Vilike - Vili's active adventure

Designing a gamified experience that encourages children to stay physically active through play, progression and rewards.

Gamification Motivation Child UX Behavior Design
Role

UX/UI Designer

Collaboration

Vilike, Finland

Tool

Figma

Duration

5 weeks

Focus

Gamification
Child-centered UX

as-is journey map
Challenge

Encouraging daily movement through play

Many children move too little in their daily lives, which affects both health and well-being. Existing solutions lack clear motivation systems and engaging experiences.

brainstorming and ideation
Approach

Designing motivation through gamification

I developed the concept by working with user flows, wireframes and prototypes. The focus was on creating a playful experience with clear progression and reward systems.

positive feedback and rewards
Outcome

A playful concept focused on progression

The result is a concept for an engaging app that encourages children to move daily through gamification and visual feedback. The design makes it easy to understand progress and creates motivation over time.

From research to prototype

The process moved from early ideation and problem framing to user journeys, visual exploration and an interactive prototype focused on motivation, progression and playful engagement.

Crazy 8 Ideation

Crazy 8 sketching exercise

Rapid ideation exercise exploring multiple ways to motivate children through movement.

Assumptions & HMW

assumptions and how might we questions

Identifying user needs, assumptions and key opportunities to define the design direction.

User Journey

user journey map

Mapping the child's experience to understand motivations, pain points and engagement moments.

Prototype

Vilike prototype screens

Interactive concept prototype showcasing core flows, rewards and progression systems.

Key Learnings

Gamification

Small rewards, progression systems and visual feedback can motivate long-term engagement and encourage healthy daily habits.

Child-centered Design

Designing for children requires simple interactions, clear navigation and immediate feedback to create an intuitive and enjoyable experience.

Industry Collaboration

Collaborating with a real company strengthened my ability to balance user needs, business goals and iterative design throughout the UX process.

Building on this experience

Designing for children challenged me to think differently about motivation, simplicity and accessibility. It reinforced that successful experiences are not always the most complex—they are often the easiest to understand and the most enjoyable to use.

This project gave me valuable experience collaborating with an external company and showed how user needs, business goals and playful interaction design can come together in a meaningful digital experience.