Gamification is definitely helpful for productivity.
The little dopamine shot one gets from receiving some reward be it a trophy or moving up a level (Todoist's Karma Levels come to mind) is highly motivating. Basically, anything that one can strive toward and can see on page as proof of their commitment to keeping up their streaks and cultivating good habits is beneficial and reinforces the continuation of the habits and usage of the app. The drive this creates to stick with the platform benefits not only the user but the app developers as well. Rewards also provide a wonderful place to incorporate social media sharing as we all love to share our accomplishments. Another benefit for both user and devs.
I understand some people wanting rewards such as gift cards, but I don't think they realize the cost they are asking of Stride for such an implementation. Such a system would inevitably have to lead to higher prices for paid app features. This type of reward system is rarely, if ever, sustainable. I can't think of any applications who have tried such an implementation and have survived. In the early days of the mobile app, I saw some attempts but not a one is still available. "Paid" systems like that tend to be in apps that are spammy and ran by less than ethical app devs. I think this association is ingrained in enough in a lot of us that seeing mention of rewards with monetary value in an app's description is enough for us to dismiss it and move on. I would hate to see Stride lose business.
What I can see offering in terms of having monetary value is x-amount time for free use of pro membership features for reaching certain levels or amount of points, etc. While it might not immediately benefit the app developers, in time it will. Again, I reference Todoist. For the first few levels (I can't remember how many exactly) of Karma I reached, for each level I received an email with a promo codes for myself and an additional one for a friend for several months of free pro membership. I had no idea I would be rewarded because Todoist didn't mention it to lure users. I shared my friend promos to whomever was first to reply and to mention, by thanking, Todoist. By simply leveling up a few times, I ended up getting a whole year for free and I will definitely be paying to keep the features of the pro account when my free year is up. I don't think the benefits of building this type of loyal user base needs to be elaborated on much past what I've sketched out here.
This is in no way an endorsement for Todoist. I have nothing to gain by mentioning them. They just happen to be a good case study for a reward system.
Anonymous
Gamification is definitely helpful for productivity.
The little dopamine shot one gets from receiving some reward be it a trophy or moving up a level (Todoist's Karma Levels come to mind) is highly motivating. Basically, anything that one can strive toward and can see on page as proof of their commitment to keeping up their streaks and cultivating good habits is beneficial and reinforces the continuation of the habits and usage of the app. The drive this creates to stick with the platform benefits not only the user but the app developers as well. Rewards also provide a wonderful place to incorporate social media sharing as we all love to share our accomplishments. Another benefit for both user and devs.
I understand some people wanting rewards such as gift cards, but I don't think they realize the cost they are asking of Stride for such an implementation. Such a system would inevitably have to lead to higher prices for paid app features. This type of reward system is rarely, if ever, sustainable. I can't think of any applications who have tried such an implementation and have survived. In the early days of the mobile app, I saw some attempts but not a one is still available. "Paid" systems like that tend to be in apps that are spammy and ran by less than ethical app devs. I think this association is ingrained in enough in a lot of us that seeing mention of rewards with monetary value in an app's description is enough for us to dismiss it and move on. I would hate to see Stride lose business.
What I can see offering in terms of having monetary value is x-amount time for free use of pro membership features for reaching certain levels or amount of points, etc. While it might not immediately benefit the app developers, in time it will. Again, I reference Todoist. For the first few levels (I can't remember how many exactly) of Karma I reached, for each level I received an email with a promo codes for myself and an additional one for a friend for several months of free pro membership. I had no idea I would be rewarded because Todoist didn't mention it to lure users. I shared my friend promos to whomever was first to reply and to mention, by thanking, Todoist. By simply leveling up a few times, I ended up getting a whole year for free and I will definitely be paying to keep the features of the pro account when my free year is up. I don't think the benefits of building this type of loyal user base needs to be elaborated on much past what I've sketched out here.
This is in no way an endorsement for Todoist. I have nothing to gain by mentioning them. They just happen to be a good case study for a reward system.