1. Using Gameplay to Make a Big, Boring, Complex Industry Approachable and Fun
The big boring complex industry I’m referring to is financial services
Kapitall is an online investing site that’s focused on making investing approachable and engaging. We’ve been called the Wii of investing
I’m going to show you how we applied characteristics of games to provide an experience that’s quite different than that offered by traditional online brokers
I’ll note a few standard characteristics used by games and then demo how we translated these to online investing to make our site more
But first let’s look at the state-of-the art web design for online brokers
Cordell Ratzlaff
Kapitall

2. Note:
Main call to action
Navigation header at the top
Sign in on the right-hand side

3. Note:
Main call to action
Navigation header at the top
Sign in on the right-hand side
Three sub-promotions at the bottom

4. Note:
Main call to action
Navigation header at the top
Sign in on the right-hand side
Three sub-promotions at the bottom

5. Note:
Main call to action
Navigation header at the top
Sign in on the right-hand side
Three sub-promotions at the bottom

6. Note:
Main call to action
Navigation header at the top
Sign in on the right-hand side
Three sub-promotions at the bottom
Are you seeing a pattern here? These are all the same site!
But it’s also complex. You can find what you’re looking for at TD Ameritrade, but it looks something like this…

7. Here we pulled apart the navigation header, so you can see this is also complex
These are all successful companies, so this design must be working for them
But we know from our research that there’s a large population of people that this doesn’t work for
Talk about demographics

8. Investing is: Goal directed Balance of risk and reward
Time-sensitive decisions based on dynamic information
Well defined rules and a clear scoring system
Collaborative
This is a pity, because investing can actually be fun and exciting
Note the characteristics of investing
<click for build>
These are many of the same characteristics of games
Our hypothesis was that we could use many of the conventions found in games to make investing more fun and approachable

9. Games take place in their own worlds
Game worlds are an escape from reality
Sports arenas
Race tracks
Locations – jungle, snow, outer space
Different weather conditions
Players have more control over game worlds
Game worlds evolve over time faster than the real world

10. Games as worlds are nothing new

11. Games have characters
Characters enable stories and drama within a game
Good vs. evil
The character could represent the player (avatar)
People play games to be the people they wish they could be
A persona the player inhabits
A team
A car

12. Creating a character can be as much fun as playing the game itself
Enable customization, players can make the game their own
Character attributes can effect gameplay
Creating a character can be as much fun as playing the game itself

13. Tools are applied to objects in the environment
Tools are used to affect things in the game world
Tools and objects could be:
A weapon applied to an opponent
A golf club applied to a ball
A potion applied to a character
Tools are applied to objects in the environment

14. Information overlays provide real-time situational awareness
Information is provided in context to help the player make decisions

15. Games use missions to create engagement
Missions provide direction to help achieve an objective
Provide a path for improving skills
In Farmville, they also encourage social interaction
Games use missions to create engagement

16. Demo