The Octalysis Group loves putting design challenges to our larger gamification community because we know a movement is growing around Human-Focused Design and we want to tap into the potential of many designers and thinkers in this community.
After the success of the Food Heroes Octalysis Design Challenge, there will surely be more design challenges on the near horizon.
About the Creator of the Octalysis Framework
Yu-kai Chou created the Octalysis Framework after studying gamification since 2003 — years before the term entered mainstream vocabulary. As a Human-Systems Architect & Behavioral Designer, his framework has been applied by LEGO, Microsoft, Porsche, Coca-Cola, Salesforce, and MrBeast, impacting over 1.5 Billion Users.
Chou has taught the Octalysis methodology at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Tesla, Google, BCG, and IDEO.
His work has been cited by Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Wired, US Department of Energy, NIST, NSF, NCBI, US Department of Education, ClinicalTrials.gov, and 3,700+ more academic publications. Explore his books here.
The Design Challenge
The design challenge was the hardest The Octalysis Group has designed yet. Entrants were required to show demonstration of the Octalysis Framework as well as submit a Strategy Dashboard, Octalysis Ideation/Brainstorming, and visual deliverables such as Concept Wireframes/Storyboarding.
Because of the difficulty, several significant prizes were also up for grabs, including exposure on Octalysis Prime (immortalized design), a Level 2 Octalysis Gamification Certificate, and the potential to interview with The Octalysis Group.
Mayur’s Winning Approach
Mayur Kapur was drawn to the challenge after being a fan of Yu-kai Chou’s work for several years.
He saw the past work The Octalysis Group did with Food Heroes and JUCCCE and also saw the promise in future work with the Food Heroes program in China.
The Food Heroes mission is both about sustainability and making the planet a better place, but also in creating agents for that change in the children we are raising today. Rooted in Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling, this challenge asked designers to inspire teachers and children toward a higher purpose. And it all starts with the food they eat, and the food their parents eat.
The idea is simple: educating children to take responsibility for what they eat and also for their bodies and health will make the world a better place in the present and in the future.
Mayur learned from previous entries to the Habitica Design Challenge (see Ivan Milev’s Habitica Design Challenge submission) as well as the SuperBetter Design Challenge to ensure his design proposal fit the needs and quality required by The Octalysis Group but also by the Food Heroes team.
The Food Heroes team provided several informational interviews to give background on their extensive goals, including specific obstacles to overcome.
After all, the winner of the challenge would be able to contribute to the Food Heroes continuing goals of implementing 1) Teacher training to millions of teachers; 2) A 12-month subscription box with food education elements.
The potential impact of such a design challenge was also something Mayur was eager to contribute to, and his expression of this desire was a great start to the interview call with the Food Heroes team. This sense of achievement and recognition reflects Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment — the same motivational force the challenge was designed to activate in participants.
Mayur clearly wanted to win the challenge, and had passionate responses to all questions which showed the depth of his 30+ slide presentation and design but also the detailed and methodical nature of his thought process.
The Submission
Here is Mayur’s submission.
The Octalysis community was not short on great proposals. The other finalists, Simón Duque and Ulric Kenji Kurashige submitted excellent proposals, making it a tough decision.
But Mayur stood out. And it is a pleasure to announce him the Winner of The Octalysis Group’s Food Heroes Design Challenge with Food Heroes and JUCCCE!
So you don’t miss future design challenges, join Octalysis Prime to be the first to know about our next challenge!
Thank you to all participants! And see you next time for another exciting challenge and a chance to showcase your Octalysis Gamification knowledge to the world!
Related Reading
- Food Heroes Octalysis Design Challenge
- Food Heroes Design Challenge Part 2
- The Octalysis Framework for Gamification & Behavioral Design
- What is Gamification?
- The Strategy Dashboard for Gamification Design
- Books by Yu-kai Chou