Designers
Brenda Wong, Ronnie Choi, Pauline Pung, Ashley Cheuk, Eddie Cheung, Catherine Wong, Ralph Cheng, Adam McMillen, Ernest Hui, Lowene Chan
Year
2025
Category
Concept
Country
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
Design Studio / Department
Digital Experience
Three questions to the project team
What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The main UX challenge was implementing gamification to seamlessly connect all activities and rewards in the app. This required extensive communication and understanding of each internal department's business models, limitations, and possibilities, and balancing their interests. Designing a unified gamification system that aligned stakeholders, integrated diverse features, and remained intuitive for users was complex. We also needed to ensure the gamification elements were engaging and meaningful without feeling forced or overwhelming. Balancing personalization with user privacy concerns was critical, requiring careful design to enhance engagement while respecting user data and preferences.
What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
The highlight was realizing that a well-crafted gamification system could unify user engagement while meeting internal goals. The aha! moment came when we created a framework that enhanced user enjoyment and aligned with departments' business models. This required innovative UX thinking and collaboration to balance fun, functionality, and stakeholder needs.
A low point was balancing engaging gamification with technical constraints while gaining stakeholder buy-in. Limited features challenged the user experience, and conveying the value of gamification to stakeholders focused on traditional metrics was hard. Overcoming this required creative problem-solving and communication to align their perspectives with our user-centric design vision.
Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
In the next five years, we'll enhance user engagement through adaptive, user-driven experiences integrating emerging technologies. By applying AI and blockchain to gamification, we'll offer personalized challenges and rewards tailored to each user's behavior, boosting engagement.
We'll cultivate a mature community by introducing features encouraging interaction and collaboration, such as community events and user-generated content, fostering a sense of belonging. I envision the project pioneering a new digital landscape in the lifestyle and travel industry, setting standards for meaningful, personalized brand-customer interactions. Our focus on integrating activities, rewards, and community engagement will strengthen Cathay's position.
