Web Designer Jani Anderson on Making Civic Engagement Interesting Through Gamification

What if logging into a government portal felt less like filling out tax forms and more like leveling up in your favorite mobile game? What if civic responsibility sparked joy, not fatigue? According to designer-turned-gamification-evangelist Jani Anderson, that future is definitely possible.

Anderson, the founder of creative agency Elephant & Falcon™, is on a mission to rewire how people connect with democracy. With a background spanning graphic design, branding, and UX, he's now transitioning into game design to build a platform that gamifies civic engagement, launching this August.

"Gamification has transformed education, fitness, and even customer loyalty. But civic life? It's largely untouched," Anderson says. "Yet civic disengagement is one of our biggest societal challenges. So why not apply tools that actually work?"

Anderson knows firsthand how access to technology and the motivation to master it can transform a life. "I went from corrugated in Detroit to professional in Chicago," he says. "That shift wasn't just economic. It was cultural, educational, and digital. And it wasn't easy."

Part of his evolution meant finding himself in rooms with people of vastly different political views. Crypto enthusiasts. Gun rights advocates who oppose violence. Liberals and conservatives who, despite their intelligence and passion, feel deeply disillusioned. Anderson further explains, "Some of the smartest people I know have lost interest in voting. Not because they don't care. But because they're exhausted. They don't see results. The system feels opaque and untrustworthy." According to Anderson, gamification has the potential to solve that by providing motivation, clarity, and a sense of progress.

At its core, gamification applies elements of game design, like points, challenges, badges, levels, and leaderboards, to non-game settings. It's a strategy businesses and educators have long used to build engagement and change behavior.

But Anderson believes the real power lies in how games teach us to think. "They teach us problem solving, cooperation, and working toward a goal larger than ourselves," he explains. "That's actually what a democracy is supposed to be."

Still, he admits, there's tension. "Games are fun. The government is serious. People ask: How do you square that? But that's exactly the point. We've lost the joy in civic life. Maybe if we bring some of it back, we can save what's left."

His upcoming software platform, still under wraps, will use gamified systems to make navigating government resources and participating in local action feel more intuitive and satisfying. Think achievement systems for voting. Visual dashboards that show your civic impact. Community challenges that reward local collaboration.

Anderson sees gamification not as a gimmick, but as a tool for restoring faith in the process. "When people don't see the results of their actions, they disengage. That's a problem across the board, regardless of political party," he says. "Gamification helps people see positive feedback loops. It builds momentum."

He's particularly concerned about what he calls the "asymmetry" of current government portals: platforms built for experts, not everyday people. "E-participation tools were designed for scientists, bureaucrats, policy wonks, not the average citizen. So there's this huge disconnect," he says. "Designers and game developers can bridge that gap."

Anderson wants to create experiences that encourage what he calls 'autodidactic learning,' a self-driven, curiosity-based approach to understanding systems. "When people feel empowered to explore and learn on their own terms, they don't just become informed, they become invested."

Beyond the tech, Anderson believes gamification could help address a deeper cultural fracture: the breakdown of shared understanding in political life. "People are using different facts to argue the same issue. There's no common ground," he says. "But games create common ground. They give us shared rules, goals, and experiences. That's powerful."

He's not naïve about the challenges ahead. Gamification isn't a silver bullet, and government adoption of new tech is notoriously slow. But Anderson is thinking long term. "We need more clear-headed, rational engagement in politics. Gamification helps with that. It teaches patience, teamwork, and even rewards understanding."

And for this reason, Anderson is working on this new project. With Elephant & Falcon™ shifting toward civic software and his gamified engagement platform set to debut later this summer, he is ready to build a new movement.

"I want to help bring people back to the civic decision-making process," he says. "And if we can make it fun again, if we can take out the doom and gloom and bring in some wonder, I think we can attract more people back."