Biscuit
Gamifying Pet Care
The Impact
Transformed a reward-driven pet care app into an engagement-focused platform by designing an ethical gamification system centred on skill mastery and personal growth, shifting user motivation from transactional rewards to long-term pet care commitment.
The Challenge
Biscuit faced a critical engagement problem: users treated the app as a reward vending machine. Analytics revealed users would log walks just long enough to earn rewards, then abandon the app. Additionally, rigid daily goals made users feel penalised when weather or circumstances prevented completion.
The core tension: How do we drive engagement without alienating users who just want to track walks and redeem rewards, while ensuring gamification doesn't encourage irresponsible pet care?
Timeline constraint: 1 months from concept to implementation.
My Role
Lead Product Designer, collaborating with Product Manager, CTO, CEO and Developers. Owned the entire design process from problem definition through prototypes, user testing, and developer handoff.
Key Design Decisions
1. Journey-Based Progression Over Competitive Mechanics
Rejected leaderboards and social comparison due to ethical concerns (over-walking pets to "win"). Instead, framed the experience as a personal journey to "become the best pet owner you can be."
Impact: Users progressed through meaningful levels without pressure to compete, reducing risk of harmful behaviours.
2. Multi-Path Skill System for Personalisation
Introduced skill categories (Healthcare Master, Walking Mastery, Playtime Mastery) allowing users to define their own path rather than forcing a single linear progression.
Impact: Users could engage at their preferred depth. Power users could optimise every skill, while casual users could focus on what mattered to them.
3. Endowed Progress Effect in Onboarding
Restructured onboarding as "Level 1," immediately granting users a sense of progression and momentum from their first interaction.
Impact: Users felt invested from day one, increasing likelihood of continued engagement.
The Research & Design Process
Gamification Research:
Deep dive into game theory, psychological principles, and engagement strategies
Explored progress dynamics, narrative-driven engagement, goal-setting theory, and variable reward schedules
Evaluated and discarded social features (leaderboards) due to ethical implications
Design Approach:
Rapid iteration: low-fidelity paper sketches → wireframes → interactive prototypes
Designed for incremental implementation (leveraging my engineering background to avoid complete rebuild)
Created clickable prototypes for usability testing and stakeholder feedback
Validation:
User feedback showing positive sentiment toward progression mechanics
Drop in
Outcomes
✅ Ethical Framework Established: Created gamification that encourages positive behavior without harmful side effects
✅ Flexible Engagement Model: Users can engage deeply or casually based on their preferences
✅ Industry Recognition: Invited to speak about ethical gamification and risks of external rewards
✅ Valuable Learning Loop: Early negative feedback from reward-driven users provides crucial insights for iteration
Key Learnings
Ethics Must Lead Design: Understanding how extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation changed my approach to engagement mechanics fundamentally.
Trade-offs Are Inevitable: Designing for long-term engagement meant some transactional users would be dissatisfied. Strategic choice, not design failure.
Iteration Requires Patience: If I could do it again, I'd allocate more time for user testing before rollout to assess long-term behavioural impacts.