Key elements of a good reward system in gamification

The article below shows my observations regarding the Reward system, based on my experience with ogamify platform and personal research.

A good reward system is defined here by the ability to maximize the positive output and attractiveness of the reward.

The following properties play a key role in a good reward system:

1.???The challenge is transparent and fair

2.???Reward is small enough

3.???Reward is known and seems attainable

4.???Reward is known from the start

5.???Payout is immediate

1. The challenge is transparent and fair

It is very important for the reward system to be transparent - the user needs to know exactly what he needs to do, to get the reward. There shouldn’t be any obvious loopholes in the system that would allow the perceived chance of getting a reward to diminish.

For example: “create an article for a company blog” is simple enough, but “create an article for a company blog and get a 5-star review from your boss” means that the system could easily become an unfair struggle, sparking lots of grief in participants. Each time someone else decides about what is ‘good enough’, the motivation decreases. The challenge should be binary: either it is completed, or it isn’t.

It is worth noting that, the quality or quantity of players' “output” during the process is far less important than creating a good habit and providing the feeling of improvement. Weight lifters often use micro-weights during their sessions, they know they can’t progress by 5kg each week but adding two 0.25kg plates is possible and provides a motivating sense of growth, even though the objective difference is almost negligible.

2. Reward is small enough to not become the final destination

The main motivation of the gamification system is player motivation until he creates habits. That means things start to go by themselves and just need small reinforcement from time to time. If a reward is too big or lasts for too long, then there are 2 negative symptoms that may occur: because of the reward size it is just too distant, so it doesn’t feel like it is ‘almost there to get’. The second aspect is that one big reward may cause players to lose motivation in the game as future rewards are not that important anymore.

For example, for me personally, while writing a book about gamification, counting milestones every 5 or 10 pages in exchange for fun personal IT projects was helpful at some point. As I really wanted to go back to this personal software project I had and was just 4 pages away from it, it seemed that the reward is worth adding extra effort. Below is the picture showing the state of “rewards” I had back then. It can also be observed that the first reward has set the bar quite high (20 pages milestone) - it connects with the fact that it is always much easier to start something than to finish it and boosting the motivation at the start is not that important, what is really needed is to find a way to keep the momentum ‘past the initial fun part’.

Sometimes the small reward “write 5 pages” was still too big, if the habit isn’t strong enough yet, or other environmental issues play a role (lack of time, tiredness, etc). It should still be there but adding much smaller rewards to the mix might be the solution in this situation.

In the gaming industry, what can be observed is a broad adaptation of tiny rewards that require the minimum possible effort, but are building daily habits.

It is very important to observe player behavior and tune the system to ensure he is still entertained enough to continue. With the mass market of online gaming, analysis of player behavior is easy as it is quantitative. With personal tasks, you need to really observe your own actions and feelings to react on time.?

3. (potential) Reward is known and seems attainable

As we know, our brain is very smart in acting with minimal effort to get the reward, which is absolutely fine. If there is a task or challenge, but there isn’t any habitual attachment to it and there isn’t any known reward, the motivation to start it might be very low, maybe except for a group of individuals who have a very strong will and discipline. This article isn’t about people with a strong will, but normal people like me & you, so a better system needs to be invented.

Players need to understand what the final goal is. Rewards that are monetary might have less effect than precisely defined rewards, for example, a laptop or a new car might have better results than 1000$ or 20000$ as it allows players to properly envision the goal. State lotteries are doing the same thing when advertising themselves, they obviously also show the grand prize, but they advertise mainly the promise of the new lifestyle that comes with it.

The potential reward doesn’t have to be physical or even hold any monetary value. We can see that in sports, where 1st place and standing on the podium are what counts the most. Rankings and leaderboards can be another great example. They will be covered in future publications.

Sometimes, being able to observe a very small milestone might be very rewarding. The picture below shows an example of a very satisfying number of having 85% book progress. It is very close. Only 200 words away.?

4. Reward is known before the game starts

Always try to plan the rewards ahead. Even if it is just “employee of the month” recognition, it should be clearly stated at the beginning of the journey. It also should remain clearly stated during the gameplay. Always within reach.

Same with personal motivation: if you are creating a reward system for yourself, to change your habits or finish a master’s degree, you should plan rewards for yourself for certain achievements or milestones. You might want to write down a wish list of nice things you will buy yourself in exchange for achieving goals. Let the brain imagine how good it might be feeling after a productive day of work.

In business gamification modifying the rewards “in play” might decrease the perceived probability of success (the system may change again against the player's best interest). Sometimes change is needed, for example, if you will observe that weel rewards do not feel tempting enough right now, it might be worthwhile to switch them for something more appealing during the game.

5. Immediate and transparent ‘payout’

Sometimes it is hard to deliver the reward immediately. For example, if someone won a t-shirt, he needs to wait a few days for it to arrive, but from the perspective of behavioral psychology, what matters is the ‘feeling of winning’.

When you create systems that gamify and reward specific behavior, make sure the information that the player got the reward is available instantly after he ‘claimed’ it or did everything he had to do.

For example, in a game, it would be an equivalent of ‘cash’ that can be spent in the store immediately after collecting it and getting the virtual goods immediately after the purchase. The shorter the cycle is, the stronger the incentive, to work toward the next payout.

Another take is transparency. The system needs to avoid situations where one can hide his achievements and therefore submit/claim them all at one go at the end of the competition. This would feel unfair to all other participants, and business gamification is about the maximum engagement of the group, not of the one who outsmarted the others.

I hope you found my experience useful, and if you did, please share, react or comment so that more people can learn from it.

In the next episode: Leaderboards.