Ruba Microbrokers – Gamification Feature
Boosting User Engagement and Lead Generation through Playful Motivation
Timeline
Aug - Sep 2025
Key Areas
UX Strategy · Interaction Design · Visual Design · Gamification
People Involved
1 Product Designer (Me)
1 Project Manager
4 Developers
(Frontend + Backend)
Designed a gamification system that motivates micro-brokers to share more properties and generate higher-quality leads, rewarding their activity with coins and redeemable discount vouchers.
As a Product Designer, I investigated why user activity dropped after three days of app usage and why micro-brokers were sharing fewer properties. Based on this research, I designed solutions to improve engagement and increase the rate of property shares.
+33%
Daily active users
+45%
Property Shares
+17%
Higher lead conversion rate
Hover over a chapter and give it a click — it’ll politely escort you like a very enthusiastic tour guide.
Next Case Study
Amazon SmartBiz Website Builder
What is Ruba Micro-brokers?
Ruba Micro-brokers is a platform where anyone can act as a part-time property agent by sharing verified listings with their personal network. When a referred buyer closes a deal, the micro-broker earns a commission.
While the model was simple and empowering, activity levels had started to dip. Many users downloaded the app, explored briefly, then went silent. Our challenge was to make Ruba habit-forming without distorting its trust-based community ethos.
How Micro-brokers currently earn
Step 01
Filter Your
Friend’s Needs.
Filter your friend’s needs with GPT for smarter suggestions.
Step 02
Sharing the property with the freind
Share properties with your friends instantly on social media
Step 03
Friend Visits & Buy
Your friend visits, explores, and buys through your referral.
Background - Understanding the Drop-off
Who are the Users?
Ordinary users: friends, relatives, and acquaintances of potential property buyers. They’re not sales professionals; they participate casually in their spare time.
The Problem
😢
Motivation faded after the first few days of use.
😢
Earnings felt distant and abstract.
😢
Sharing properties felt like a chore.
This leads to
User Activity Drop-Off
We wanted to change that - to make this not just a chore but an activity which micro-brokers enjoy.
🎯 Objectives
We aimed to transform the experience from transactional to motivational. The goals were clear:
Encourage consistent daily engagement.
Make progress tangible and visible.
Reinforce a sense of achievement and community spirit.
Ultimately, drive more high-quality leads for sales teams.
Process
01
Research
Reviewed user analytics, interviewed inactive users to uncover drop-off triggers.
02
Ideation & Design
Brainstormed gamification levers (streaks, quests, badges, coins) aligning with Ruba’s real-estate goals.
03
Implementation
Partnered with developers to integrate rewards into backend logic and wallet system.
1 – Daily & Weekly Quests
Problems
Low daily engagement: Users opened the app sporadically; there was no short-term goal that encouraged habitual activity.
Unclear referral progress: Users didn’t know how close they were to earning a commission or completing a task, leading to early drop-offs.
Solutions
Subtle gamified visuals (fire icon) symbolised energy and streak momentum.
Added a milestone tracker with motivating micro-feedback to boost engagement and momentum.
“Milestone-based progress bar helps users understand how close they are to their next reward.”
Before
After
+38%
Increase in daily property shares
+22%
Increase in first-time shares
2 - Streak System & Momentum Tracking
Problems
No long-term engagement incentive: Users lacked reason to return consistently; there was no reward for sustained participation.
Poor awareness of ongoing achievements: Users weren’t reminded how their activity built momentum over time.
Solutions
Clear streak indicator builds a sense of continuity and accomplishment.
Calendar visualisation helps users track consistency in a familiar pattern.
Gentle nudges when close to a reward increase engagement without pressure.
Integrated streak view under Rewards & Achievements for centralized visibility.
Gentle nudges when close to a reward increase engagement without pressure.
×5
13/16
You're just 3 streaks away from earning the Momentum Badge.
“The streak system transformed casual users into consistent contributors, driven by simple behavioral psychology: visible progress sustains motivation.”
3 – Achievements & Badges
Problems
No visible recognition: Effort wasn’t celebrated; users couldn’t see what they’d accomplished.
Lack of aspiration or hierarchy: Without visible tiers or locked challenges, users lacked long-term goals.
Solutions
Introduced a tiered badge system for Signups, Refers and Streaks to showcase progression for micro-brokers.
Badge Unlocked Screen
High-fidelity badge design motivates micro-brokers to have a fixed long term goal.
‘Claim’ and ‘Share’ actions extend excitement into social proof.
Badge Locked Screen
Simple 0–5 progress bar shows exactly how much effort remains.
Contextual guidance nudges users toward completing the achievement.
“Recognition drives repetition — visible achievements made every referral feel like a step toward mastery, not just another task.”
+28%
Increase in 7-day rolling retention
+12%
Increase in high-value referrals
Final_for_sure_final_UI.fig
Weekly Quest
Streak Calculator
Streaks Overview
Badges Overview
Badge Unlocked
Badge Locked
Major Learnings
🎮
Gamification works when it supports genuine goals, not distracts from them.
🎁
Small, frequent rewards beat large, delayed ones for sustaining and successful attention .
😃
Playful design can humanise even the most transactional experiences.
DESIGNED WITH
BY SYANDAN ROY
cyanroy.designs@gmail.com
