include:
Community sharing, allowing startups to explore and learn from each other’s “planets” and strategies
Expanded case studies demonstrating successful gamification implementations
AI-assisted suggestions for selecting mechanics based on user behavior and goals
Additional testing with multiple startup teams to validate usability and real-world impact
These developments would help transform the prototype into a practical tool that bridges the gap between gamification theory and real startup workflows.
The central design challenge was making personas feel alive rather than static. Traditional personas get forgotten — I wanted something founders would emotionally connect with.
This drove three key decisions:
Animated character — mood and movement respond to real metrics. Seeing your user look "overwhelmed" creates more empathy than a number on a screen.
The planet world — progress builds the environment visually. Milestones add elements to the persona's world, making growth tangible and rewarding beyond data.
Gamebot companion — instead of a help menu, a character that guides through narrative. Complex concepts become conversations.
The visual language — soft gradients, rounded 3D forms, playful motion — was deliberate. The tool needed to feel like what it was teaching: that design should be warm, human, and engaging.