Improving “Gofteman”

How We Boosted TahlilApp Engagement Through Gamification

Context / My Role

In July 2023, I was working as a Product Designer at TahlilApp — a specialized platform for market analysis and financial education in Iran, founded by Nima Azadi and his team.

The main idea of the app was to give traders and investors access to analytical tools, learning resources, and also a space to share experiences with each other.

One of the features we were working on was called Gofteman (“Discourse”): essentially a chatroom-like space where users could talk about markets, post content, and seek advice from one another.

The Problem

After launch, things didn’t go as we had expected.People visited, browsed around, but very few actually posted. Our main KPI was posts per active user.About 3,000 users entered the Gofteman tab.Only around 250 posts were created.

In other words, most people were just spectators.
 At the same time, the business team was pushing for monetization — but a passive community had no real economic value.

Hypotheses

• Onboarding Friction
   Long sign-up forms and quick ID checks caused some users to drop off before trying Gofteman.
  
  

• No Immediate Incentives
   Without points, rewards, or visibility, most users preferred just reading instead of posting.

• Low Social Prestige
   Activities didn’t give users ranks, badges, or recognition, so even active members lacked long-term motivation.
  
  

• Poor Content Discovery
   Without hashtags, trends, or recommendations, valuable posts were hard to find, limiting engagement.
  
  
  

  

• Alternative Communities
   Many users were already active in Telegram groups or on Twitter discussions, which felt faster and more familiar for conversations about the market.

  
  

Discovery & Validation

To make sure my hypotheses about low user engagement were correct, I didn’t rely on guesses — I went through several validation paths:

Behavioral Analytics
 I looked closely at what users actually did and where they got stuck:

• What percentage of visitors to the Discussion tab actually posted?

• How many entered the page but didn’t take any action?

• Where did drop-offs happen (e.g., mid-post or before signing up)?

These insights showed me that the problem wasn’t just “not enough content” — there was also friction in the user experience.

User Interviews
 Instead of asking directly, “Why don’t you post here?”, I used situational questions to get honest answers:

• “The last time you discussed stocks with someone, where was it?”

• “What makes you comment somewhere or not?”

This helped me understand why users preferred familiar spaces like Telegram groups and Twitter threads for their discussions.

Content Audit
 I reviewed which types of posts got the most engagement:

• Short educational posts

• Breaking news

• Long-form analysis

The result: users reacted better to simple, quick content — and this directly informed how I designed the points and rewards system.

Motivation Test
 I gave 10 users different scenarios and asked which was more appealing:

• Earning points

• Being visible on the leaderboard

• Spending points on courses

That’s when I realized that tangible rewards combined with social prestige were the most effective motivators.

Initial Ideas & Solutions

During ideation, I focused on solutions that could both increase user engagement and align with business goals:

• Adding hashtags and trending posts

• Personalizing the feed based on markets (Forex, Crypto, Stocks)

• Gamification mechanics for active users

Given time and resource constraints, we chose the simplest approach with the highest impact:

• Points for activity (posts/comments)

• Ability to spend points on courses (direct revenue connection)

• User rank progression (Beginner to Professional)

Process & MVP

To avoid resistance and gain support, I first presented only the problem in a team meeting, then escalated the idea to leadership after receiving positive signals.

I freed 20% of my time to work on the project without falling behind on other tasks.

Together with the engineering team, using Impact/Effort analysis and trade-offs, we designed the MVP:

• Points system for posts/comments

• User rank display

• Ability to spend points on courses

Primary KPI: Increase engagement (posts per active user)
 Secondary KPIs: Course purchases, retention

Results

After launching the MVP and measuring over a quarter:

• Engagement: 35% growth in posts per active user

• Course purchases: significant increase using points

• Activation of previously inactive users: some started participating

Over time, data reached saturation, confirming the feature’s impact.

Next Steps

After the MVP proved successful, the next phase plans included:

• Improving the onboarding flow to boost user acquisition

• Expanding gamification (badges, streaks, periodic challenges)

• Improving content discovery (hashtags, trends, topic categorization)

• Deepening personalization based on user interest and activity history

Key Learnings

• A feature like Gofteman alone isn’t enough; motivation and triggers must accompany it.

• The MVP-first approach allowed us to test quickly and avoid wasting resources.

• Self-organization skills (freeing time, prioritizing, framing problems instead of solutions) were key to project success.