Gamifying Dripshop

Designing reward systems, streaks, and in-app currency to increase daily activity and create a stickier live commerce experience.

Dripshop is where collectors and streamers come together to buy, sell, and engage in real time, turning live shopping into a social, gamified experience built around community.

Dripshop brought me on as a contractor with a focused mission to design and implement gamification strategies that could improve user engagement, boost daily activity, and increase sales. The team had observed a drop in user retention and daily active users and set out to reimagine the experience not just as a transactional platform, but as a fun, interactive environment where engagement drive value. in this Project I collaborated with Wight Goforth

Role

Product Designer

Client

Dripshop

Duration

2 months

Website

www.dripshop.live

Year

2024

1/7

Problems & Constraints

On getting started, the platform had already scaled significantly over the past three years. It had built a loyal user base and a product structure that the community was not only familiar with, but deeply invested in. The main challenge became how do we inject a fresh, gamified layer into a fast-moving, high-volume marketplace without disrupting core behaviors or alienating existing users? Some issues we also had to think through were:

Many Moving Parts

Dripshop is a large platform with live streams, seller tools, inventory management, auctions, and more. Every new feature had to work across multiple roles (streamers, buyers, admins) and integrate with existing systems

Balancing Reward vs. Sustainability

The core of gamification relies on incentivization. But how do we reward users just enough to keep them engaged without over-rewarding and creating a model that’s unsustainable for the business?

Sellers not wanting to be involved

Early experiments placed the reward responsibility on sellers, but feedback was overwhelmingly negative. Streamers didn’t want additional burdens beyond their own voluntary giveaways.

Redefining the Source of Value

How do we tie rewards directly to user actions that are valuable to the platform? Every mechanic had to prove its ROI, both in engagement and downstream sales.

Rigid Product Framework

The product had matured with strong community-driven patterns, which meant we had limited flexibility to dramatically alter UX flows or core mechanics without creating friction or distrust.

Designing for Now and Later

We couldn’t afford to spend a year building. We needed an MVP fast but with a long-term vision in mind. This meant mapping out a scalable gamification system: one that could start small, provide immediate value, and evolve.

2/7

Forming Hypotheses & Defining Success

During the early discovery and brainstorming phase, it became clear that gamification offered vast possibilities—from loyalty systems and streaks to social competitions and interactive minigames. To avoid diluting our focus, we mapped out key assumptions and prioritized the two we believed would have the highest impact on increasing daily active users (DAU) and new user acquisition.

We aligned on two initial hypotheses to guide our MVP strategy:

Referral systems with rewards would significantly drive new sign-ups
Platform-led giveaways would create viral loops and attract both new and returning users.

Our Hypothesis

If we introduce reward-based referrals and platform-sponsored giveaways, then we will drive an increase in new user signups, re-activate lapsed users, and significantly grow DAU—resulting in higher streamer sales and platform revenue.

Success Metrics (KPIs)

To validate this direction, we defined clear and ambitious KPIs for launch and the first month post-release

10,000 new user sign-ups on the first day of launch
100,000+ sign-ups within the first 30 days
200% increase in daily active users (DAU) compared to the previous baseline
50% lift in daily activity from returning/existing users
60% increase in sales volume from streamers (driven by more engaged viewers)
50% increase in Dripshop revenue, through fees generated from increased transaction volume
Net Promoter Score (NPS) increase from 45 to 65, indicating improved satisfaction, excitement, and perceived value
10x growth in social shares and referrals from existing users
Reduction in user churn by 30%, thanks to re-engagement through streaks and giveaways

These metrics not only helped us align cross-functionally but also acted as gut-checks during design tradeoffs, feature prioritization, and future iteration planning.

3/7

Prototype, test, repeat

After initial brainstorming and research, we moved quickly into prototyping of the main screens and contact points and brought in some of Drip’s most active users to test early concepts. Given how established and community-driven Drip is, it was crucial to involve real users early—not just to validate ideas, but to make sure the experience felt native to the platform.

Changes Made - Rewards Hub Redesign

Old View: Discount Hub as a Task List
The original Discount Hub listed milestones users could hit to unlock special deals. While this seemed logical on paper, users found it uninspiring and burdensome. The rewards felt too indirect, and the format didn’t motivate return visits hurting our daily active user (DAU) goals.

Keeps things fresh and dynamic daily
Gives users more control over how they participate
Adds a layer of excitement and urgency with time-bound challenges
Adds a layer of excitement and urgency with time-bound challenges

Changes Made - From Discount Tasks to Engaging Giveaways

Old View: Discount Hub as a Task List
The original Discount Hub listed milestones users could hit to unlock special deals. While this seemed logical on paper, users found it uninspiring and burdensome. The rewards felt too indirect, and the format didn’t motivate return visits—hurting our daily active user (DAU) goals.

New View: Daily Giveaways with Interactive Challenges
We reimagined the system to tie user actions directly to daily giveaways—with clearly listed activities that increase users’ chances of winning. Rather than repeating a single action, users now have a range of meaningful options that serve both engagement and business goals.
This new system:

Keeps things fresh and dynamic daily
Gives users more control over how they participate
Adds a layer of excitement and urgency with time-bound challenges
Improves the DAU and engagement loop by tying activity directly to tangible rewards

Changes Made - Rethinking Reactions and In-App Currency

Old View: Level-Gated Reactions
Originally, users could unlock animated reactions by leveling up through the Discount Hub tasks. However, this created a long path to value—many users didn’t feel incentivized to grind their way up, especially with unclear or delayed benefits.

New View: Reactions as Valuable Gifting Tools
We reimagined the system to tie user actions directly to daily giveaways—with clearly listed activities that increase users’ chances of winning. Rather than repeating a single action, users now have a range of meaningful options that serve both engagement and business goals.
This new system:

Reactions have value-based pricing in Driplets
Each reaction now includes custom animations and soundtracks
Reactions serve as a form of tipping or appreciation to streamers
Creates emotional engagement and energy in live streams
Opens a loop for earning, buying, and spending Driplets in ways that benefit both buyers and sellers

4/7

Beefing Up The Design System

To ensure the gamified experience at Drip could scale, I updated the existing design system to include a dedicated set of gamification components—reward cards, progress trackers, daily challenges, Driplet counters, and interactive elements like Spin the Wheel and reactions. This made the system reusable across mobile and web, allowing for faster iteration, consistent UI, and easier developer implementation as we continued to evolve the experience.

5/7

Designs Take Form

Driplets & Cash Overview

We introduced a persistent global component that displays your current Driplet balance and total earnings in cash credits. This ensures users always know the value they’ve gained from engaging with Drip. To aid onboarding, a walkthrough screen was added to explain what Driplets are, how they’re earned, and how they enhance the platform experience.

Transaction History

Most users on other protocols fail to have a good record of all the activities carried out by them or by the protocol with their assets and this makes it difficult to track financial activities. Hence we provide a one-place view of all the activities carried out on the protocol by you or the protocol with your tokens. You see all the swap activities, the earnings from the pool and the vault, etc

This can also be used as a form of bank statement for those who plan to travel as most crypto holders find it difficult to provide one when requested as their funds are not easily accessible for track record purposes on the protocols they engage with

Daily Challenges

To drive repeat engagement, we launched daily challenges that refresh every 24 hours, offering users a new opportunity to earn Driplets by completing simple but valuable tasks. These tasks were intentionally designed to either increase platform visibility or deepen in-app engagement. This feature alone drove a 123% increase in daily active users within one month.

Spin the Wheel

Inspired by user feedback and the addictive mechanics seen on platforms like Temu, this feature gives users a reason to return daily. After making a purchase, users unlock a spin with potential rewards like discounts, Driplets, cash credits, or rare collectibles. Occasional jackpots added excitement and a sense of luck that users loved.

Transaction History

Most users on other protocols fail to have a good record of all the activities carried out by them or by the protocol with their assets and this makes it difficult to track financial activities. Hence we provide a one-place view of all the activities carried out on the protocol by you or the protocol with your tokens. You see all the swap activities, the earnings from the pool and the vault, etc

This can also be used as a form of bank statement for those who plan to travel as most crypto holders find it difficult to provide one when requested as their funds are not easily accessible for track record purposes on the protocols they engage with

Streaks & Loyalty Badges

Streaks rewarded users for consecutive daily activity, promoting habit formation and return visits. Hitting streak milestones unlocked loyalty badges that came with exclusive perks such as premium stream access or special collectibles. This added a layer of gamified status inspired by user insights and behavioral cues from products like Duolingo.

Leaderboard

To encourage friendly competition, we introduced a monthly-reset leaderboard highlighting top earners and most active users. This helped motivate engagement while keeping it accessible to newcomers by preventing the discouragement that comes from seeing unreachable all-time scores.

Transaction History

Most users on other protocols fail to have a good record of all the activities carried out by them or by the protocol with their assets and this makes it difficult to track financial activities. Hence we provide a one-place view of all the activities carried out on the protocol by you or the protocol with your tokens. You see all the swap activities, the earnings from the pool and the vault, etc

This can also be used as a form of bank statement for those who plan to travel as most crypto holders find it difficult to provide one when requested as their funds are not easily accessible for track record purposes on the protocols they engage with

Driplet-Powered Reactions

Users can now spend their earned Driplets on reactions during live streams—each with custom animations and soundtracks. These reactions serve as a fun, social way to show support for sellers and stand out in the audience. The feature evolved from early feedback and now plays a key role in both engagement and Driplet utility.

Drip Drops

Drops are time-bound events occurring every two hours, where users can join by spending 50 Driplets for a chance to win up to $200 in cash credits or a large pool of Driplets. One main winner takes the top prize, while remaining rewards are split among participants. This feature boosted in-platform engagement by 83% in its first month.

Transaction History

Most users on other protocols fail to have a good record of all the activities carried out by them or by the protocol with their assets and this makes it difficult to track financial activities. Hence we provide a one-place view of all the activities carried out on the protocol by you or the protocol with your tokens. You see all the swap activities, the earnings from the pool and the vault, etc

This can also be used as a form of bank statement for those who plan to travel as most crypto holders find it difficult to provide one when requested as their funds are not easily accessible for track record purposes on the protocols they engage with

Giveaway Mechanics

Daily giveaways allow users to earn rare collectibles by completing tasks—ranging from in-app engagement to social sharing. Each task counts as an entry into the giveaway pool, with higher effort earning more entries. This feature increased referral-based growth by 78% in the first month and helped turn users into brand advocates.

6/7

Web wasnt left out

To ensure accessibility, we brought key gamification features to the web app so users without the mobile app could still participate. While the core experiences like daily challenges, giveaways, and drops are available, certain advanced features and full interaction layers are app-exclusive gently nudging users toward downloading the app for the complete experience.

8/8

What did I learn?

Collaboration Without Titles

Working on Drip meant dropping egos at the door. We co-created with the community, tested with real users, and made product calls based on what delivered the most value—not hierarchy or titles. Whether it was a junior dev or a top spender suggesting a feature, we followed what made the experience better.

Design Wasn’t Just UI

Gamification touched everything—user psychology, reward systems, platform visibility, even monetization logic. My work went beyond interfaces, influencing how we structured incentives, tied Driplets to value, and aligned experience across web and mobile. Design was part of the product engine, not just the visual layer.

Feedback Wasn’t a Step, It Was a System

We didn’t treat feedback as a one-off milestone—it was built into how we worked. From live streams to user groups, community calls to in-product experiments, we had a constant loop. If something didn’t click, we adjusted fast. If it worked, we doubled down.

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