Creative funder engagement to share the relevance and social impact of the organisation
Gamified Engagement with the IKEA Foundation to demonstrate organisational impact
City
Bengaluru, Karnataka
Service
Community Engagement
Year
2025
Collaborators
IKEA Foundation
Role
Lead - Strategy, Design and Execution
Credit
I share the credits for this work with my super awesome team at ITDP India. I do not take ownership of this work.
In today's development landscape, funders are not always clearly aware of the exact impact of the work each organisation is doing beyond the annual reports. The IKEA Foundation requested for multiple impact circles to explain their teams the actual relevance and impact of the work we do at ITDP India. So, we went super creative!
A glimpse into the creative gamified approach to explain the impact through a typical user journey | Credit: Aangi Shah
Placing the before & after scenarios of the impact our organisation has on the table, literally | Credit: Aangi Shah
"We now understand the value of taking an entirely holistic approach to mobility rather than having a singular focus on EVs or Public Transport"
Storytelling and gamification combined is one of the best proven methodologies to explain the impact of your work - to anyone, anywhere
When a group of IKEA Foundation ambassadors—many of whom were unfamiliar with India’s urban context - visited, we faced a key challenge: how do we communicate the complexity of sustainable mobility, the inequities of our urban streets, and the tangible impact of our work, in a way that not only informs but inspires?
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We knew that facts alone wouldn’t cut it. So we designed an immersive, gamified experience - a hands-on, visually rich session that brought Indian streets to life.
The goal was simple: to cut through the jargon, make invisible problems visible, and most importantly, to spark empathy and insight.
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Through playful, strategic storytelling: We used illustrated street scenarios to simplify complex ideas like street hierarchies, gendered mobility, and infrastructure gaps. The interactive game nudged participants to make decisions, witness the consequences, and see how better design transforms lives.
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The format was disarming and engaging, helping people understand urban transport as not just a design problem, but a deeply human one. These ambassadors were decision-makers influencing future IKEA Foundation investments. By enabling them to deeply feel the problems and see the impact, we helped build conviction in the value of ITDP India’s work.
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When done right, storytelling and design aren’t just tools - they’re bridges between complexity and clarity, between people and purpose.
