EXAMPLE: Fitocracy
I am a big fan of practical examples and looking at recent content it has been very very very theoretical. So let’s look into an interesting practical example, which has managed to use motivational game mechanics, encouraging even the laziest of people to work out - Fitocracy.
Here are three reasons why Fitocracy is so successful:
(1) Points, Badges & Levels for the win
Fitocracy uses three of the most common game mechanics, points badges & levels (also known as PBLs). And what they have discovered, rather than just adding meaningless PBLs to a product, they use it in a way to target users’ intrinsic motivation. How? Simple(ish), they discovered game mechanics need to flow, they need to be interwoven, connected and need a sense of belonging to each other. So, everything is tied together. Users don’t just level up, they level up, get a badge and get a verbal confirmation (Wohoo, look at you, so fit) and congratulate the user, making him or her really feel like they earned leveling up and earned the reward. At the heart of this, is basically the concept of giving you a sense of competence. You are awesome, because you made it all this way and you happen to get a little badge for that, but really it’s YOU who is amazing and who achieved this level up. The overall idea is to make you feel good about yourself. You are not just leveling up in some abstract way, but you are actually improving yourself and getting better at working out.
(2) Autonomy within the Magic Circle
Additionally, what the makers of Fitocracy have also understood, they give their users a sense of autonomy. Giving users a sense of autonomy within a gamified system is as easy as you would like (or think). Simply because, remember the whole concept of the magic circle, a system with its own borders and rules, that users agree to when playing a game? In gamified system you agree to adhere to certain rules and regulations, making it tricky to make you feel in control. And this sense of control is so important for the success of a gamified system. A good system, let’s users believe they are in control and lets them make meaningful choices. How does Fitocracy make users feel like they are in control: (1) By letting them choose their own sporty interests, (2) by letting them make their own choices as to what workouts they want and (3) by letting them custom build what challenges they want to engage in. The user chooses the path they want to take to achieve greatness (which in this case is fitness).
(3) Relatedness, we are all in this together
By letting users choose, engage and recruit friends, the system taps into your emotional core of being a human: You are not alone in this, there are so many other people out there that want to (and struggle to) workout, going through the same dilemmas of laziness and hedonism. Why not share this experience with people that are exactly like you, why not encourage them to be as awesome as you and let them encourage you? Together, you can achieve your goals within a community of friends. This is bigger than you.
So, what have we learned today? Combine your game mechanics, encourage with rewards by making users feel good about themselves, let them make their own choices (as best as your system allows), give them a sense of belonging and let them relate to each other.
