The document discusses how game mechanics and design thinking can enhance employee engagement in health benefits programs. It outlines key design principles for gamification, including simplicity, beauty, clear steps, incentives, and social proof. The author highlights various gamification tactics, such as first user experience, progress bars, and retention loops, to create engaging digital experiences that promote user interaction and satisfaction.

1. DESIGN + BENEFITS
How Game Mechanics, Consumer Psychology,
And Design Thinking Are Revolutionizing
Health Benefits Engagement
By James Currier, Jiff, Founder & Chairman

2. Hi!
I’m James

3. • Co-Founder of Jiff
• Currently Managing Partner of NFX Guild
• Co-founded WonderHill, the social gaming
company that built the online game Dragons
of Atlantis, merged with Kabam
• Founded Tickle.com, which was sold to
Monster.com for $110M

4. I learned about
engagement from
making computer
games like Dragons
of Atlantis

5. I learned about
engagement from
making computer
games like Dragons
of Atlantis
•45 M users
•$120M in revenue

6. It’s not obvious, but benefits managers and game
designers face a similar challenge…

7. Game
Designers
Benefits
Managers
How do I engage my end users / employees?

8. Game design can increase engagement
for all types of programs — benefits included
+50%
+250%
Baseline
Engagement
Average
Gamification
Best-in-Class
Gamification

9. So how do you get started?
Here are my core design principles:
1
Simple
2
Beautiful
3
Clear Steps
4
Incentives
5
Social Proof
6
Clear Naming
7
Words,
not icons

10. BE RELIGIOUSLY
SIMPLE
Strive to make
things very simple
in the interface
For example, one
big yellow button
per screen.
Let’s go
Continue
1

11. BE BEAUTIFUL
Design has to be
appealing to draw
in the user. People
engage more and
want to use
products with
beautiful design.
2

12. GIVE PLAYERS
THE “NEXT STEP”
Make the next step
obvious. Don’t make
users guess what
they have to do
next.
3

13. OFFER CLEAR
INCENTIVES
Make rewards visible
on most screens.
Numbers, such as
points earned,
should be prominent.
4

14. SHOW CLEAR
SOCIAL PROOF
Also, show feedback
on several screens.
When you see other
people in the
software, you know
that it’s alive with a
vibrant community.
5

15. USE CLEAR
NAMING
Naming of everything
must be direct and
make sense.
Choose language very
carefully.
Decide on the word
then the functionality
that should fulfill
that word.
6

16. USE WORDS
NOT JUST ICONS
Use very clear, simple
wording to name
actions, don’t rely on
iconography or
imagery to describe
actions.
7

17. Now that we’ve
covered design,
let’s talk about
‘gamification’
gamification
noun, gā-mə-fə-ˈkā-shən
1) The act of putting game mechanics in
the heart of digital products
2) Implementing a set of company
operating principles that support
gamified products*
*These have been developed over the last 7 years by online, real-time,
browser based social gaming companies, which are likely the most
advanced consumer engagement and monitoring systems on the
planet.

18. Here are some gamification tactics
to live by:
1
First User
Experience
2
Identity
Blocks
3
Progress
Bars
4
Hooray
Experiences
5
Countdowns
6
Feedback
Loops

19. FIRST USER
EXPERIENCE
Train users to use the
program, and start the
conversation they’re
going to have with the
software.
1

20. USE
IDENTITY
BLOCKS
These show users who
you are in the software.
In some cases there’s
not a lot of space for the
ID Block.
Here’s an ID Block from
a medical Q&A site,
Medpedia, we only show
picture, name and
number of questions.
2

21. IDENTITY
BLOCKS
Different websites have
different identity blocks.
Tailor yours to each
group. In this example
this is an ID Block from
a sailing site, this shows
a pseudonym, an
image, number of posts
and join date.
2

22. USE
PROGRESS
BARS
This is an incredibly
effective way to show
users what they have
done and what they have
left to do to complete
their goal.
3

23. CIRCULAR
PROGRESS BAR
Circular progress bars
are popular in mobile
environments.
It looks nicer, it’s easy to
animate, and people
relate more to software
that’s alive!
3

24. SHOW HOORAY!
EXPERIENCES
Give users satisfaction,
recognition, feedback,
conversation, rewards,
positive feeling, and
attention. Show the user
that you noticed!
4

25. INTRODUCE A
COUNTDOWN
Set users’
expectations by
showing them how
long they have until a
challenge begins or
ends.
5

26. DON’T FORGET THE
FEEDBACK LOOP
How big is the app on the
screen the player is using (smartphone,
tablet, laptop, desktop)?
How does it move?
What is the emphasis of every metric
and word the player sees on the page?
How repetitive/fresh is the feedback?
Do you know if other people are seeing
it or not?
How is the current feedback shown
in reference to earlier feedback?
How easily can they see what
they need to do next to
continue progressing?
This is what
gamifies a program.
It’s a conversation
that starts with
these questions…
6

27. Retention loops
keep your users coming back
Active User Inactive User
(Retention Loop)

28. 1) Human Action
“Your friend Y, just Z’d. Click here to
accept/see/get/comment/add/etc.”
2) Time
“Time to check your heart rate/water
your plants/etc.”
3) Threshold
“You have 17 messages/6 people
who viewed your profile, see them.”
4) Availability
“The item you want is here.Your
number came up in the queue.”
4 basic
retention loops

29. Want to learn more?
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