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Professional Case Studies

Driving Healthy Habit Formation with Gamification and Personalized Coaching

Digital Health Platform  |  B2C  |  Pharma / HealthTech

Role /// DX & Behavioral Design Lead

Client /// Global Pharmaceutical Brand (Anonymized)

Primary Stakeholders /// VP, UX; VP, Technology; Director of Engineering

Increasing Engagement & Retention ////////////////////

I designed a cross-channel engagement strategy combining in-app gamification and personalized SMS coaching—achieving a modeled 20–40% increase in weekly retention and a 25–45% uplift in daily engagement with health tracking features, key predictors of improved diabetes outcomes.

IMPACT

  • Collaborated in concepting and designing the platform experience to help users build consistent exercise habits.


  • Led behavioral design strategy for engagement features, including dynamic badges, power meters, and progress visualization tools.


  • Developed personalized SMS nudges from a “virtual coach” to motivate daily activity logging and reinforce a positive growth mindset.


  • Conducted moderated user testing to validate content, messaging tone, and gamification mechanics.


  • Designed content strategies that balanced accountability and encouragement to support long-term engagement.

MY PROCESS

Instead of treating engagement as a series of one-off touchpoints, I built a cohesive system that met users where they were—combining in-app and SMS experiences to create daily motivation and reinforce progress.

What I Changed—and Why It Worked //////////////////// 

  • +20–40% increase in weekly active user retention


  • +25–45% uplift in daily engagement with core tracking features


  • Sustained improvements in exercise consistency and health confidence

OUTCOMES

What Limited Results Before

The internal team lacked the behavioral science expertise to design habit-forming systems and the cross-functional capability to connect messaging, product UX, and real-time data into a unified experience.

Want to drive meaningful engagement and behavior change in your digital health products? Share your goals—I’m here to help.

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