[Discussion] What really happened to gamification?
Gamification was a buzzword in around 2011-13 , then it started to fade away.
Gamification beyond points, badges, progress bar, scratch card or cheap rewards at every action user action is where my strongest interest lies.
Now there are only few people talking about it publicly. However, gamification is still everywhere.
I’m bullish on the future of products. We will see more and more deeply gamified products changing our lives positively.
What do you think?
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As a user, I find gamification annoying. It gets in the way of doing what I want to do with the gamified product or app.
I can agree with this. Can you name few of the products?
A prominent example is Discourse, which I love. But I dread joining a new Discourse forum because, for the first few days, I get lots of distracting notifications for reaching all sorts of minor milestones.
Haven’t used it personally but I can totally get how those stupid milestones can just irritate.
The problem is this is just extremely basic level of gamification techniques and implemented poorly so that it feels cheap.
Gamification is so much beyond milestones stuffs. And it shouldn’t get in the way. It is show the way and make things easier and fun.
But again there is not much in depth discussion going on how to make anything easier or fun.
That’s why I am thinking of starting many conversation around this.
Superhuman is great example on how they have used gamification to provide great email experience.
Great observation. I think gamification is a touchy subject because it can be seen as good or bad depending on how its implemented. I think you have to ask yourself what was the motive behind the gamification. Was it added to trick the user/force the users into something, or was it added to make your product more digestible and enjoyable to learn. Personally I have plans to implement the latter option more and more while keeping it balanced and giving the user the option to opt out of it. When it's done this way I can literally fall in-love with a product.
Yup. That’s 💯
All the advices and framework I see is about mainly adding a layer on the top of the existing product idea.
This is what I think is right way to go about gamifying anything -- We shouldn’t think about building product and gamifying them separately. Both should be considered just as one thing.
I don’t see any popular name to this approach. I’m just calling it “game design for products”
What are you planning to build? Any resources on learning gamification that find useful?
Mainly I'm adding the concept of roadmap with achievements into my bookmark manager. I'm going to recreate the tutorial wizard to be more fun and less linear, much like how in gaming you receive achievements for discoveries in a virtual world. It serves as good feedback to know that you're unlocking the apps value, but also a great way to see what hasn't been discovered yet. During the process of making discoveries, there can be little rewards, gifts for engaging with the app, etc.
Really this is my solution to get rid of the concept of a wizard all together, and help get people engaged with every aspect of the software. I want to let people discover what they want at whatever pace is comfortable for them, while giving them the ability to get help with finding out more as needed.
Interesting.
You may also use desert oasis technique
Read the first one to get the idea.
Btw, share the link of your bookmark manager once you implement roadmap and achievement concept. I would love to check it out and give feedback as well. 🙌
"desert oasis technique"
Yes that's basically the same line of thought I had about this. Give them the ability to explore on their own without the need CTA's.
"share the link of your bookmark manager"
Sure thing, I haven't started working on it just yet, finishing up something else and soon after it will be my top priority. So it might be a little while but I've made a note to get back to you. Thanks!
That’s cool. Take your time.
All the best And don’t miss to share the link when you implement it 🙌