Designing and developing a gamified digital lounge for remote engagement at Knowit
Overview: This thesis aims to design and prototype a digital lounge platform to foster engagement, collaboration, and a sense of community among Knowit employees working remotely. While productivity tools (Teams, Slack, Jira) support task execution, employees often miss casual interactions and team spirit. The digital lounge will serve as a virtual “coffee corner” combining social interaction, lightweight collaboration, and gamified fun, while fitting seamlessly into hybrid workflows.
Description
Key Features
1. Virtual Social Spaces
- Drop-in rooms for spontaneous coffee breaks and informal chats.
- Themed lounges (e.g., project corners, hobby spaces) for interest-based networking.
2. Gamification and Team Spirit
- Leaderboards, team challenges, trivia, and wellness activities.
- Recognition features for birthdays, milestones, and achievements.
3. Collaboration Tools
- Lightweight brainstorming areas with whiteboards and sticky notes.
- Quick-share spaces for ideas, links, or project highlights.
4. AI-Powered Networking
- Recommendations for cross-team connections.
- Suggestions for casual meetups based on shared interests or expertise.
5. Accessibility and Integration
- Platform accessible via web, desktop, or mobile.
- Potential integration with Teams to fit seamlessly into existing workflows.
Challenges
- Adoption: Encouraging employees to actively use the lounge instead of defaulting to traditional tools.
- Integration: Ensuring compatibility with Teams and other productivity platforms.
- Design Balance: Making the lounge engaging and fun without becoming a distraction.
- Scalability: Building a platform that can grow to accommodate different teams, offices, and regions.
- User Diversity: Addressing varying preferences, work styles, and digital comfort levels across employees.
Impact
The digital lounge will provide Knowit with:
- Stronger company culture in a hybrid/remote era.
- Increased collaboration and informal knowledge sharing across teams.
- Higher engagement and well-being through fun, social interactions beyond project tasks.
- Innovation positioning by showcasing Knowit as a forward-thinking leader in digital workplace culture.