Gamifying family trips along the Belgian coast

Business context

A Belgian client from West Flanders planned to launch the Kustwandelroute mobile app, designed to help parents discover child-friendly, attractive places to visit. The goal was to make family outings more engaging and better aligned with the expectations of modern smartphone users.

In 2014, mobile device usage among tourists was growing rapidly. The project was intended to demonstrate that, with a well-designed app, sightseeing could be combined with interactive fun while also supporting regional promotion and increasing visitor satisfaction.

Challenge

The biggest challenge was translating traditional sightseeing into an experience that would engage both children and adults. It was necessary to introduce gamification mechanics in a way that naturally complemented the route and educational content, rather than becoming a distraction during the trip.

It was also necessary to design a simple, intuitive flow: a quick start to the outing, clear route selection, and transparent rules for collecting points and badges. It was important to enable the promotion of attractions through social media and to present the history of places in a modern, light format that would hold the attention of younger users.

Solution

We designed the Kustwandelroute app specifically for families, guiding users along selected routes and points of interest. The user launches the app, chooses a trip, and then answers questions and completes mini-tasks linked to the places they visit, earning points and badges.

The content layer combines short, engaging descriptions of the history of popular locations with interactive elements, making information easier to remember and increasing engagement. The app also allows users to share favourite places on social media, supporting the viral promotion of attractions.

Gamification mechanics – points ranking, rewards, and badge collecting – turn sightseeing into light competition, motivating users to discover more points along the route and return to the app on future trips.