Background
Unity Learn is an online platform designed to teach users the fundamentals of game development and programming using Unity's tools. Recognizing the potential for growth within the learning community, Unity Learn partnered with Berkeley Innovation to address a key challenge: improving user retention. Despite its robust resources, many learners were not staying on the platform long enough to fully benefit from its offerings. Berkeley Innovation was tasked with identifying pain points and designing solutions to keep users engaged and motivated to continue learning through gamification.
Solution
We identified key pain points through user research and offered redesigned features and new concepts tailored to address them. These solutions focused on streamlining the user experience, enhancing engagement through gamification and community-driven elements, and providing clearer progression pathways. By addressing these challenges, we aimed to create a more intuitive and motivating learning environment for Unity Learn users.
Type
Web Design
Interaction Design
Role
Product Designer
Synthesis Lead
Timeline
Aug. 2024 - Dec 2024
Team
1 Project Manager
4 Consultants
How might we better visualize, incentivize, and reward our users' learning progress on Unity Learn, such that they will be motivated to continue?
Unity Learn
Make learning fun
Our findings
Users find it hard to stay motivated on learning platforms due to time constraints and a lack of clear progress tracking or engaging motivators such as peer support
Understanding Individual Experiences
“The community is the most important part, especially during COVID. Upperclass helped pass down the knowledge and trickled down to underclassmen”
- Junior Environment Artist
“Game design is so broad, you have to learn every aspect which is the most difficult thing but the most rewarding.”
- Unity Engineer/ Instructor
“I lose passion for learning with diluted objectives and get overwhelmed with big tasks.”
- Student
01 Research
Learners need a support system that builds community and offers mentorship.
Learners value short, digestible content, that leverage progress and rewards as incentives.
Learners want to see the end game. Having a clear objective drives passion.
02 Synthesis
What kind of users use Unity Learn?
From our research, we developed three user personas based on experience levels to better understand the diverse needs and goals of users in game development. This gave me a better understanding of the realities of balancing learning with everyday life and helped me think about how my solutions could fit into a potential user’s world.
Where specifically do we see frustrations?
Since beginners make up the majority of Unity Learn users, we narrowed our focus and created a beginner user journey map. This helped us better understand their experiences at each touchpoint, identify potential areas for improvement in their learning journey, and lay the groundwork for a strong base of learning for everyone.
Goals
Pain Points
Limited to weekends for learning.
Struggles with debugging as a coding beginner.
Use graphic design skills.
Create a mobile game for fun.
Join a gaming community for support and advice.
Level:
Skills
Novice Nico
Stats
Age: 23
Job: Graphic Designer
Interests: Photography, Gaming, Coffee connoisseur, Puzzles
STORYTELLING
CREATIVE
& VISUALS
AUDIO
PROGRAMMING
VR
DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE AR
DEVELOPMENT
Goals
Pain Points
Publish a Unity game for his resume.
Expand programming skills.
Build expertise for a career in game development.
Level:
Skills
Intermediate Isaac
Stats
Age: 20
Job: CS Student
Interests: Hackathons, and mobile games
STORYTELLING
CREATIVE
& VISUALS
AUDIO
PROGRAMMING
VR
DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE AR
DEVELOPMENT
Loses motivation with unclear documentation.
Feels unfulfilled without peer engagement or tangible progress.
Goals
Pain Points
Create engaging and popular games for gamers.
Collaborate with experienced developers on new features.
Level:
Skills
Stats
Expert Eric
Age: 28
Job: Game Developer
Interests: Gaming, Soccer, PC building, Hiking.
Manage pressure and real-world stakes in professional game design.
Frustrated by time-consuming, project-specific bugs.
STORYTELLING
CREATIVE
& VISUALS
AUDIO
PROGRAMMING
VR
DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE AR
DEVELOPMENT
Is feeling a bit fatigued
Lack of smooth and intuitive transition from one mission to the next
“Move on to next step” button does not work
Is unable to find help or documentation
😁
🤩
😤
🥳
☺️
😑
😌
Closes computer and shows work to friends
must leave page, reload page, re-find Unity Learn
Users click on next task manually
Some basics were skipped over that would be helpful to learn
No issues with the new user registration process
Spends time debugging code
Complete the learning objectives of the pathway
Starts Unity essentials pathway
Goes on Unity Learn’s signed up
No issues with finding a pathway to start
Key Insights
Pinpointing Motivations and Pain Points
We compiled all our research and grouped based on similar findings in order to identify themes and key insights to inform our design decisions.
User Feedback
Fleshing out ideas
Each team member quickly sketched concept drawings for the ideas. After consolidating the sketches, we moved on to creating mid-fidelity prototypes.
Client feedback on mid-fis
We presented our mid-fidelity designs to the client, focusing on feasibility, identifying areas for improvement, and highlighting key successes.
Visual Progress
“Next Steps”
Streaks
Community Leaderboard
Topic-specific progress
Feasibility
Engages Community
Streamlines Content
Incentivizes Learning
Clarifies Objective
Applies most
Applies least
Streaks
Community Forum
“Next Steps”
Topic Progress
pathway
x of X
XP
Streak
Tutorial Completed!
Next:
upcoming tutorial
Summary
Mission Completed!
pathway
XX weeks
pathway
XX weeks
pathway
XX weeks
Streak
x of X
pathway
XP
Choose Next Pathway:
x of X
pathway
XP
Streak
Mission Completed!
Next
Select your next Pathway!
pathway
XX weeks
pathway
XX weeks
pathway
XX weeks
see more
see more
see more
Start
x of X
General Notes:
where is this screen in the greater flow?
personally, I thought this was the pop-up when you logged on to the site
where would you see this outside of this specific instance?
My Learning page perhaps?
Where is the streak?
Define clear steps and structure how it would work
Hours vs Number of lessons completed
See a number but you can click into it
can click the streak number then click and see this screen for more indepth activity
seeing more details for color representation
what is intended to be here?
where does this screen appear?
General Notes:
better show the flow from tutorial to mission to summary to pathway
mission complete
summary steps
investigate the pages in between mission to pathway completion page
XP exploration
+XP on the summary rather than showing current XP total
potentially specify what kind of XP they are gaining (because it is being categorized)
which badge they are contributing to
may get repetitive after every single tutorial, potentially consider saving these summaries for missions and pathways
interesting that this is here, is the streak for that day or their current overall progress?
They prefer this version over the first one
Username
week streak
XX
bio/more profile deets
bio/more profile deets
Learn More
XX
Username
Project Name
project description and bio. about. yay. project description and bio. about. yay. project description and bio. about. yay. project description and bio. about. yay.
XX
Username
Project Name
project description and bio. about. yay. project description and bio. about. yay. project description and bio. about. yay. project description and bio. about. yay.
Top
Projects
project name
project description/bio
2
project name
project description/bio
3
project name
project description/bio
project name
project description/bio
project name
project description/bio
1
Pull Code
potentially highlighting how user is doing rather than seeing everyone else within the leaderboard immediately
seeing personal rank first?
seeing history of own self ranking then there being a button to see the leaderboard is the user choses?
General Notes:
Social media tab is not feasible
Can pull discussion, name of discussion, views
What are the implications of users following other users?
Thinking about the overall ecosystem?
Share vs Learn
Might be too ambitious for this project
User’s profile posting on their own feed
User could choose what they want to share on their own profile
Is this a replacement for the existing learn platform?
Maybe its integrated with submission page? Maybe its a feed of projects?
End of a pathway for quality submissions
Don’t want to repeat discussions, maybe a learn showcase is better?
Personal progress vs number 1
Overall separate profile showcase page vs leaderboard pages
Competition may be perceived differently amongst gamers
introvert vs extrovert
encouraged vs discouraged by competition
social media tab is likely not feasible due to similarity with Unity Discussions
would prefer to highlight the showcase aspect of just sharing the project, then maybe embedding the opportunity to take conversations in the comments to Unity Discussions
unsure with showing self profile at the top, thinks it should be directed towards the My Learning page
My lEarning
username
Welcome back
Streak
Completed
XP
Badges
Streak Activity
color
color
color
Goals
Skill #13
Skill #15
Skill #14
Skill #12
Skill #1`
Pathway Progress
Pathway Name
how can we implement activity for people using the editor but not doing the learner?
strava
tracking health app
clue calendar (for inspo)
General Notes:
pathways is exciting
calendar is a cool idea
Different colors to encourage activity
Overall seem to like this idea
Goals
How do they work?
How do you choose them?
How do they get measured?
Like the idea of pathways
Some people use two, see multiple?
Show activity in editor not just within learn within the calendar
likes the current pathway progress
thought it would be cool to also add in the overall progress for all pathways -> another progress bar
make sure to contextualize and make clear how these skills / goals are selected and organized
path from mission to pathway selection is not the actual flow so make sure we understand and create the pages in between
Progress & Goals: Users liked visual motivators like gradients, streaks, and trophies but struggled to differentiate pathway progress from goals. Clear, focused goals resonated well with users, but they expressed confusion around how objectives were defined and how progress would be tracked effectively.
Pathways: Summary pages helped users feel accomplished and offered a "breather" before the next step. They preferred having the choice to continue or pause rather than being rushed.
Social Features: Leaderboards and project-sharing inspired collaboration and motivation but needed opt-in options to avoid discouraging lower-ranked users. Showcasing similar projects was highly valued, while Instagram-like interfaces felt less intuitive.
Customization: Personalized goals and tailored tracks were appealing, but users were concerned about implementation complexity. They also wanted options to explore without committing to specific goals.
How can we integrate gamification into Unity Learn’s current system to address user pain points?
Turning Insights into Action
We came up with 8 preliminary ideas through a 2x2 matrix and finalized 5 based on a value rubric and client feedback.
We ranked each idea based on its relevance to our research and key insights.
04 Final Prototype
Introduced streaks with a calendar view, pushing consistency and making progress tracking more intuitive for developers.
After
Combined progress and personal stats to improve content hierarchy, helping users clearly visualize goals over time.
Updated Profile
Before
Multiple categories within profile, producing cognitive overload and unclear goals and direction.
Improved navigation, progress tracking, and social connection
After
Focusing on student’s success by highlighting rewards and implementing fun animations to motivate students to continue and feel more accomplished.
Added the option to view a summary or proceed directly to the next step, streamlining the mission progression for a smoother, more intuitive experience.
Updated Next Steps - Missions
Before
Students have mentioned that there are too many steps to get to the next mission and would like the option to skip straight to the next mission.
After
We introduced a leaderboard feature, allowing students to opt in and customize the visibility of their public profiles. This feature fosters friendly competition and gamifies the experience, inspiring students through the achievements of others.
Improved community aspects
Before
Community and peer support one of the biggest motivational factors for students to find inspiration, overcome challenges, and stay engaged. Within Unity learn, community discussions was hidden in application switcher. Many users did not know it existed.
The submission gallery was the sole space for students to view and engage with each other's work, but it was only accessible after completing a tutorial. Once students moved on, their submissions often became overlooked. Our clients enthusiastically supported the idea of creating a dedicated space to showcase and highlight submissions.
I added a dedicated community tab to improve accessibility and awareness. Leveraging Unity’s existing concepts, I reimagined how submissions are discovered and showcased. Students can now filter projects and tutorials relevant to their learning journey, draw inspiration, and actively engage with their peers.
05 Reflections
Extremely grateful towards our client and my team for making this such a rewarding experience!
Gratitude and growth through collaboration
Learning Where to Prioritize
As the synthesis lead, I faced the challenge of narrowing down a vast amount of insights from our research. It was difficult to decide which problems to prioritize and which to postpone. As a designer, I wanted to address every issue we observed, but due to time constraints, I focused on the solutions that would provide the greatest impact.This process taught me how to focus on the most critical areas to deliver effective and impactful solutions.
The Power of Listening and Learning
This project pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to grow in meaningful ways. Conducting interviews, user testing, and leading early morning client meetings were challenging at times, but they helped me build confidence and form genuine connections. Truly understanding the problem required actively listening to every perspective—every piece of input and feedback mattered. Through this process, I developed a deep appreciation for the power of observation, listening, and collaboration. These experiences not only strengthened my confidence, design thinking, and leadership skills but also showed me the transformative impact of truly valuing others’ contributions.
Preliminary Research
Academic research on game design + game development
4 Competitive
Analysis
Compared leading game engines and learning platforms
65 Survey Responses
Learned about user’s learning preferences and gamification experiences
8 Interviews
Conducted interviews with beginner, intermediate, and advanced game engine users
Understanding the Learning Landscape
84.7% of users find video tutorials most effective for retaining skills. 76.3% favored project-based assignments.
Streaks engage 72.3% of users, while reward systems appeal to 58.5%.
03 Ideation