Level 1: The Fix

In 2021, during the GameUp Africa bootcamp, I ran into a few challenges with the LMS platform.
One example: the images in the quiz were quite small, so legibility was an issue. If I zoomed in, I’d accidentally submit the quiz. Although we could retake it, I still saw this as a problem. Another issue was the difficulty in correcting submissions. The only way to update your work was if you used a Google Drive link, meaning you’d have to go into your Drive and change the file itself.

Well, it turns out I wasn’t the only one with roadblocks. Other students were experiencing the same issues (including some I hadn’t even encountered yet). That’s when I decided to fix the LMS.
My plan? Gather pain points from students, redesign the UX, improve the UI, and rebuild the LMS in Laravel. No one asked me to do this. I just wanted to.

I saw a problem that could easily lead to frustration and student drop-off. Learning will always come with challenges but if I could remove even one roadblock, it would make the LMS better. Not just for students, but for the entire program.

Mission: Understanding the Students

I didn’t want to rely only on my own experiences, so I started by quietly making notes of common complaints shared in our learning WhatsApp group. After a bit of observing, I asked for permission to send out a short questionnaire and thankfully, it was approved.

My goal was to better understand how others were experiencing the platform. I asked things like:

• Was the LMS easy to use?
• How easy was it to submit their assignments?
• What challenges did they face?
• What features did they wish the system had?

I chose a questionnaire because I knew not everyone would speak up publicly but they might be more open in a private form.

Below are snapshots of students’ responses:

Looking through the responses, I discovered new things I hadn’t even considered as roadblocks. For example, students wanted to save courses for offline viewing so they could watch at their own time. And honestly, that made total sense. During the bootcamp, we were given stipends for data allowance. So being able to download courses didn’t just mean convenience, it meant saving data too.

Another one was discussions. Like I mentioned earlier, we had more conversations on WhatsApp than on the LMS itself. That came with its own downsides. If a student had a question, they couldn’t easily find answers directly on the LMS. They’d have to ask a facilitator, message someone privately, or bring it up in the group chat.

Finding assets was another pain  and this one was both frustrating and a blocker. You need assets to learn or complete an assignment. Some participants in the bootcamp had day jobs, so imagine having limited time and then spending most of it just hunting for resources. That would grind anyone’s gears.

Other notable issues: it was hard to find a course. And to see your progress, you had to click into each course individually. A big pain point was how many clicks it took to access assets, quizzes, and submit assignments.

Beyond the pain points, something else stood out, some students wanted additional learning content, like 3D character animation. That caught my attention because it showed that for some, it wasn’t just about learning to build games. They wanted to create the assets too.

Level 2: Drafting a new LMS

With all the feedback in mind, I started thinking, since the bootcamp is all about making and building games, why not make learning feel like one?

Complete an assignment? You gain XP. Lessons? You unlock them as you progress. So when you begin, only the first lesson is available. As you learn and complete tasks, the next one becomes accessible.

I translated this vision into a rough flowchart, mapping out the LMS structure, XP rewards, and each page’s key components.

Level 3: The Rollercoaster

Pause

After going through all the student responses and drafting a rough flow for the new LMS, I had to pause. Mainly because I got a job offer to intern at Maliyo shortly after the bootcamp ended.

Try Again

On 17 August 2022, I decided to return to the project. Why? Guilt. Every time I saw a job post mentioning “gamification in education,” I’d think, “If only I had finished that case study.” Eventually, I got tired of the what-ifs and decided to just go for it. This time, I had more experience.

Pause…Again

As I began rethinking the whole project, I got an offer to return to my old job and work on something big. That project turned out to be Disney Iwájú’s Rising Chef. It was a huge opportunity, and LevelUP had to wait again.

Let’s Do This (for real)

Sometime in late 2023 (can’t remember exactly when, sorry), I made myself a promise. I’d finish this project, no matter how long it took.

Aside from the LMS, I could see the different challenges faced by students at different phases/stages in the program. For example, in the project phase, some of us didn’t know how to create the ABB (Android App Bundle) package for our games. I learned that we need to cover different aspects of gaming to ensure students never feel stuck. Don’t assume things are “common knowledge”.  Looking at this flow now, I missed a crucial pain point – at the start of the program, it would have been helpful to have more resources to better prepare for the test. Because I failed the test but that’s not for this case study.

While reviewing the program flow, I also made a list of the different tools we used during the bootcamp and what each one was meant to do. Next, I organized the pain points under each tool.

This helped me see exactly where each challenge was happening and which tool the problem was tied to. By adding this to the flowchart, I got a visual preview of where students were getting stuck.

And then something shifted

As I looked at the flow and pain-points, I started to see opportunities. Why redesign when I could build something new? That’s when I decided, No more redesign. Time to LevelUP 🚀!

Other Training Programs

With a new direction, I decided to reflect on the other training bootcamps I’d attended. The first was the AR/VR (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality) Bootcamp (pre-hackathon training), and the second was Geneza Training for Product Design.

For both, I zoomed out to map a draft of the full experience and list out the tools we used (pain points included). With the AR/VR bootcamp, I also had extra data from a questionnaire I sent out when I was exploring an idea for an AR education app. This step helped me identify pain points, spot patterns and see new opportunities.

Training B: AR/VR Hackathon

The AR/VR Hackathon was a 12-week pre-hackathon training designed to help students level up before the main event. One of the courses I took was “Learn VR Design and Development for Building VR Apps, Experiences, and Games with Unity.”

As part of the course, we were tasked with conducting user interviews for a project of our choice. I chose to focus on an education app using AR. I sent out a short questionnaire to friends with the goal of understanding:

What challenges do you have with learning?
If visuals and sound could help you learn better?
What challenges do you have with the education system in Africa?
Do you think AR and VR can help learners?
Are you a visual learner?
Will incentives motivate you to learn?

After collecting responses, I looked through the data, grouped the patterns, and tagged them with key insights.

From the image above, you can see that response groups are:

• Benefits of AR/VR
• Challenges with Learning
• Challenges with the Education System

Benefits of AR/VR

Respondents were optimistic. Many shared that students are more likely to retain what they see. AR/VR was seen as a way to make learning more visual and hands-on. It helps students better understand abstract concepts by allowing them to see, zoom in, and interact with things like the human heart or complex formulas.

Challenges with Learning

Respondents noted distractions as a challenge, citing social media as a huge one. Also, lack of learning resources is another issue. A reported roadblock is recollection which I can attribute to a curriculum that focuses on theory-based learning as abstract ideas are harder to recall.

Challenges with the Education System

While I shared the questionnaire with friends in Ghana, the concerns reflect a common issue in West Africa. One of them is lack of practicals. Which is something I can attest to. Back in secondary school, I was a science student and everything we learned in Chemistry felt abstract because we barely had practical exercises to practice what we read in our big textbooks. Outdated curriculum is another issue. It doesn’t prepare students for the kind of work the future demands.

Once I had a clearer picture, I looked through the pie chart for more insights.

From this, I learned that people want more practicals and less theories. 71.4% are visual learners. They remember what they see. Also, 78.6% believe incentives will help them learn better. From this data, I could see respondents are competitive which shows me that gamification could work.

Just like the Gameup Africa boot camp, I mapped out the flow for this program and then I made notes of pain points based on what I had observed during classes and on our Discord server. As a quick note, the missing arrows in the flow is international. It’s meant to serve as a rough draft.

For this program, our LMS was Moodle. I can’t recall if I’ve used Moodle before, but it felt familiar and complex at the same time. It was easy to find assets, register for courses, and submit assignments but marking attendance (which was compulsory) was tricky at first. There was a small time window to do it during live classes. By the third session, I’d figured it out.

Unlike Gameup Africa where we watched pre-recorded lessons, here all classes were live which honestly felt like being in an actual classroom. You could ask questions and get answers immediately. I liked this because it didn’t break your learning flow. When you’re on your own and stuck, you end up searching WhatsApp or Google for answers and that’s when distractions walk in with popcorn asking if you’ve seen the new season of Arcane.

There were two sessions daily, so if you missed the morning class, you could attend the evening one. This helped students bond and interact more. But it wasn’t perfect. Some students still couldn’t make it usually due to work so instructors started recording sessions. A few were already doing this from the start.

Discord was our main communication hub. Compared to Gameup Africa where we used WhatsApp groups, this was a shift. I’d gotten more comfortable with Discord by now, but on day one, it felt chaotic everyone was talking at once. It took me two days to settle in.

Still, I loved how active the community was. Updates came through fast, you could interact with instructors, and channels were well-organized. It didn’t feel disjointed at all. Moodle handled coursework and submissions, while Discord covered everything else.

That said, I kept wondering what it’d be like if everything lived in one place. Imagine registering for courses, submitting work, watching live classes, getting recordings, marking attendance, and asking questions all in Discord. Even better, imagine starting the program with a short tour, like a game tutorial that shows you where to go, what to expect, and only reveals what you need as you progress. Especially helpful for people new to Discord.

One small note: we actually did have a welcome session where instructors and courses were introduced but I missed it. Luckily, they shared a recording so I could catch up.

Training C: Geneza Training

Geneza was the first product design training I ever took. That’s actually where my journey into UI/UX began. Unlike the other bootcamps, I didn’t send out any surveys. Instead, I reflected on my experience as a student and mapped out the system flow based on that.

I noted areas where students struggled, based on what I remembered from classes and the questions that came up on Slack. Doing this helped me make sense of the overall experience and see where there were opportunities to improve.

For this program, we learned on Teachable and communicated on Slack. One thing I remember clearly was a student in the graphic design track who needed Photoshop but couldn’t afford it. That became a real roadblock for her. Meanwhile, those of us in UI/UX had free access to Figma.

That aside, I don’t have fresh data or charts for this program, but honestly? That’s the interesting part. All three programs taught different things but the pain points? Same. Students struggled to navigate Slack, some didn’t know which channel was for what, and many wanted a way to download lessons and watch offline.

So even though the platforms changed, the experience didn’t. The pattern here is clear: it’s not just about swapping tools the whole system needs a rethink.

Common Patterns

Discord and Slack can be complicated for people just getting into tech. Having different channels and 100s of messages can be overwhelming  even for the most experienced user. The challenge here for me is: how do I solve this problem? I don’t want people to miss information especially when they joined the program late but I do not want them to be overwhelmed. Another thing is: using multiple platforms for learning, communication, and meetings can be daunting. It’s easier to navigate one platform than to install multiple apps on your device to keep up with everything.

Resources should be easy to access. Students shouldn’t have to click multiple things to find their assignments. Also, tutorials for basic things like “how to set up your account” shouldn’t be neglected. I need to ensure that students have access to help at every turn and they shouldn’t feel stuck or frustrated.

The most important question I had was: how can I make things simple? WhatsApp is easier to navigate for beginners. What lessons can I take from its design?

Level 5: A Quest for More Data

After reflecting on my past training experiences and mapping out the different challenges, I knew I wanted to do more than just build another LMS. I wanted something that feels exciting, almost like play. A platform that keeps people engaged, encourages learning, and rewards students regardless of their learning style.

To help me design those “game” elements, I started looking into gamification. What makes apps like Duolingo fun? Why do people keep coming back? And what can I learn from games or even real-life experiences, like talking to my little sister who’s still in high school?.

Research: Gamification

The first phase of my research on gamification was understanding what it is and how it works across different fields, not just education. I read articles, case studies, research papers …. basically anything I could find. I made notes of important findings.

First of all, I needed to understand “what is gamification?”. Before solving the problem or even using it, I needed to know what it meant. What I learned was gamification is simply bringing game elements into a non game environment. Think of giving kids badges for doing their chores. Next up, I looked at the use of gamification in learning and I saw that it helps students stay motivated and interested. Imagine a classroom where a teacher rewards good habits instead of just grades? Students who excel in other areas aside from academics will not be left out.

Seeing how gamification is used in different fields, really helped me understand how to connect game like experiences with real life. I saw that Businesses use it to train teams. Fitness apps use it to motivate users. Even cities like Stockholm used it to encourage safe driving. Turning speed cameras into a game where people who followed the rules got entered into a lottery (funded by the fines from speeders).

Badges and rewards are valuable when there’s an intent behind them. A valuable example I saw was the Russian Railway granting physical badges to students who graduate from their online university. Similar to martial arts, each badge had different colors to signify different levels of seniority. Soon employees started wearing their badges at work and in no time, students who had previously graduated requested for their own badges. This part really caught my attention and I started to think about how badges could be used on the new LMS design.

I also learned about game mechanics used in gamification and one that stood out is the use of community to get people to achieve an objective.

One key thing I learned during my research is this: gamification can also cause disengagement if it’s poorly designed. Why? Because people would feel manipulated instead of being motivated. Rather than feeling excited, they would feel forced. The way I see it is: gamification should exist in what they do but in a way that flows with their activities. They don’t realize it’s there but it is.

Conversation with my Sister

I also spoke with my little sister about gamification and rewards in school. I asked if she’d feel more motivated to learn if her favorite subject offered badges or rewards for completing chapters and attending class. Her response gave me fresh insight into how students her age think, especially when it comes to motivation and rewards. I made notes from that conversation:

Key insight: the idea of earning something really matters. Whether it’s dinner with her favorite artist or a reward that’s only available during a particular semester. That sense of urgency and exclusivity would actually push her to show up and do the work. Almost like limited-time drops in fashion or games.

Duolingo

If you’re familiar with Duolingo, you probably know what it’s about but for the sake of people who do not know what it is? “Duolingo is a popular app that uses research-backed methods and game-like features to teach you a language.” (Duolingo Website)

With that out of the way, the big question is why Duolingo? And the answer is, why not? Have you seen that Green Owl on social media? I knew what it was thanks to the brand mascot and people sharing their experience. For me, it’s the perfect reference for the new LMS. To learn more, aside from downloading the app and using it for a couple of days, I read articles analyzing it so I could see things from another person’s perspective.

As someone who makes games, I love the way the Home Screen is designed like a map. As you progress, you unlock the next step which to me is great because traditional LMS tend to feel “uptight”. I also appreciate the brand itself, it feels playful without feeling unserious.

Let’s talk about the game elements. Seeing the use of XP validates the initial idea I had for the LMS redesign i.e. giving students XP for completing different tasks. I like the idea of celebrating every win and correcting with kindness. For me, that’s non-negotiable. I’ve had teachers yell at me and it dampened my self-esteem. Made me not want to attend the class. But classes where the teacher provided feedback with empathy, I performed better and I pushed myself to do well because I wanted to make them proud.

I also noted the use of creating personalized lessons to hone weak points. That will be super helpful in the LMS. For example, if a student keeps struggling with certain aspects of their learning, we can tailor lessons to help them become better. Maybe find a better learning style to help them improve.

I like the idea of allowing users to see their progress in real time. Remember in the pain points from Gameup, students highlighted that they could not see their progress immediately. So this is a great feature to note down. I love the idea of going on quests with friends which ties back to what I saw earlier about how community is valuable in gamification.

I also like the idea of streaks. This will get the player to come back because you don’t want to break your streak. Snapchat does something similar, where you send your friend a photo or video consecutively for 3 days and if you’ve maintained it, you get a fire emoji. If you don’t, the streak returns to zero. Although I like the idea, I see how this can be discouraging to students. One idea I have is that activities with streaks should be done voluntarily. For example, we could have a side quest where students are encouraged to design every week. This has no effect on your course work. It just allows you to earn an extra streak badge.

Leaderboards are great too. Also, the notification reminder is superb because usually, when learning on your own, there are no check-ins. But having a gentle nudge will definitely push you to keep learning and form a habit of returning.

In all, Duolingo shows that learning doesn’t have to feel like a chore. It can be playful, motivating, and most of all kind.

Time Princess: Story Traveller

Time Princess Story Traveller is a narrative-driven dress-up game where you play as a girl who discovers a magical book that transports her into different stories. I know this info isn’t exactly relevant but I love this game. Played it nonstop. Couldn’t stop talking about it.

*clears throat*

That being said, since I was deep into researching gamification and how it benefits learning, I figured, why not get ideas from an actual game?

As I played and reflected, a few things stood out:

Rewards

Two types of rewards caught my eye. First, daily login rewards, which I think are great for encouraging students to access the LMS consistently. Second, apology rewards. When the game had bugs or updates, they’d drop gifts as a thank-you. It made me feel seen. In the LMS, imagine giving students bonus points or a badge when a class is cancelled. A small gesture that says “sorry about that” and still adds value to their learning.

Societies

Societies are like groups. Players work together to hit shared goals, and there are rewards you can only get by being part of one. What stood out was the metric system, which shows how much each member contributes. Why does this matter? In group work, some students do all the heavy lifting while others coast. With metrics, teachers can see who did what. Even if you’re shy and don’t speak up, your effort is visible.

Tutorials

When new features unlock, you get a short tutorial. I found this super helpful, especially for something like an LMS with a lot of activities. You don’t have to figure things out on your own. Plus, you can replay them if you need a refresher.

Guide

Just like the Duolingo owl, Time Princess has a little fairy guide who walks you through the experience including the tutorials. I loved that. And it made me think: maybe the LMS should have a mascot too? A learning buddy that guides students through the platform. Even better if they can customize it.

Aside from the dress-up mechanics, the real magic of Time Princess Story Traveller is its storytelling. The narrative is compelling and keeps you coming back. And that got me thinking about the LMS: what if story wasn’t just a fun extra but the very core of the learning experience?

Class Craft

I discovered ClassCraft by accident, but once I did, I couldn’t stop exploring. I watched teachers on YouTube walk through how they used it with their students and share their experiences. ClassCraft uses motivational principles from games to inspire learning. And the cool thing? It validated a lot of the ideas I was already thinking about.

While watching those videos and reading through their platform features, I made a few notes:

What stood out the most was how ClassCraft used stories and quests to drive learning. It felt like the classroom became a game, not just with points and rewards, but with an actual narrative and purpose. That was the moment I realized: the question I had at the end of the Time Princess section? ClassCraft answered it.

Students also have characters that represent them. When they meet expectations, they earn experience points (and sometimes Gold Pieces). As they level up, they unlock new rewards. I love this. It’s like giving students an avatar that reflects their learning journey. It even made me think of high school lockers, how students decorate theirs to show off their personalities. What if we brought that into the LMS? Let students customize their profile pages, but only with rewards and XP they’ve earned.

There’s so much more to ClassCraft than I’ve mentioned here. It even lets parents track their kids’ progress, communicate with teachers, and be part of the whole experience. That got me thinking, what if sponsors or guardians could do the same in the LMS? Especially when a student is on scholarship or being mentored, it would be helpful to keep them in the loop.

ClassCraft showed me that gamified learning doesn’t have to be shallow. It can be immersive, meaningful, and connected to real-life support systems.

Level 6: Finding my way back

Done with all my exploration: bootcamp reflections, gamification research, learning from Duolingo, grabbing insights from Time Princess, and chatting with my amazing little sister, I finally came up with ideas.

But this time, building felt different. I wasn’t just designing an LMS; I was creating something that addressed real issues: lack of engagement, outdated curriculum, and how theoretical learning often leaves students unprepared.

Ideas

From all my findings, I came up with lots of ideas. I allowed myself to dream. Making notes of everything I could think about. At this stage, there were no bad ideas. Since my mind does 1000 things at once, I’d pause and make note of any new concepts that popped up so I wouldn’t forget them. After ideating, I grouped and categorized my ideas.

Just a heads-up, whenever you notice “we”, it’s just me talking to myself

Here’s a snippet of some ideas. For this part, I won’t go into details on each idea. Since I’d be presenting the final screens, I feel it’s best to talk you through the ideas there. Also in part 2, I will share additional ideas + new ones. YESS. I did not forget stuff like AR 😎

NEW PLAN: Build a product. Make it a brand

After wrapping up ideation, I realized this could be much bigger than just another LMS. With all the ideas and new knowledge I’d gathered, restricting it to an LMS would limit the kind of experience I wanted to create.

That’s when I decided to turn it into something more: a product called LevelUP Academy, which is a fictional education company that uses gamification to make learning more engaging. I drew inspiration from how bootcamps are structured and came up with a rough plan for what LevelUP could be. I also kept a few thoughts to the side, like giving students points for submitting work before deadlines, unlocking surprises as they explore the LMS, or hiding a small reward in the fifth paragraph of an FAQ.

I even asked myself random questions like “Should students be able to change their house?” (Note: houses become guilds). You’re probably wondering, what are guilds? I’ll explain in Part 2. But if you’ve looked closely at my ideation stickies, you might’ve seen them mentioned. I also called them squads or fraternities at some point.

While designing the LevelUP world, I ran into a bit of confusion. I needed to figure out how to structure everything. What’s a course? What’s a program? Where do lessons fall in? I looked at a few platforms and decided to draw inspiration from AltSchool Africa. Their structure made the most sense for what I wanted to build.

Once the new concept was clear, it was time to move on to defining my constraints. I knew I’d need them.

Define Constraints – I can’t do all

From the ideation, I could tell that LevelUP would be bloated in terms of the number of pages I had to design. Since this is a personal project for my portfolio, I saw the need to define constraints. That way, I don’t get stuck for another 3 or 4 years.

While ideating, I thought about the entire product, not just from the student standpoint but also administrators and teachers. But for a portfolio piece, I felt it made more sense to focus on one part of the product: the student side. With that in mind, I identified the key screens I wanted to build based on my ideation.

Next, I created simple low-fidelity wireframes to help me see how things would look. I know, I skipped a few things like flowcharts and full user journeys, but trust the process. The screens I picked still follow a journey, from registering, to joining a guild, to learning.

Note: I am sharing just a few screens and as I design, I will discard some and create more.

I understand there’s no added context to what these screens are or what they mean, but there’s a reason. For this part, my focus is: showing how messy things were at this stage. The second part is where everything comes together, with full context, features, and the why behind each decision.

Visuals and Inspiration

For the visual design, I wanted to keep things simple but with a dash of futuristic elements. That choice wasn’t just for aesthetics. I’ve always been drawn to virtual worlds and the idea of what learning could look like in the future. So it made sense that the interface should feel a bit ahead of its time: inviting, sleek, and just playful enough to engage the students.

To add, this was the perfect chance to stretch myself as a designer. I didn’t have a clear end in mind (I never really do), but that’s part of the fun. For a personal project like this, I am giving myself the permission to “create”.

Mood Boards

I made moodboards for different things. The vision I had for the app, sections, layouts, and so on

Next up, font and color. I matched different fonts to see how well they worked together and if they resonated with the idea I had in mind. As mentioned earlier, I wanted a futuristic style and I needed colors to match. I grabbed colors online and also got ideas from Chat GPT.

Design the home page and define the project style

I got into another phase of decision paralysis. To avoid getting stuck in another loop, I decided to go back to what usually works for me – define a starter style and design the home page first.

The way I see it, the homepage usually carries almost everything: buttons, cards, sections, and layouts. It usually sets the tone for how I want things to look and feel. If I could get it right, I’d just reuse the components for the rest of the pages. And even if I needed to make new ones, I’d already have a look and feel to guide me. I just needed something to kickstart my creativity.

I started to add more details to the homepage wireframe I had designed earlier.

Next, I started to play around with colors and gradients, mixing in some glassmorphism elements along the way. I know, I know, everything looks a little chaotic right now, but I trust the process. As I keep exploring different styles and ideas, I know it’ll all fall into place.

I’m not too focused on alignment or pixel-perfection at this stage. I just want to figure out what style actually works for this project.

Cut Scene: Stop Light – Feb 2024

Part Two’s on the way: once I figure out what I’m doing 😅

Note: Yes, I could have ended this with an outro about impact, lessons, and *checks book* next steps, but where’s the fun in that? The abrupt ending is intentional :). Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to put my brain on ice. 🧊🧠

 Thank you for reading.