The award winning Aleksi
Encouraging Sustainable Behaviors in Schoolchildren Through Gamification, Aligned With the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
A design to compete in iF Student Design Awards, and recognized as a winner in the IDA Awards.
Designers: Omid Mozayani, Hanieh Alipour
Project Type: Student Activity
Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Freepik
Duration: 3 Weeks
Year: 2024
The Challenge
What Is the Problem?
Our activities over recent decades have raised serious concerns about the future of our planet. We’ve polluted water and air, depleted forests, overfished oceans, and generated massive amounts of waste, putting the Earth’s ecosystems and resources at risk. Sustainability is about ensuring the way we live today doesn’t compromise the lives of future generations.
United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
UN’s Sustainability framework
Sustainability touches everything! from clean water and education to industry, economy, and even gender equality. The UN captured all of these in its Sustainable Development Goals.
Why children? Why games?
Target Group
Many unsustainable behaviors are rooted in cultural habits and can be difficult to change in adulthood. Children, however, are an ideal group for promoting sustainable practices. Another reason for choosing children as the target users is their ability to influence their families and friends. This means they will not only grow into sustainable individuals in the future, but also help shape and improve today’s culture through the habits and values they bring home.
Persona
Kids that use the app
We’ve defined our target users as children aged 8–12 years. At this stage, most children can read independently, which makes the app more accessible. They are also more likely to access digital tools through parents’ devices or school-provided tablets and computers. Importantly, children in this age group are highly receptive to learning through tasks, games, and challenges.
Applying Gamification
Enhanced Learning Experience
The core concept is a glass container that acts as the Energy Bank. All the points children earn are stored here, visually represented as energy drops. Kids can then exchange or spend these points on different items, making the learning experience both tangible and rewarding.
To reduce cognitive load, we designed different illustrations that show the container’s status at a glance.
Rewarding System: Energy drops as points
Energy Bank: helping kids practice smart energy consumption
The core concept is a glass container that acts as the Energy Bank. All the points children earn are stored here, visually represented as energy drops. Kids can then exchange or spend these points on different items, making the learning experience both tangible and rewarding.
To reduce cognitive load, we designed different illustrations that show the container’s status at a glance.
UI Kit Evoulution
Finding the Right UI Theme
We sketched and tried different colors, themes, and illustrations to create a consistent and visually appealing UI that reflects a dynamic and engaging interface.
For sections like tasks and rewards, and some other parts of the app, we also used pre-made illustrations to save time in the design process.
Motivation
The More Energy, The More Fun!
We designed a variety of buyable options in the shop that can be exchanged for energy drops. These items act as incentives, such as a short trip with teachers or extra playtime at school.
Also teachers can define new items and even students can suggest their favorite prizes.
Leaderboards & Competition
Which Team Wins?
In the Leaderboards feature, teachers can create groups of students or even set up entire classes to compete each season. Rankings in the table come with benefits and extra points, motivating children to climb higher.
Beyond the rewards, the competition itself encourages students to push harder and stay engaged.
Learning through Fun Tasks
Seasonal Themed Tasks
Tasks and games are built around specific sustainability themes, such as Life under the water and other related topics. The theme changes every season, introducing fresh tasks and games.
Userflow & Sitemap
How It All Fits Together
We connected the best ideas and positioned them within the app so that the main features are accessible with fewer clicks.
