Background‍

When I joined Greenlight, I was assigned to the Learn team, which had started experimenting with in-app educational content. At that time, Greenlight's leadership was interested in creating a financial literacy game to appeal to our B2B customers—primarily partner banks like Chase. Competitors, such as Zogo, had already introduced similar games with monetary rewards, and there was pressure to match or surpass their offerings.

Challenge‍

The initial direction was to create a competitive financial literacy game, which targeted young adults motivated by gift cards. Our goal, however, was to target teenagers, who research showed were less engaged by monetary rewards. My job was to help stakeholders understand the need for a more tailored solution to meet our users' specific needs. We needed a differentiated experience that would truly connect with tweens.

Approach

Research & Insights Gathering

• Stakeholder Interviews: Spoke with game development experts, parents, and teens to understand their motivations and preferences.
• Competitive Analysis: Assessed products like GoHenry and Zogo to identify opportunities for a richer, more engaging experience.
• Workshops for Alignment: Conducted workshops with the team to define our vision, aligning stakeholders on the need for an experience beyond simple financial rewards.

Concept Development

• Collaborated across design, brand, product, and education teams to create two foundational maps:
  • Feature Map: Identified core features and gameplay elements.
  • Lesson Map: Ensured alignment between game mechanics and educational outcomes.

Content Creation & UX Strategy

• Content Team Collaboration: Worked closely with our content team to define the content aesthetic and develop guiding principles.
• Brand Sprint: Ran a branding sprint to quickly establish the look and feel of the game.
• Skeleton Design System: Developed a minimal design system that allowed for rapid iteration and future scalability by updating tokens and values.
• Workshops for Content Principles: Hosted workshops to develop guiding principles for content creation, ensuring consistency and speed across development.

Design Deliverables & Testing

• Conducted user testing with parents and teens to validate game methods.
• Integrated a Rewards System based on customization—users could personalize their experience rather than only receiving monetary rewards.

Outcomes

• User Engagement: The proportion of kids creating goals was six times higher for those that completed at least one "Level Up" lesson (37.6%) compared to those that didn’t (6.9%). Additionally, kids who played "Level Up" were almost twice as likely to save (80%) compared to those who didn’t play (43%).
• Retention Metrics: Families with kids that played "Level Up" retained at a higher rate compared to those without kids participating (∼3 percentage points higher).
• Impact on Sales: Our B2B sales team highlighted "Level Up" as a key differentiator in pitches to partner banks, demonstrating value beyond standard banking services.
• Product Expansion: Following the success of "Level Up," leadership decided to leverage the game as a strategic asset, leading to the development of "Greenlight for Classrooms."
• Free Tier Growth Initiative: Developed a free tier version of 'Level Up' that allowed users to download the Greenlight app and immediately start playing to earn rewards. Partnered with brands like Tropical Smoothie to attract new users and incentivize engagement.

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