Learning Challenges in Design Education and Barriers to Gamification Adoption

Abstract While gamification holds potential to address learning challenges in tertiary design education, research has focused mainly on student performance, with less attention to educators' role in implementation. This study addresses this gap by identifying learner‐level challenges and exploring educators' perceptions of gamification and barriers to adoption. A three‐phase design was employed. Phase 1 systematically reviewed 154 publications spanning 2002–2025 and classified reported challenges using a Bloom‐informed cognitive, affective and psychomotor framework. Phase 2 synthesised literature to develop challenge–mechanism alignments between these challenges and relevant gamification elements and mechanisms. Phase 3 involved semi‐structured interviews with ten design educators from seven higher education institutions in China. Affective and cognitive challenges were most prominent in the reviewed literature, whereas psychomotor challenges were comparatively underrepresented. The synthesis indicated plausible conceptual alignments between gamification elements and challenges across all three domains, while interviews revealed limited conceptual familiarity with gamification and both personal and systemic barriers. The study positions gamification not as a generic motivational layer but as a context‐dependent approach to structuring learning conditions that requires pedagogical and contextual alignment. These proposed relationships remain conceptual and require further empirical testing.