Gamification in UX is exactly what it sounds like — incorporating game mechanics into your digital product! It’s steadily growing in popularity, but what makes it so powerful? And why are so many web/app designers rushing to gamify their interfaces?

Think back to elementary or middle school. Maybe you had a teacher that liked to play review games with the class before a test. Did they want you to cut loose and have fun? Or was there an ulterior motive?

The International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education shows that gamification increased retention by 12% and overall performance by 7%. If you add an incentive (tangible or intangible), you're giving someone extra motivation to participate and improve. In layman's terms, people are more receptive when they're having fun!

Gamification is a great way to ensure a pleasurable UX because the interface focuses on positive reinforcement. When used right, it holds the user’s attention, helps them understand the interface’s function, and boosts your brand’s identity and reputation.

Whether your product is learning-based or not, you can incorporate game mechanics into non-game products in subtle and clever ways. Let’s look at the concepts behind gamification in UX and how to use them to create a user-centered experience.

Goals

UX is all about the user's goals. If they are trying to learn a new skill, book a hotel room for the weekend, or browse your e-commerce store, they have goals they want to accomplish with your site. Interfaces with an excellent user experience are aware of the user's goals and have easy, creative ways to solve problems.

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Competition

Humans are competitive by nature. A UX that taps into our primal instinct is a surefire way to keep your user engaged. For some, competition motivates them because it satisfies a need to win. If they can win within your interface, they walk away feeling gratified. Healthy competition encourages users to improve and often excel past their initial goal.

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Progress

Motivation drives us to achieve our goals — and knowing we are progressing helps fuel that fire in us. It helps when users know they are on the right track to completing their goals. If they know they’re getting better each time they use your interface, they’ll feel inspired to come back.

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Reward

Gamification inspires loyalty and lets you give back to your users! Rewards (real or digital) are a tangible way to let users know they overcame a challenge or completed a goal. If you offer a reward, you give them the extra push to complete their journey and become repeat users.
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Conclusion

Games transcend demographics by appealing to our natural desire to have fun! If you’re a 14-year-old boy playing Call of Duty or a 60-year-old woman playing Words with Friends, we all enjoy a good game. 

By building your site or mobile app around the concepts behind games, you elevate your user experience into something far more enjoyable.

When you’re planning out your interface, think about how you can incorporate game elements to make your experience interactive. It could be something as simple as giving your user a “Top Fan” badge or a challenge to unlock a new feature. 

Give your user something to aspire to while using your product!

Need some help gamifying your website and mobile app? Our apes are on standby and ready to play! Start a project with us today!

There’s a common misconception that a UX designer is just a glorified graphic designer who knows how to design for mobile. I mean, we get it. They both do graphic design work, and it’s a totally valid mistake. But the two couldn’t be any more different.

Every designer has a niche and a medium, things that they’re very good at and specialize in. Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, you want to get the best fit service you can to make it happen. That’s where the differences come matter most.

Simply put, a UX/UI designer creates the interface and architecture of a website. UX/UI design  includes copy, content, branding, and translating stakeholder wants with stakeholder needs in a web medium. UX/UI designers make sure that all digital designs created will look good  for mobile and desktop. They pay special attention to where buttons should be placed, where titles must go, and everything in between to help best produce awesome metric-conversions. A good UX designer is going to take the content provided and come up with intelligent suggestions for design in order to create a conversion centric website.

A graphic designer may cover a multitude of things. Are they a print graphic designer, or illustrator designer, or do they make motion graphics? They are most likely  specialized in one area specifically.. If you want an illustration that’s incredibly unique to your brand and not something that’s just tweaked on Shutterstock, that’s when you would utilize an illustrator. Regular graphic designers, of the average variety, will often focus on beauty before function.

You might be asking, well can’t a graphic designer just come up with a website? Sometimes we’ll see business owners and stakeholders go to a graphic designer to design their website, and the lucky few will have zero problems there. But a graphic designer that doesn’t specialize in web, and it’s not what they do day in and day out, will no doubt miss critical steps that are incredibly important to the success of your website.  

If you want someone coming to your site, purchasing your product and sharing their experience on Facebook  you’ll need a UX/UI designer (who’s a proper villain). You’ll be in good hands, and what you're hoping to create will come to life in the best way possible.

Want to learn more?

Let us help get you #JungleReady. Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide.We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.

This week we wanted to share a great article from the desk of our founder Alessandro Fard. Read on to learn more about user experience storytelling.

Isn’t it bananas how fast Apple releases a new and improved product every quarter? Ever wonder why they are even able to sell those new products so rapidly after just launching the last one? What makes consumers go back for those new and improved products? Hint: it is not the advertising of words that Apple spends on; it’s the experience that keeps the consumer coming back for more.

I mean think about it, you get a new phone with an amazing camera on it and you think that it is the best of the best in the world, but then Apple comes out with an even better phone than yours and all of a sudden you need to see for yourself how the grass is greener! Apple doesn’t need to dazzle you with words, you just know and expect that the newer product will be even better. Each. And EVERY. Time!!!!!

Welp, ladies and gents…that experience, that expectation, that innovative mindset, and branding is what marketing has evolved into. You can thank Apple for setting that bar so high…jk! ?

But in all honesty, marketing is no longer just a play on words and creative campaigns. It has converged into a massive beast that we like to call experience.

Marketing Then v. Now

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Back in the 60s a brand’s communication strategy was separate from the design of the product or service. Today, both branches collide, collaborate, and produce the product and design together for a successful service or product launch. As a result, products and services must deliver engaging stories, deepen customer engagement, and organizations must structure creative teams differently in order to grow revenues.

Alongside these changes is the task of delivering the experience to multiple platforms within a network of multiple brands. Whereas in the 60s you really only had the TV, radio, or newspaper as your communication channels; nowadays there is that plus websites, social media, blogging, stories, videos, podcasts, and more. The complexity can be challenging and intimidating when marketing for every platform, but it also gives organizations great tools to get creative and collaborate with their team about the product or service, and an even greater experience for their diverse audience.

Calling Allllll Teams!

So what should teams look like if not separate anymore?

As my peeps at UX Magazine so nicely put it, “marketing and product teams need to work more closely. Copywriting and story teams need to collaborate with user experience teams. Likewise, interaction and interface designers, rooted in human need and usability, need to work in integrated ways with marketing and advertising creatives.”

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In other words, everyone works with everyone. Don’t separate your teams, as difficult as it can be to have everyone stirring the same pot, it is what makes the difference in your campaign strategy because it will be so uniquely progressed through multiple layers, professionals, and creative mindsets.

I want to encourage you to switch it up and take the challenge of team collaboration beyond designated branches. It will greatly impact your product or service to more meaningful, relevant connections with your consumers.

10 Paradigm Shifts to Part With

What you create is more important than how you create it.

There are so many tools to get you to the finish line of designing a masterpiece, each and every one to ease the process. That being said, keep in mind that the tools or methods you use don’t matter as much as the finished product does. Don’t try to dazzle your clients with how fast your turnaround rate is, take your time to create something that matters beyond what has been requested of you.

Your brand must be built around a meaningful idea, not the other way around.

Everyone is branding themselves these days on social media, but a true brand begins with a meaningful, purposeful idea. Don’t let the filters, grids, and logos drive your brand, but instead the mindset and goal should be the focus. What is the meaning of this brand? Why is it important to consumers? What does it feel/look like long term?

Maximize the benefit of your brand.

Dive deep into the benefit of your product/service brand. People want to know why your service or product is necessary and what it will help them achieve. Don’t just settle for the best on the market, because let’s face it…there is always better out there or the next best upgrade. Truly conveying why a product/service is going to benefit a consumer is the best way to maximize your brand. Apple doesn’t claim to be the best cell phone in the market, they capitalize on what the cell phone features and the type of consumer that would love it.

Own your craft, don’t settle for average.

Take the time to own your craft, focus on those small details that set you apart from the rest, choose to make the experience one that keeps consumers coming back again. Chances are if they’re coming back, they’re likely to share that to other consumers creating that domino effect that can happen through well crafted design.

Charm them with simplicity.

Less is always more. Charm can be extravagant, but those grand romantic gestures in movies that are way over the top–yeah those aren’t a win in design. Think about the speed of life lately, everyone only has a few minutes to do things, the faster, easier, and simpler the better when it comes to interface and design flow.

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Continually assess your strategy.

With technology shifts and social media trends changing on what seems like every day, it is important to reassess, improve, and reinvent what you’re delivering to your customers and the methods you are using to do so. I like to take some time at the end of every month to assess what worked really well, what could be improved, and what was a bust.

Update only what is necessary and keep what is working.

I know it is redundant considering number 6, but assessing and changing the version are really two separate parts. Version upgrades and updates can both increase or harm your customer base. Consider all personas when updating what is not working, and also when deciding what is working. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Remember social media goes both ways, beware of creating bad rapport with clients.

If you’ve been to high school you know the role that social media plays in destroying and raising ego. Needless to say, it is all too easy for consumers to completely defame a company or any entity. The best way to mitigate that is by ensuring that the client/consumer doesn’t feel fooled or wronged through faulty promises/products. Don’t create crap that creates crap!

Keep the core brand promise.

Let’s face it, sometimes we get too creative and lose sight of the central truth that a brand was developed for. We want to create art that impacts without considering the impact itself to be the core truth about a product or service. In my experience it is far better to create around a central truth, than to create and then try to apply that truth to what you magnificently created.

Be a trendsetter, not a copycat.

It was true when your mama told you, and it’s still true today. Stand out means not blending in. Blending in means copying what’s being done. There is not one client design that is similar to another in my portfolio, and for good reason. I truly believe that every product or service has something unique to offer, and it’s up to me and my team to find that out. Thinking outside the box is truly an art that I’ve come to master and love. The more personalized the better rapport with clients, the better experience with consumers, the better product design, the clearer the focus, and so on..

Create the Experience

In order to create the experience and succeed in branding, both product development and campaign marketing teams must work together, collaborate, and reinvent the experience to match the story and core brand. We’ve come a long way since the 60s, but the main thing has always been the main thing, tying them together into a story that results in a positive experience for consumers is the trend…and it looks as though it’s here to stay.

There are many things in the tech space that can get taken for granted. Like a general understanding of common terms. In the UX/UI design space, we throw around a lot of terms we expect people to know. Whether it be CTA, above the fold, or even UX design itself, we assume that people know what these terms we’ve been throwing around mean. But boy is the tech space a bubble!

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While some of this may be hitting some of you over the head, some of you may be sitting there like…

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So it’s time to get #learnt. You might be asking yourself “What is a UX Designer?” “What do they do?”  “What’s a Developer?” and to conclude, “WTF even is the difference?” Well, pull up a chair.

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The distinction between a UX/UI designer and a developer is huge.

To make it simple, a UX designer creates the layout and general aesthetic of an application, and a developer makes these things work.

UX design is the infrastructure, layout, and placement of content and copy for a specific composition.

A good example of that is wireframing. Wireframing, one of the most utilized tools in a UX designers toolbelt, is a rough sketch or layout of what the application will look like before adding the details.

Whether wire framing is done on a whiteboard or an application like Sketch, UX/UI designers work closely with stakeholders to translate their ideas into a visual with an intelligent layout and design. At this point in the process, a rough sketch of what the application will look like exists but it’s not fully flushed out, resembling a coloring book before a 12 pack of Crayola.

The UX/UI design process is similar to building a home.

To build a home you’re going to need an architect, someone who will plan the general layout and composition of your space. Somebody that hopefully creates an environment for maximum enjoyment of what you want out of your home. That’s the UX designers job.

The builder, the one who actually brings the home to life, putting in finishing details such as window finishes, painting, and the function of appliances would fall under the UI designers job.

A UI designer will take what a UX designer has produced, color it in, and implement the style guide and branding of the application. These are all things a developer who is coding the front end (what the site looks like) of the application will want to know so that they can do their part.

Find yourself a proper villain:

More often than not a UX designer will also specialize in UI and have a little bit of front end experience just from encounters with other developers. This way when the designer hands the project off to the developer it’s neatly packaged and the developer doesn’t have to dig around to understand the needs and wants. Which in the end, is better for someone who’s paying the developer because costs will be lower and everything will run smoothly.https://www.youtube.com/embed/9rGUQd8VLSc?feature=oembed

So what does a web developer do?

Once the handoff happens from the designer to the developer, the developer makes the application come to life. Good development starts in the planning phases, even beginning when the designers wireframe. Doing this ensures an understanding of how the application should respond and look like. Now developer will know what the site is, what the flow will be and be prepared for any challenges that may arise.

When it comes to web development, you can have developers that specialize in certain aspects, or full stack developers.

Meaning, they do everything from front end development, what you actually see in your browser, to back-end development, what the application is built on like WordPress and Magento.

Once the UI elements are made from the design the developers should start thinking about the backend.

What database should they use?

What do they need to use?

All those different questions, and planning it out from the design phase helps in the long run. You’ll have less technical debt, code that’s maintainable, and getting to the finished product will be much easier.

The relationship between the UX/UI designer and developer is integral to the success of the project. Although very different roles, the two have to work closely together so small details aren’t over looked. If you give a developer instructions to create a website without a design, you’ll most likely end up with a website that looks like it was made in the early 90s and vice versa. Like most specialities, it’s safe to say the job of a developer and a UX/UI designer adheres to the age old motto: #stayinyolane.

https://youtu.be/9rGUQd8VLSc

Are you a business owner or entrepreneur that needs help deciding on which application is  best for your business? Let us help get you #JungleReady. Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide. We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.

Addicting apps can launch any company into the limelight. But what makes an app addictive?

We might not all be attached to our smartphones, but we’ve all been sucked into an app at some point. Whether you're scrolling through your social media feed or swiping to find your next grand romance, none of us are immune to it.

The most addicting apps use the brilliant strategy of designing for our natural behaviors. They cater to our deepest desires to be entertained, educated, challenged, supported, or included.

Apps are everywhere because they are extremely lucrative digital products. Besides giving the user an easy way to accomplish a goal, they can make any unknown company a household name.

So, if you’re thinking about adding an app to your line of digital products, stay tuned. We’re going over the psychology behind addicting apps and how to create one yourself (with the help of a killer UX design team, of course)!

What Makes an App Addictive?

We all have needs, and the purpose of UX design is to ensure the needs of a certain audience are met. But what about our wants? 

Wants and needs intersect quite a bit. For some users, it's hard to draw distinctions between the two. For example, how many times have you ordered takeout from your favorite restaurant on Uber Eats because you were super hungry?

You NEED to eat, but you wanted pizza or Chinese food when you had perfectly good groceries in your fridge (but we’re not judging…).

Plenty of apps cater to our needs and help us accomplish our goals, but we don’t always use those in our daily lives. The most popular apps like TikTok, Candy Crush, Tinder, Spotify, and Uber Eats help us feed our desires every day.

Truth is, our wants motivate us just as much as (and sometimes more than) our needs. The most addicting apps realize this and are designed around our behaviors. As psychologist BJ Fogg said, “Put hot triggers in the path of motivated people.”

Using Behavioral Design To Keep Your Users Hooked

Fogg’s theories behind addictive mobile apps were heavily influenced by Aristotle. He recognized our natural urge to seek patterns along with the feeling of accomplishment when we connect the dots. Fogg applied these ideas to building software and developed a new design method called Behavioral Design.

The Fogg Behavior Model gives designers a clear formula for designing addicting apps:

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All three of these elements must align to influence the user’s behavior. If the desired action from the user does not occur, then it’s safe to say one of those elements is missing.

This model is super helpful in understanding human behavior in the real world. But, when an app is designed with these elements in mind, designers can create a truly immersive experience that keeps users scrolling for hours on end.

Now that we know what makes an app addictive, let’s look at a few fun, habit-building elements you can incorporate into your design.

How To Make Addicting Apps

So, what’s in the secret sauce of an addicting app? Why do people get sucked into a TikTok black hole until 3 AM? How do apps like Shien convince budget fashionistas to drop money on a new wardrobe haul every month?

You may not notice these design elements every time you open your favorite apps, but companies incorporate these subtle features into their interfaces to keep their users coming back for more.

Get To Know the User Through Onboarding

The average smartphone user has about 40 apps on their phone, but they only use 18 of them regularly. Why don’t they return to those apps after the initial download? An engaging onboarding experience might make all the difference.

Since it’s the user’s first impression of your company, onboarding should never be an afterthought.

The app’s onboarding experience needs to set the tone, show the user around, and demonstrate how you’re tailoring everything to their interests.

You can take a few different approaches to your onboarding process. But no matter which route you choose, your goal should be to gather as much relevant information about your user as possible while building excitement and interest in your product.

But you don’t want to overwhelm the user with too much information. Focus on highlighting core features and (if they’re in a rush) allow them to skip the less critical steps.

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Grab Their Attention With Push Notifications

In the olden days, people would get daily updates on the latest community happenings from the local newspaper. Top news stories, horoscopes, movie showtimes, the funnies…yep, they were all there.

Treat your users as a community wanting instant content updates. But instead of waiting for the daily newsletter, you can deliver the content they’re looking for straight to their phone with push notifications.

Push notifications are a great way to bring users back to your app even when they weren’t planning on using it — especially when you tailor your suggestions based on their activity.

How many times could you not resist reading an interesting Reddit thread while you were working? What about that serotonin rush you get from a “like” on Hinge? Push notifications demand the user’s attention and make your app hard to ignore (within reason, of course).

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Immerse the User With an Infinite Scroll

Your favorite social media apps have already mastered this. 

An infinite scroll creates what feels like an endless stream of content. It tricks the user into staying on the app longer because they’re bound to find something that piques their interest if they keep scrolling.

The longer the user stays on the app, the more you can learn about their interests. Using an algorithm to pick up on user behaviors helps you personalize your experience further after onboarding. 

Yes, the infinite scroll is addictive in concept alone. But remember: Your users have lives outside of your app. If they get TOO sucked into the experience, they can lose track of time, miss out on sleep, or feel anxious about the content slipping under their radar.

TikTok, an app with one of the most absorbing infinite scrolls, has great reminders for the user when they’ve been scrolling for too long. It’s a smart way to show the user that you care about their well-being, encouraging them to find a balance between the digital world and the real world.

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Reward the User With Gamification

Competitive or not, we all love games. They’re a great way to pass the time — making us feel challenged yet entertained.

The best thing about games is that their patterns can be applied to any kind of app to motivate the user. We in the UX field call this “Gamification”.

Some of the most addicting apps today use gamification elements for everyday tasks. The Starbucks app is a popular example because it rewards their most loyal customers for getting their daily coffee (as if Starbucks isn’t already addictive enough).

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Gamification doesn’t always have to include a tangible reward. Apps like Duolingo incorporate leaderboards to trigger our competitive side. Even if the user isn’t a competitive person, moving up the leaderboard makes them feel good about their progress in learning a new language. 

Feed the User’s FOMO Through Mounting Loss

Users will eventually tire of your app or outgrow the need for it. Us humans are fickle creatures and our interests are always shifting. So, how do you stop them from abandoning the app entirely for the next new thing?

You may have heard the term “mounting loss” in the context of business or financial situations, but it applies to digital products too. Basically, the more you use an app, the more you lose when you delete it.

This means that all the data you collect about the user, along with their images, messages, gamification points, coupons, etc. goes away and cannot be recovered.

To many users, this may be enough for them to not delete the app. But you might need to give them a little extra incentive to stick around. Discount codes, a free premium membership trial, or an account freeze gives them a reason to return when their attention goes elsewhere.

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Make Your App Impossible To Put Down

An addicting app can do wonders for a start-up, a Fortune 500 company, or anything in between. It’s all about understanding human psychology and applying it to your digital product design. 

Empathize with the user’s wants and needs, motivate them to achieve their goals, and make the actions they need to take as clear as day.

On top of everything, the app still needs to be easy to use! Cut out roadblocks, simplify navigation, and make it accessible for those on the go.

When you take all these factors into account and test with your users to get the final sign-off, you’ll have an app that’s sure to become a sensation.

Got an idea for an addicting app that just can’t stay in the drafts? Our digital product design team can help you make that thought a reality. Start a project with us today!

If you’re in the design space, you’ve probably heard the acronym CTA. While it sounds like a disease, CTA stands for “Call To Action.” It’s a button or a link that users can interact with in order to inform or convert them to make a buying decision. Marketers love to throw out phrases like “We need a strong CTA” and we’re here to discuss what that even means.

A typical call to action you see on eCommerce websites are the “Buy Now” and “Click Here” boxes. Although it depends what your goal, product, and demographic you’re targeting is, there are some common denominators every CTA should have. Here’s a checklist to make sure you’re maximizing conversion every time.

1. Placement

First, a strong CTA should be easy to see and should have a prominent placement. Although some may think size and color are the most important factor of a CTA, it’s about what’s happening around the space that you need to be conscious about. Think about the button in context with the page. If you have a CTA with pictures all around it it’s going to be hard for the human mind to see it. A CTA with clean boundaries is going to get more clicks.

2. Color

General rule of thumb is to make sure the color is vibrant. Websites with a black box and white text may not perform as well. A colorful button that stands out in the design will attract more clicks. Be wary of going overboard. If you have a website that has colorful text, design, links, and you have a colorful CTA, it’s going to get lost in the composition.

This Madewell CTA could have been more impactful with color differentiation. Due to the black and white, the user has to stop and read both buttons to make a decision instead of making a subconscious choice. For example, a “yes” button being green and a “no” button being red.

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In this example, the designer uses green and grey to differentiate. As a result, the user gravitates towards the green “Yes” intended to capture the greatest conversion.

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3. Size

Your main CTA should be fairly large. Not large enough to be be obnoxious, but it should be larger than most of the items on the page. For example, on your typical landing page you’ll have title, subtitle, some text and two CTA’s. Typically, those CTA’s like “buy now” or “learn more” have a greater emphasis on them then the rest of the items on the page. The main CTA like “buy now,” should have a heavier weight due to it being the button that will lead to greater conversion and monetization.

Additionally, having a sub-CTA like “learn more” is important for those who aren’t ready to buy in the moment, but maybe want to buy in the future. In the context of this example, your main CTA “buy now” should be stronger than the sub-CTA intentionally. If they’re both the same weight then the mind will have to differentiate between the two. If the “buy now” is stronger, it will get more clicks.

Why CTA’s are Essential:

Most importantly, designing an effective CTA is the difference between converting a customer or generating a lead that will become a customer later on. It’s an integral part of digital marketing and user interface design. With these tips, you’ll be able to design a CTA that’s effective and engaging.

Are you a business owner or entrepreneur that needs help deciding on which applications are best for your business? Let us help get you get #JungleReady. Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide. We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.