Overview
The COP30 represents a historic opportunity for Brazil to reassert its relevant role in climate change negotiations and global sustainability. In this context, an unprecedented show will put the Amazon and the importance of its preservation in focus, celebrating the iconic forest, its peoples, and its culture: The Town and Rock in Rio, with Vale as the main sponsor, will hold the 'Amazonia para Sempre' event.
My challenge was to develop a gamified digital experience that would engage and connect Vale's internal audience (its employees) to the cause, while maintaining visual cohesion with the 'World Trees' Sticker Album, produced by Africa Creative agency, which also aims to promote the importance of the topic and the event.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
💪 Design Team: Solo Project
🛠️ Tools: Figma, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator, Flux AI, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT
📅 Project Duration: 3 months
🎯Activities: Wireframing, Benchmarking, Motion Design, Interaction Design, and Gamification.
✅ Results: 4,743 accesses within the first 24 hours.
🛠️ Tools: Figma, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator, Flux AI, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT
📅 Project Duration: 3 months
🎯Activities: Wireframing, Benchmarking, Motion Design, Interaction Design, and Gamification.
✅ Results: 4,743 accesses within the first 24 hours.
Target
With the confirmation that 73.9% of Brazilians are digital gamers (Game Brazil Survey, 2024). A consistent growth reflecting the country's gaming consumption culture—the potential for gamified engagement in other areas is evident.
To optimize the connection with the 'Amazonia Para Sempre' event's audience, we conducted a cross-analysis between the average profile of Brazilian gamers and Vale's employees. An internal survey revealed a crucial insight: the age group with the highest digital engagement (26 to 40 years old) corresponds to the largest portion of Vale's workforce. This group, highly participative in the survey (48% accustomed to digital environments and 47% less so), became our priority target audience.
This finding guided our design decisions, validating the gamified approach and ensuring the experience was relevant and accessible to the employees' profile, maximizing the reach and impact of the Amazon preservation message.
Engagement Strategy
The proposed game aims to integrate and amplify the sustainability message, directly aligning with these macro-objectives:"
By correctly applying these gamification principles, we aim to impact behaviors and attitudes at cultural, social, emotional (or affective), and cognitive levels, thereby strengthening employees' commitment to Vale's sustainability agenda.
Design Process & Agile Collaboration
Given a tight deadline, we adopted an agile and collaborative approach to ensure product delivery within the timeframe. We began the process by analyzing and validating the user flow in conjunction with the QA team. This step was crucial for anticipating potential bottlenecks and ensuring the logic of the user journey from the outset. With the flow validated, we proceeded with the creation of mid-fidelity wireframes for the initial screens to also test content application.
To optimize time and quality, we implemented function parallelism. Continuous interface with developers and constant requirements alignment with the QA team were essential. The quick approval of these initial wireframes allowed teams to work simultaneously, validating concepts and adjusting development in real-time, which was paramount for the final delivery's quality.
Game Structure
& Narrative
& Narrative
To translate the engagement and educational objectives into an immersive and fun experience, the game was structured into three progressive phases, with the first phase available to the external public and the subsequent ones focused on Vale's internal engagement.
We prioritized building an engaging narrative before introducing the minigames, creating an immersive storytelling that guides the user through an educational journey in the Amazon. This narrative is led by Aruanã, an original character developed exclusively for the game, who acts as a guide and mentor.
All screens and assets were generated using a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools with manual edits and animations created via After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, and Figma. This allowed for streamlining the creation process and demonstrates the ethical use of AI tools in conjunction with human creative capacity.
Learning Journey & Game Mechanics
The learning and fun journey unfolds through different mechanics:~
Phase 1 - Discovery & Recognition
The first minigame challenges the player to find 10 hidden animals within the Amazonian fauna landscape. Upon completing this task, the user is rewarded with a virtual sticker album, encouraging the feedback loop.
Subsequent Phases - Reinforcement & Deepening
The following phases deepen knowledge with a variety of educational minigames, such as quizzes, word searches, and "connect the dots," which address different aspects of the Amazon and sustainability. The inclusion of easter eggs in the project also encourages exploration and discovery.
Competitive Engagement
At the end of each phase, players are incentivized with digital giveaways, including: Teams background covers, WhatsApp stickers, and LinkedIn banner covers. The final screens also display players' accumulated scores and their ranking positions, stimulating healthy competition and determining the winners of the physical prizes.
This gamified structure was designed to educate in a playful way, promote immersion in Amazonian culture and biodiversity, and reinforce sustainability knowledge in a memorable, interactive, and responsive manner.
Results & Impact
The launch of the 'Parceiros da Floresta' game and the internal COP30 campaign demonstrated remarkable success in terms of engagement and reach, validating the gamification strategy and the designed user experience.
Campaign Highlights & Game Performance
Data collected within 24 hours post-launch:
These results demonstrate the success of the strategy in engaging the audience with the Amazon theme and Vale's sustainability agenda, reinforcing the impact of design in generating value.