Gamified location assessment experience for Studenac

01 OVERVIEW

A conference game that turns Studenac’s location assessment tool into an engaging “human vs AI” challenge.

Studenac, one of Croatia’s leading retail chains, developed an internal Location Assessment Tool (LAT) to evaluate potential store locations across the country. For a series of conferences, they wanted a playful way to showcase this tool at their booth.

Our task was to create a short, memorable game that introduces LAT through a fun “human vs AI” moment, something anyone could understand and enjoy within just a few minutes.

02 BRIEF

The challenge

• Turn a complex, data‑heavy tool into a 2-3 minute game anyone can understand.
• Make it feel like a “human vs AI” battle, even though the logic is a sophisticated algorithm, not true AI.
• Design fair scoring so players can do well even if they do not pick classic tourist hotspots.

03 approach

Understanding users and constraints

We approached the problem from two sides:

• Client’s perspective, where the tool represents expertise and internal knowledge.
• The conference visitor’s perspective, where time and attention are limited.

The booth setup added additional constraints:

• Players would interact with a TV screen from a distance.
• Internet connectivity could vary.
• The experience needed to be easy for booth staff to operate during a busy event.

With these conditions in mind, we shaped an interface that prioritized clarity: large, readable UI elements, straightforward calls to action and a flow that takes a visitor from “What’s this?” to playing the game in just a few clicks.

04 GAME

Competitive with honest data

Working with the Studenac team, we explored ways to make LAT feel like a real opponent rather than a hidden calculation engine. We iterated through several directions before aligning on “I vs AI”, which communicates the concept clearly without overpromising.

Players chose a location where they would open a new Studenac store. The game then compared their intuition with LAT’s evaluation.

To keep the experience fair and enjoyable, we developed a scoring model that rewards both top national locations and strong picks within a specific city or municipality. This way, players could score well even if they weren’t selecting tourist hotspots, while the underlying data remained authentic.

05 ux&ui

Focus on clarity

We developed a web app with a lightweight custom backend, designed specifically for conference-booth conditions. The interface needed to strike the right balance: informative like a map-based tool, but approachable and playful enough to function as a game. Think less “static dashboard” and more “GeoGuessr-style interaction”.

Our focus was clarity.
We used intuitive filters, clear labels and short instructions to help players understand the rules quickly and complete a round within minutes.

All complex calculations and parameters stayed in the background. The player saw a simple interaction and a clear outcome, while the robust logic worked quietly underneath.