My Role: Lead Interaction Designer
Services: UX Research, User Interviews, Ideation, Gamification, Interaction Design, Prototyping, Visual Design
Platform: Native iPad Application + Apple TV
Agency: eyecatcher AG, Zurich
Timeline: 3 months, February 2015
Interactive quiz – through playful curiosity
Trade show booths needed conversation starters, not forms. Through scratch-to-reveal gamification, dual-screen privacy, and delayed registration, we built a Mercedes-Benz iPad quiz that nearly doubled lead conversion while creating effortless engagement. Later scaled as eyeQuiz across multiple major brands.
Core shift: From sales pitch to shared play – through curiosity-driven interaction.
3 Min. Read
How we solved problems
Three challenges, three breakthroughs
Forms kill conversations. Play starts them.
The brief said «capture leads.» Reality said «nobody fills out forms at trade shows.» We interviewed hosts and visitors. Discovered tension: visitors want speed and privacy, hosts want contacts and conversations. We built a scratch-to-reveal quiz inspired by scratchcards. Tactile. Satisfying. Curiosity-driven. Result: almost 2× higher conversion rate. Gamification beats gatekeeping.
Registration at the start kills momentum. Move it to the end.
The client wanted registration first. Full of fields. Right where engagement dies. We ran workshops with real users. They scratched. They smiled. They wanted to play again. Moving registration to the end changed everything: frictionless entry, higher completion rate, natural conversations. Removing friction is the most powerful feature.
Flow Insight: Registration first = 40% bounce Registration last = 80%+ completion (Based on workshop tests)
Public spectacle drives crowds. Privacy preserves trust.
Dual-Screen Strategy: iPad = private gameplay Apple TV = public spectacle Privacy + visibility = trust + engagement
We mirrored the quiz to Apple TV. Big screen. Bystanders drawn in like moths. But we split layers – gameplay stayed public, contact details stayed private. 450+ event participants. Zero privacy concerns. The quiz became social proof. Watching others play made non-participants curious. Later scaled as eyeQuiz across ZKB, Alliance, and other major brands.
Key Learnings
What this project taught me
Co-creation unlocks what pitch decks cannot
The client wanted registration first. We had data proving otherwise. The pain: arguing with spreadsheets instead of experience. What worked: inviting real users into a workshop, letting them play, and watching the «aha» moment when stakeholders saw completion rates drop with early registration.
Gamification works when it respects autonomy
We built tension with scratch-to-reveal mechanics. But the breakthrough: no forced upsells, no gated content, no manipulative timers. What saved it: designing play that felt satisfying – not exploitative. Curiosity compounds when trust is preserved.
Designing for dual audiences requires mapping both motivations
Visitors want privacy and speed. Hosts want efficiency and leads. We interviewed both groups early. The pain: conflicting needs that seemed impossible to reconcile. What helped: realizing the shared moment (scratching together, guessing together) was the bridge between competing goals.
Why this still matters
Attention is earned through play, not captured through forms
Trade shows are noisy. Forms are friction. Brands that win don't demand attention – they design moments worth sharing. Curiosity beats coercion. Engagement beats extraction. This quiz later became eyeQuiz, scaled across multiple major brands, proving one truth: people don't resist experiences. They resist being sold to.