Gamification and AI for Volunteerism: Commit & Connect
1. Highlighting 6D Playbook
Define the Problem
Context of the volunteerism challenge
Volunteer programs involving the elderly often face difficulty maintaining long-term engagement. Many volunteers participate once but do not return regularly.
Key issues being addressed
- Inconsistent volunteer commitment
- Mismatched interests between volunteers and elderly residents
- Lack of meaningful relationships during volunteer sessions
Determine Goals
Objectives the project aims to achieve
- Recruit volunteers who genuinely care about engaging with the elderly
- Encourage sustainable volunteer participation
- Improve matching between volunteers and residents
Expected outcomes
Stronger and more meaningful connections between volunteers and elderly residents through better engagement design.
Decide Target Behaviours and Emotions
Behaviour changes targeted
Encourage volunteers to return regularly and build consistent relationships with elderly residents.
Emotional engagement goals
Develop intrinsic motivation for volunteers to form deeper connections with the elderly, similar to a grandchild–grandparent relationship.
Describe and Profile Players
Target player profile
The primary participants are youth aged 17–25 who are interested in volunteering and connecting with elderly residents. These volunteers are individuals whose hearts go out to lonely elderly people and who want to spend quality time with them.
They are typically:
- Socially conscious youth
- Students looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities
- Individuals who enjoy community engagement and social impact activities
Design Gamification Strategy
Step-by-step gamified experience
- Volunteer recruitment and onboarding
- Interest-based matching between volunteers and residents
- Interactive activities designed to spark conversations
- Ongoing engagement through recurring quests
- Interest-based matching system to pair volunteers with residents who share hobbies or languages
- Volunteer support network through community chat channels
- Continuous engagement system with recurring quests and activities
- GenAI integration to personalise profiles, training materials, and insights
Diagnose and Analyse Content
Data interpretation
Trial activities were conducted to observe engagement between volunteers and elderly residents.
Examples of activities included:
- Line Game: themed questions that encourage conversation and shared experiences
- Colour of Memory: nostalgic colouring activities that prompt storytelling
Insight extraction
Nostalgia-based activities encourage deeper conversations and help create stronger intergenerational bonds.
2. Inspiration for this Project
The Connect & Commit project draws inspiration from intergenerational volunteer initiatives that focus on building meaningful relationships between youth and elderly residents. It also incorporates gamification frameworks to encourage engagement and sustained participation through structured activities and storytelling.
In addition, the concept of interest-based matching influenced the design of the program, where volunteers and residents are paired based on shared hobbies and languages. This approach improves compatibility and increases the likelihood of forming deeper and more meaningful connections between participants.
3. Our Learnings
The project highlighted several important learnings about volunteer engagement. One key takeaway is that emotional connection plays a crucial role in sustaining volunteer participation, as volunteers are more likely to return when they form meaningful relationships with elderly residents.
Throughout the process, the team also learned the importance of collaboration and remaining open to feedback, which helped refine the activity design and overall experience. The observations from the trial further showed that combining gamified interactions with interest-based matching can improve volunteer retention while strengthening the bonds between volunteers and the elderly community.
1. Play the game first.
2. Use the Template game for your own initiatives.