Engagement & Gamification in Financial Learning
This week, I focused on what actually keeps people motivated when learning finance through open online resources. Financial topics can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing for many learners, so I wanted to understand how different platforms make the experience feel enjoyable and sustainable. My investigation centered on engagement strategies, examining both explicit gamification elements and subtler motivational design features.
Khan Academy: Structure That Feels Encouraging
Khan Academy does a great job of making learning feel manageable. The progress bar, badges, and short lessons break everything into small steps, which makes the whole process less overwhelming. Setting small goals like this is known to help people stay motivated (the Commitment and Consistency principle), and I definitely felt that.
I didn’t think the streak feature would matter, but it actually did. Seeing that I had shown up again made me want to keep going. Once you’ve built a streak, you naturally want to maintain it. Some people might see this as gamification, but for me it really helped build a steady learning habit.
The quick quizzes also made the learning feel more active. Instead of just reading, I had to check my understanding right away. They gave fast feedback, kept me engaged, and helped me see what I actually understood.
Wealthsimple Learn: Real Situations Instead of Gamification
Wealthsimple Learn doesn’t use game-style mechanics, but it pulls you in through relatable stories and practical scenarios. A lot of their examples are tied to everyday situations like planning a trip, managing a budget after a breakup, or starting to invest with small amounts of money. I noticed that this kind of real-world relevance can be just as motivating as any gamified feature, perhaps more so for certain learners.
The conversational writing style also makes a big difference. The articles feel like they’re written by someone who understands your situation and actually wants to help, not by a formal institution. This friendly tone makes it feel like you’re learning alongside a real person instead of a faceless system, which can make online learning more engaging and easier to stick with.
YouTube Channels: Visuals and Personality
On YouTube, I spent more time with videos from The Plain Bagel. Visuals made a huge difference. Charts, animations, and analogies helped make concepts like diversification or market risk actually understandable. The creator uses visual metaphors brilliantly, for instance, representing portfolio diversification as eggs in different baskets that move independently. These concrete visualizations of abstract concepts significantly reduce cognitive load and improve comprehension.
The creator’s personality also makes it easier to stay focused and feel like you are learning with someone instead of studying alone.
The steady upload schedule and familiar format also help build a habit. Knowing that new videos come out regularly makes it easier to keep checking in, the same way people follow a TV show. This ongoing, series-style approach keeps viewers more engaged than a static library of content because it creates a sense of momentum and something to look forward to.
Reflection
This week helped me realize that engagement looks different on each platform. Some rely on very structured progress and rewards in some visual ways while others focus on story telling and visuals/animations. The thing that matters most is that the platform makes the learner feel supported and confident. There were also discussion spaces in Khan Academy that helps the learner ask questions and intereact with other learners as well. A simillar pattern could also be seen in the youtube comment section of The Plain Bagel channel.
For next week, I will be looking at equity and accessibility in financial learning. I want to understand who these open resources are helping, and who might still be left out.