Role
Product designer
Design Lead
Illustrator
Animator
UX-researcher
Standard booth format: conversations and product demos
Engagement depended on the booth staff
Difficult to scale for high visitor flow
Low product awareness among visitors
↓ Product awareness
Low scalability
Gameplay video
An interactive game designed for Kontur’s conference booths
Context
At IT conferences companies engage visitors through booth activities.
The format is usually traditional: conversations, product demos, and activities run by the booth team.
Low awareness of some products
Engagement does not scale with visitor flow
Limited impact of conference participation
Product experience is delivered through explanations rather than interaction
Engagement depends on booth staff
No self-guided interaction scenario
A game-based booth experience will increase visitor engagement and product awareness
Work process
I led the design of an interactive product experience for conference booths — from concept and research to implementation and launch
defined the core product concept
designed some of the gameplay mechanics
integrated product messages into the game narrative
created the concept for the final boss and product references
established the design workflow and coordinated work across design, engineering, and game design
prioritized design work and decomposed tasks for implementation
ensured visual and interaction consistency across the product
served as the primary decision-maker for design direction
Game screens
aligned design decisions with technical constraints of the game engine
prepared structured implementation specs and change lists
supported development and participated in alpha testing
observed how visitors interacted with the booth experience at major conferences
identified engagement patterns and friction points
Designed and produced a significant part of the visual system:
game interface and interaction screens
environments, characters, and assets
animations and visual feedback
special content for conference events
Also defined a scalable visual system for future game levels
I defined three groups of metrics to evaluate the booth experiment
1
average interaction time at the booth
repeat game sessions by the same visitor
number of people waiting to play
2
references to product mechanics in post-game conversations
percentage of players correctly recalling the embedded product
number of product-related questions after gameplay
3
visitors starting the game without staff assistance
multiple players interacting simultaneously
ratio of players to booth staff
The game was tested at large IT conferences in real booth conditions.
To validate the hypothesis, we tested the interactive format at major IT conferences and tracked engagement, product recall, and scalability
My role
worked as a booth facilitator
observed visitor behavior and booth team interactions
What i observed
gameplay scenarios
reactions and questions
interaction with the leaderboard
feedback after gameplay
Results
1
Engagement
visitors spent 3–5 minutes at the booth vs typical 1–2 minute conversations)
many players returned to improve their score
a queue formed around the game screen
competitive behavior emerged around the leaderboard
2
Product recall
players discussed product boosts with each other
Kontur Talk was often mentioned as a gameplay tool
visitors asked product-specific questions after playing
participants brought colleagues to try the game
3
Autonomousity
multiple visitors played at the same time
some visitors started the game without booth staff assistance
Key takeaways
game-based interaction holds attention longer than traditional booth conversations
product concepts are remembered better when embedded in mechanics rather than presentations
the format scales: multiple people can interact simultaneously without booth staff
The format enabled
raising visitor engagement without increasing booth staff
reinforcing product understanding through gameplay
creating a memorable brand interaction
Observed behaviors
visitors competed for leaderboard positions
players discussed game mechanics with colleagues
participants recommended the game to others
visitors recalled specific product mechanics (e.g. the Talk boost)
