Key Steps in Designing Gamified Onboarding
What should an employee remember at the end of onboarding: the names of departments, or how the company works and how their own role connects to that structure?
How does a new employee get to know an organization on their first day? From what they read online, from what their manager tells them, or from the first onboarding screen they see? And if that screen contains only procedures and department introductions, can the employee really grasp how the organization creates value?
These questions show that onboarding is a process of building meaning that goes beyond transferring information. A new employee should be able to see what the company does, how their own role connects to the whole and where to find the information they need. An onboarding program works to the extent that it makes these connections visible.
The digitalization that accelerated during the pandemic also transformed onboarding programs. Some organizations moved the department presentations, PowerPoint files and talking-head videos they used in face-to-face courses into digital form. Others put interaction front and center and designed gamified experiences that unfold within a story. The second approach may look more engaging, but for a good outcome, the story, content and technology must all serve the same goal.
Defining the Project Scope at the Start
Onboarding projects involve many stakeholders, from human resources and corporate communications to information technology and senior management. Before the project begins, it should be made clear who will contribute at which stage, who will give input on which topics and who has final approval. The corporate communications team can review the use of the brand and corporate identity, while decisions on instructional design should be made by experts in that field. If the boundaries of authority are not drawn at the start, sweeping change requests arriving when the project is finished can cost time and budget.
Language versions should also be decided at the outset. If more than one language will be used, text lengths, voice-over, screen layouts and approval processes should be planned accordingly. A language option added later may require reworking a significant part of the design and technical development.
When choosing technology, the newest solution is not always the most suitable one. Mature, easy-to-use technologies with proven adoption often offer a safer choice. In an organization with high-volume hiring and operations spread across the country, a virtual reality or augmented reality experience may not deliver the expected results because of device access and ease of use. Technology should not overshadow the idea; it should make sure users can access the program without any issues.
Tying the Story to the Business Model
In gamified onboarding, it is important for the story to be strong and to spark curiosity. A well-built story holds the user’s interest and makes it easier for them to complete the program without dropping off. The plot may grow out of the company’s activities, or it may be based on an entirely imaginary scenario. Helping a lost alien return to its planet, bringing a colorless city to life or going on a treasure hunt in the headquarters building are examples of such stories.
What matters is moving the program away from a string of back-to-back department introductions. The organization’s work and the way it creates value should be at the heart of the story. The core questions behind the plot are simple: What does the organization do, what value does it offer its customers and how does it generate revenue? If the story is built on the answers to these questions, the new employee begins to understand not just the departments but the company as a whole.
Choosing Content Through the New Employee’s Eyes
Once the story is in place, the existing content is fitted into this flow. The priority here is to select information based on the new employee’s needs, not on what departments want to tell. Core content areas include a brief history of the organization, its culture and values; frequently asked-about human resources practices such as benefits, performance reviews and talent management; and each department’s place in the value chain.
When departments are asked for information in a free format, they may send presentations that are longer than necessary and unusable in the program. For this reason, content should be collected with a standard, pre-prepared question form and set limits for the answers. For example, a system migration in the finance department may not mean much to someone starting on the marketing team. By contrast, knowing finance’s role in the value chain directly helps the new employee understand how the organization works.
Choosing Game Elements Based on the Goal
Once the story and content are set, game elements can be chosen. The experience can be single-player, include a leaderboard, be published on the organization’s learning management system or require a dedicated infrastructure. What matters here is how much the interaction contributes to the story and the learning objective. A mechanic added just because it looks appealing can distract the user from the core content.
The purpose of the program is to introduce the organization, not to make users win or lose. When a user makes a wrong choice, the process should not hit a dead end; they should be guided to the right scenario with explanatory feedback. That way, a mistake stops being a reason to drop out of the program and becomes part of learning.
Building a Shared Language With a Storyboard
The entire plot should be prepared as a detailed scenario flow, in other words, a storyboard. For each screen, the topic to be covered, how the sequence will progress, where and what type of interaction will be used, the voice-over script and the visual elements should be shown as close to their final form as possible. This work allows the content, instructional design, visual design and technical development teams to move forward on the same structure. It also makes it easier to spot gaps and repetitions before development begins.
Designing Content to Stay Current
When collecting content, figures and people’s names that may change quickly should be kept to a minimum. Instead of saying “We have 1,280 employees,” the phrase “We have more than 1,200 employees” can be used for much longer. Similarly, naming the relevant unit or role rather than a specific employee keeps the content current when staff changes occur.
For information that must always be kept up to date, such as the names of senior management members, easily editable fields can be used, or the data can be imported into the system from outside. The aim is to keep the content current for at least six months to a year without needing a major revision. To make this possible, content owners, approvers and review dates should be set before the project is completed.
Complementary Decisions That Strengthen the Project
Before moving on to technical development, it is useful to run a pilot with a small group of users. Completion time, unclear instructions and technical issues can surface at this stage. Mobile compatibility, low connection speeds, subtitles, keyboard navigation and screen reader support should also be considered as design criteria.
Personal data, information security, occupational health and safety, and industry-specific mandatory courses should be handled together with the relevant legal and compliance teams. Since this content may vary by organization, industry and country, it would be wrong to assume a single standard list that applies to every onboarding program.
It is also important not to limit onboarding to a single session. The first week and follow-up points at 30, 60 and 90 days can be linked to managers, teammates and digital resources. That way, what is learned in the program carries over more easily into everyday work.
Making Impact Visible With Data
The impact of the onboarding program on new employees should be tracked with quantitative data. Showing what has changed as a result of a project that may require two to three months of work and a considerable budget provides a concrete basis for future initiatives. Measurement should not be left to a satisfaction survey alone. The following indicators can be assessed together:
- Program completion rate and average completion time
- Knowledge check results and the topics where wrong answers cluster
- Frequently raised support requests after onboarding
- Retention level after 30 or 60 days
- The onboarding metrics the organization already uses
This data shows which parts of the program work, which content needs to be simplified and where the technical experience causes problems. The same data can also be used to back up claims when sharing the organization’s best practices or applying for awards.
What Good Onboarding Has in Common
The success of gamified onboarding is not measured by how novel its effects or technology are. A successful program helps new employees understand the organization’s business model, see their own role within that structure and easily find the information they need. When the story, content and game elements serve this goal, onboarding stops being a digital copy of long presentations and becomes an experience that makes starting a new job easier.
Planning a program tailored to your organization? You can explore our gamified onboarding work on our Gamified Onboarding Course page.