Hi There,

Recently read a very interesting discussion on gamification as a strategy and like many others, I have mixed views. Let me summarise the conversation and my take on the topic. You can also read and participate in the larger discussion here.

Gamification: Defined in 3 Lines

Gamification is the strategy of integrating game-like elements — points, badges, levels, and challenges—into non-game settings. This approach enhances engagement and motivation by making activities more interactive and rewarding. It encourages participation and improves performance through competition, achievement, and social interaction.

Gamification in Business Settings

From snap streaks to 100-day code challenges to No-Shave November for cancer awareness, everything is gamification, customized to boost engagement and social interaction in that environment.

The beauty of gamification lies in the simplicity of the format but the challenge lies in crafting a compelling enough version.

One way to address this is approaching it the Casey Monroe way - understanding the roles of extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation. He talked about how extrinsic motivation (incentives and rewards) can provide a stronger short-term motivator than intrinsic motivation (doing it because you love it), in the long term, adding extrinsic motivators REDUCES intrinsic motivation.

In other words: the more incentives you add, the more people engage for the purpose of collecting incentives. If you have the kind of community where you're happy with people treating your community as a source of incentives, then you can do some great work this way...but you have to be clear on what value you're trying to generate and how.

Do you remember Google Reader Play? No? Exactly my point!!

Google attempted to gamify its RSS feed reader, Google Reader, by introducing Google Reader Play. This feature presented RSS feeds in a more visually appealing, game-like interface with elements designed to make content discovery feel more like a game. However, the implementation wasn’t well-received as it significantly changed how users interacted with their feeds, leading to frustration and ultimately, disuse.

On the other hand, platforms like Duolingo and Quora are built with gamification strategies at their core. Both platforms have utilized the intrinsic motivation of wanting to learn a language and content creation respectively and utilized them in how they gamified the platform.

While Duolingo relies more on points, levels, and streaks, Quora focuses more on upvotes, views, badges, and partner programs. What’s common is the higher encouragement for continuous engagement and interaction, driving both daily usage and long-term commitment from users.

My Take

No gamification is better than doing it for the sake of it. This can be one way to highlight the product value, get the user to experience long-term advantages, and add a layer to encourage P2P interaction but if there is no intrinsic value, it won’t work.

If you’d like to incorporate gamification features in your app, fill out the basic questionnaire below and one of us at LikeMinds will reach out.

We have helped our clients launch in-app chat and feeds in just 15 mins and we’d like to help you do the same.

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