GoNoodle: Trophy Case & Gamification - making learning rewarding and fun
Product Designer
UX Design
Gamification
Figma
FigJam
GoNoodle has always been a great tool for keeping kids active and engaged, helping teachers create a fun and dynamic learning environment. But as with any platform, keeping users involved long-term is a challenge. The GoNoodle team rolled out a major UX/UI transformation, shifting from Educator to GoNoodle, but without prior notice to users who had been familiar with the platform for years. The new design approach fixed previous hiccups, but the sudden change left many users frustrated.
Teachers were using GoNoodle, but engagement levels varied. Many stuck to familiar videos, missing out on the platform’s rich educational and entertaining content. At the same time, GoNoodle introduced SuperNoodle—a structured, curriculum-driven SEL product designed to guide learning step by step, unlike GoNoodle’s more open-ended exploration approach. The challenge was clear: how do we increase engagement, encourage deeper platform exploration, and naturally introduce SuperNoodle in a way that feels exciting rather than sales-driven?
Goals That Stick
Badges & Monthly Challenges, and personalized Stats turn everyday learning into exciting milestones, keeping students engaged and eager to explore more.
Progress That Matters
With Trophy Case Mini & Page, every achievement is stored, visualized, and celebrated, reinforcing motivation and long-term retention.
Insights That Drive Action
Premium Statistics transform engagement data into real-time learning insights, empowering educators to make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Step 1: Research – Understanding the Power of Gamification
With GoNoodle, the challenge wasn’t about introducing gamification—it was about building on something that kids and teachers already loved.
Transmogrifier was a huge success. Kids were hooked on watching their Champs grow, and teachers saw how it kept students engaged. But something was missing. GoNoodle’s users weren’t asking for a specific feature, but they wanted more. More reasons to stay engaged. More ways to track their progress. More moments of recognition along the way.
So, I dove into the raw user interviews, video interviews, and tons of data provided by GoNoodle—evaluating users’ values & wishes, looking for the best approach to take. A pattern emerged: students loved the idea of progress, but they wanted to see and feel their achievements in more ways than just evolving their Champs. Teachers, too, wanted a way to showcase student milestones and track engagement beyond just the exsisting solution of Transmogrifier.
I had a list of possible new features we had discussed, but only one intrigued me. It was the most challenging and the loudest feature, and it bugged me even in my sleep, screaming: “Me! Me! Me!” A badge system. The one that can and will elevate the Transmogrifier experience.
GoNoodle has always been about movement, interaction, and fun. Unlike traditional educational platforms where students passively consume content, GoNoodle thrives on engagement. Adding a badge system wasn’t about changing GoNoodle—it was about enhancing what made it great. It turned everyday learning activities into mini-victories, giving students a sense of accomplishment at every step.
Why Gamification?
Gamification in education isn’t just a buzzword—it’s an approach that’s proven to make learning more engaging, rewarding, and, dare I say, fun. Think about it: when you’re motivated by a game’s progress bar or the idea of leveling up, it’s not just about the rewards—it’s about feeling like you’re accomplishing something.
That’s exactly what gamification does for education—it taps into our natural love for achievement and competition. When kids are excited to complete tasks and get rewarded for it, they’re more likely to keep coming back for more.
“Empirical studies, such as the one conducted by Ruiz-Bañulls et al., have begun to indicate that the incorporation of gamified experiences in primary school classes, uniquely intertwined with the benefits provided by interdisciplinary work and transmedia narratives, significantly enhances students’ training process and motivation, while also contributing to a better acquisition of compulsory curricular contents and improved academic performance.”
📖 Source: MDPI
Research backs this up—gamification encourages critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. It’s like turning learning into a game where everyone wins.
Step 2: Feature Evolution – Bringing Gamification to Life
GoNoodle already had gamification element, the most notable being the Transmogrifier system – one of the most beloved features among students and teachers. It wasn’t just a feature; it was an experience, creating emotional connections between students and their Champs while making learning feel like a game. Let me tell you more about it, so we’re on the same page 🙂
🔄 Transmogrifier – The First Step in Gamification
Transmogrifier is a progress-based evolution system where students not only earned points by learning through the videos, but grow and graduate their favourite Champ! What’s the hoop, seems too simple? I remember having a tamagochi myself, the hoop is still there 😉 As they grow the Champ, they evolved through five stages — being a tiny creature to a confident, fully developed hero. So how cool is that seeing you Flo Yo or McPufferson grow with you, as well as their values – mindfulness and ability to make a right choice?
Each Champ is unique, with goofy names and beloved personalities reflecting different human qualities, for example Squatchy Bergerloves burgers and has an unstoppable appetite for adventure, or Paz Petalhead impersonates, spreads, and teaches how to be calm.
The moment of “Transmogrification” — when the Champ is leveling up—was a huge deal, the true moment of excitement, featuring a dynamic animation showcasing the transformation from a small creature to a kid, and then a teen, and finally to a cool, powerful version of themselves.
Once a Champ graduated, the party was never over, since the students could choose a new Champ and start growing it from scratch. 🙂
And why did kids love it so much? Because their Champs weren’t just characters—they were growing with them, evolving just like the students were in real life. It was their personal little journey, and every Transmogrification felt like a personal victory.
📊 Why It Mattered?
Our analysis of user interviews showed that Transmogrifier was a fan favorite, consistently ranking as one of the most engaging features. Among all recent updates, Transmogrifier became the top-rated addition in school communities, proving that students and teachers valued progression-based motivation.
However, there was one key limitation — the system was linear. It rewarded students only for watching more content, but it didn’t encourage exploration, challenge-based engagement, or deeper interactions with GoNoodle’s vast library. And additionally, we wanted to grow, as our beloved Champs, to provide even bigger gamification for our users to enjoy! 🙂
This is where the next stage of evolution came in.
Step 3: From Transmogrifier to an Integrated Gamification System
Transmogrifier was a strong foundation — it got students engaged, gave them a sense of progress, and kept them coming back. But it was just one piece of what gamification could be.
My primary goal was to evolve Transmogrifier from a simple progress mechanic into a complete engagement ecosystem—one that would lead students to deeper exploration, achievement recognition, and long-term motivation through structured, yet joyful challenges.
That is how I artuculated my main approach – “Explore, celebrate achievement, engage and have fun!”
With this message in mind, I’ve crafted the evolved gamification system – Trophy Case 🏆! For the best user experience Trophy Case has 2 entry points and has General and Mini representation inside GoNoodle platform.
Since users constantly engage with the progress bar and have well-established behavioural habits, I decided to enhance it by introducing the Trophy Case Mini — a fully-operational minimal view that keeps achievements and challenges always accessible, no matter what page they are on.
But that wasn’t enough. Because our badges are so beautiful, I wanted kids to enjoy them in full-screen glory!
That’s why I expanded the Champs Collection experience to Trophy Case Page, adding a dedicated challenges tab—where students can view their entire adventure in one place, beautifully displayed and ready to brag!
If you’re a dedicated reader, you’d already see the easter eggs in UI images! Our beautiful case would be sad, if I didn’t filled it with three core pillars:
📅 Monthly Challenges – structured motivation to keep engagement fresh.
🏅 Badges – tangible recognition of progress.
📊 Statistics – data-powered insights to track learning.
Each component plays a unique role in shaping the GoNoodle experience – Trophy Case. Let’s meet them properly and how they perfectly fit! Let’s them have their moment in the spotlight!
📅 Monthly Challenges – Keeping Engagement High
Earning a monthly badge is a big deal for a first- or third-grader—staying focused for that long is no small task! Designing monthly challenges for them was a real challenge too, because we had to make sure they stuck with it and enjoyed both the process and the result.
First- and second-graders are active and social. They’re eager to try new things, but staying focused is tough. Monthly challenges don’t just teach kids how to follow long-term goals—they also help them break those goals into smaller steps, enjoy the journey, and have fun along the way.
From a business perspective, it’s also a great hook to keep kids excited, unlocking new challenges and maybe even starting a streak!
How does the Monthly challenge work?
Each month, the Product Marketing team collaborates with the Educational team to design a fresh set of challenges tailored to that specific time of year.
Students work through the challenge step by step, tracking their progress along the way. Once a classroom completes the challenge, they receive the Badge of the Month—a special achievement that can be shared with loved ones or even printed out as a keepsake.
Just like Badges, Monthly Challenges are stored in the Trophy Cases, keeping all achievements in one place.
Additionally, some Monthly Challenges can be sponsored by brands, creating unique engagement opportunities while still keeping the experience fun and educational.
🏅Badges – Celebrating Every Achievement
As I started digging deeper into how badges could fit into GoNoodle, I realized they had the potential to be much more than just fun rewards. They could guide students to explore, learn, and celebrate their progress in a way that felt meaningful. But first, I needed to map out what exactly those achievements should be.
After a careful consideration, I structured the badges by types that will help address both user & business needs simultaneously. Here they are:
1️⃣ Standard Badges (Core Gamification)
These are the foundation of the system—designed to reward students for engaging with GoNoodle’s educational content and activities.
2️⃣ Premium Badges (Gamification as a Service)
Premium users have access to exclusive badge collections, unlocking special rewards and deeper engagement challenges.
3️⃣ Sponsored Badges (Brand & Partnership Integration)
Besides boosting engagement, Sponsored Badges became a new way for partners to integrate into the GoNoodle experience—whether by encouraging students to interact with their educational content or by introducing fun, interactive brand-led challenges.
This created a new revenue stream, while ensuring that sponsorships felt organic and engaging for students.
4️⃣ SuperNoodle Badges (Smart Get-to-Know & Marketing hook to learn about SuperNoodle)
SuperNoodle badges weren’t just another achievement—they were an invitation. A way for students to get a taste of structured learning, unlocking small wins that made them curious to explore more.
Before they even realized it, they were already immersed in the SuperNoodle experience—making the transition to premium feel natural.
🔍 Where do Badges live? Entry Points & UX Flow
As I’ve mentioned previosly, the badges are living in the mini/big trophy case, but how the students know when they’ve unlocked a new badge? Let me show the simple wireframe flow. (Leave some patience for the final result!)
How do students track the badge progress and states, and how they vary from each other?
💡 The badge types are not visible in mini-view, and there’s a reason for that. The idea of having miniature case is to focus the attention on the badges themselves, not on the sponsored or standard per say. The reason is simple, the badges are all equal in experience, so we are not scaring off users from punching the paid content constantly. Curious how it looks like in the main Trophy Case? Here!
🎨 Badge Design System
All colors, styles, and main components were reused directly from the existing GoNoodle design system to ensure consistency and clarity. However, for the badge system, I created new components that expand upon the established foundation. This way, the Trophy Case is not just a new product but a natural evolution of the system, keeping everything structured and cohesive.
🦄 The Moment of Achievement – Badge Reveal
Unlocking a badge isn’t just another tap—it’s a moment of accomplishment. To make it feel truly rewarding, we designed a special reveal animation, tailored to the type of badge:
Standard & Monthly Challenge Badges → A smooth, fun animation that makes collecting achievements exciting.
Premium Badges → A more exclusive, high-tier reveal that visually stands out and reinforces their value.
💡 All animations & designs were fully adapted for tablet and mobile devices, ensuring a seamless experience across different screen sizes.
With gamification fully integrated, we also saw an opportunity to create value not just for students and educators, but also for partners.
💰 Monetization – Turning Engagement into a Revenue Stream
Gamification isn’t just about engagement—it’s also a powerful business tool.
By integrating Sponsored Badges and Sponsored Monthly Challenges, we created new opportunities for brands to connect with students in a meaningful way.
📌 Sponsored Badges
- Brands can sponsor badges that students unlock by interacting with their educational content.
- These badges naturally integrate into GoNoodle’s reward system, ensuring that sponsorships feel organic and engaging, rather than intrusive.
📌 Sponsored Monthly Challenges
- Some Monthly Challenges are branded collaborations, designed to align with partner initiatives.
- Challenges encourage students to interact with specific content, reinforcing key learning moments while offering brands a valuable engagement opportunity.
💡 This monetization model has already been successfully adopted and integrated. However, since implementation is still in progress, I can’t disclose partner brand names at this stage.
📊 Statistics: Smart Data That Fuels Smarter Learning
Beyond engagement, we also wanted to provide educators with deeper learning insights. That’s where Premium Statistics come in. While badges and challenges keep students engaged, Premium Statistics gives educators the tools to track and optimize student progress.
📌 Available exclusively to Premium GoNoodle users, this feature provides detailed monthly insights into:
✅ Total learning minutes – How much time students actively engage with the platform.
✅ Video consumption trends – Which content categories they interact with the most.
✅ Badges earned & games played – A snapshot of student achievements.
But it’s not just about numbers. One of the most valuable aspects of this feature is its ability to offer deep insights into student learning preferences.
💡 How does this help educators?
If students are watching mostly movement-based videos but skipping mindfulness exercises, teachers can step in and encourage a more balanced learning approach.
If a classroom is repeatedly engaging with the same types of content, educators can introduce new categories to expand learning diversity and keep engagement fresh.
Within the statistics section, teachers get curated recommendations for videos that fill potential learning gaps, making it easier to guide students toward well-rounded growth.
By integrating Premium Statistics into Trophy Case, GoNoodle provides not just engagement tools, but also meaningful insights that enhance classroom learning.
🔓 Free vs Premium Experience
To make gamification accessible to all users, GoNoodle offers both Free and Premium experiences.
🔹 Free users have access to core features like Monthly Challenges and standard Badges.
🔹 Premium users unlock exclusive badges, advanced statistics, and deeper engagement insights, making learning more interactive and rewarding.
Achievements
Integrating gamification into GoNoodle wasn’t just about adding features—it was about transforming engagement into an interactive, rewarding journey.
📌 What we achieved:
✅ Trophy Case Mini & Page – A seamless, all-in-one hub for progress tracking.
✅ Badges & Monthly Challenges – A structured system that keeps students engaged long-term.
✅ Premium Statistics – Actionable insights that help educators optimize learning experiences.
✅ Monetization through sponsorships – A new revenue stream that integrates naturally into the platform.
✅ Full mobile & tablet adaptation – Ensuring a smooth experience across all devices.
Building the Trophy Case Gamification System wasn’t just about features—it was about redefining engagement. Seeing students excited about their progress, teachers gaining real insights, and brands finding meaningful ways to connect made this more than just a UX upgrade—it became a new way to think about learning.
Future Plans
🔎 Evaluating the Impact: A Full-User Cycle
The Trophy Case Gamification System isn’t just about launching new features—it’s about making sure they truly enhance the learning experience. Over the next year, the system will go through a full cycle of user evaluation, gathering insights from students, teachers, and schools to assess its effectiveness. This phase is crucial: it ensures that the mechanics we’ve built—badges, challenges, and statistics—are not only engaging but also meaningful in real-world educational settings.
With continuous feedback loops, we’re validating that the system is driving long-term engagement, making learning more structured, and seamlessly integrating into classroom routines. And as we fine-tune the experience, new opportunities for gamification naturally emerge.
🔮 Future Plans: What’s Next for Gamification?
Gamification is never about standing still—it thrives on evolution, new challenges, and fresh ways to keep students engaged. As the Trophy Case Gamification System grows, so do the opportunities to push engagement even further. In the coming year, we’re exploring new mechanics that will build on the foundation we’ve created. Streaks will introduce a way to track daily engagement, reinforcing consistency and turning small actions into lasting habits. Leaderboards will bring a healthy dose of friendly competition, encouraging students to challenge themselves and each other. And for those who love surprises, Easter Egg Games will add hidden interactive moments, keeping the experience fun, playful, and full of unexpected discoveries.
With more ideas already in motion, the focus remains the same: creating a gamified learning experience that keeps students engaged, motivated, and coming back—not because they have to, but because they want to.