Gems, coins, XP points, milestones, badges and achievements—gamification is everywhere.

And for good reason: there are some major success stories like Duolingo, who've created sticky habits that appear tantalisingly easy to copy.

But when you try and implementing streaks and XP, they land flat.

This isn't a deep dive into the psychology of 🎮 Gamification.

Instead, it's a cheatsheet on practically building these reward mechanisms, and a breakdown of the mistakes that I see daily.

Notepads at the ready?

Fundamentally, it's easier to encourage (or discourage) a behaviour, if you can increase the reward (or cost) of that action.

For example, I try and eat fruit daily (not to brag), but if I was told that I've been eating fruit for 1,312 days in a row, I'd be considerably more motivated to pick up an apple tomorrow.

Gems, coins, XP points, milestones, badges and achievements—gamification is everywhere.

And for good reason: there are some major success stories like Duolingo, who've created sticky habits that appear tantalisingly easy to copy.

But when you try and implementing streaks and XP, they land flat.

This isn't a deep dive into the psychology of 🎮 Gamification.

Instead, it's a cheatsheet on practically building these reward mechanisms, and a breakdown of the mistakes that I see daily.

Notepads at the ready?

Fundamentally, it's easier to encourage (or discourage) a behaviour, if you can increase the reward (or cost) of that action.

For example, I try and eat fruit daily (not to brag), but if I was told that I've been eating fruit for 1,312 days in a row, I'd be considerably more motivated to pick up an apple tomorrow.