Journable is adding streaks, badges, and social features to boost retention in their weight loss app. Learn how they're implementing gamification carefully.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Programiz had 6 million users, but each one felt completely isolated. This insight transformed their entire product strategy, leading them to add challenges, leaderboards, and Discord communities. Learn why aggregate metrics can blind you to individual user experience.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Programiz launched leaderboards and saw decent engagement—but something was wrong. Being user #2,000,004 isn't motivating. Learn why they're pivoting to friend-based and school-based leaderboards, and what this reveals about effective gamification.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Most leaderboards demotivate 90% of users. Breakdowns create fairer competitions by grouping players by skill level. Here's how to implement them.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Random achievements clutter your UI. Strategic achievements guide users through your product and drive measurable retention improvements.
Jason Louro
Poorly designed streaks create anxiety and churn. Well-designed streaks build sustainable habits that grow your product organically.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Leaderboards motivate some users intensely while alienating others. Here's how to tell if competition fits your product.
Jason Louro
Achievements work brilliantly in some apps and feel forced in others. Here's how to tell if your product needs them.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
One-size-fits-all gamification fails because different users need different motivation. Here's how to serve multiple segments.
Trophy Team
Game mechanics and gamification aren't the same thing. Understanding the difference helps you build features users actually want.
Jason Louro
Gamification isn't about turning apps into games. It's about recognizing and reinforcing behaviors that drive value for users.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Why Duolingo's Energy System Works (And When to Copy It) excerpt: Duolingo's energy mechanic controls usage patterns without frustrating users.
Jason Louro
Losing a long streak can drive users away or motivate them to restart. The difference depends on how your app handles the moment.
Jason Louro
Most achievement systems fail because they ignore how motivation actually works. Here's what psychology reveals about effective design.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
Complex gamification often fails while simple points succeed. Here's why straightforward systems outperform elaborate mechanics.
Jason Louro
Users don't reject gamification itself—they reject juvenile implementation that insults their intelligence. Here's the difference.
Trophy Team
Platform-wide leaderboards create motivation for elite users while demotivating everyone else. Here's how to fix it.
Charlie Hopkins-Brinicombe
When users exploit XP systems for rewards without providing value, your gamification has backfired. Here's how to fix it.
Jason Louro