I did a talk and workshop on Gamification at Google for their International Women's Day. I shared the basics and also taught the Octalysis Framework by the gamification expert You-kai Chou.

1. Gamification for
Building Engaging Products
Jagriti Pande
Co-Founder at UX Gorilla and Design Jungle

2. The 1st January
The Story of Failed Resolutions

3. The Success

4. • We play games without
knowing we are.
• Not all Games are
Explicit some are implicit

5. • Communities like GDG
• The dynamics inside the companies
• Social Media Apps
• YOUR OWN LIFE

6. Design using Game elements
for human motivation

7. THE OCTALYSIS FRAMEWORK
by You Kai Chou

9. Core Drive #1
Epic Meaning and Calling
Drive that goes beyond the self - being a part of something bigger

10. Here is to the crazy ones

12. • Apple believes in empowers and celebrates people who are The
misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers , the round peg in the
square holes, the change makers
• The ones who feel they can change the world and change the
world.
• They Think Different
• As a conscious decision, they did not include any of their own
product in the entire Think Different Campaign

13. Buy a Pair, Give a Pair

14. Webby Parker

15. Together we stand!

17. The Open Source
Communities or Projects
Wikipedia
Google Developer Group
Tensor Flow
Linux

19. Being the Chosen One

20. The Role Play Games with a backstory where you are the one who has to
save the world

21. Gives people meaning and context of doing expected
tasks - signing up for your service or product,
continue to use a certain product

22. Challenge # 1
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill Epic Meaning and calling in to
The Joy
• Hint : Calling ; A story ; Social Good ; Community ;
Being the chosen one
Time - 05 minutes

23. Core Drive #2
Development and Accomplishment
There are no games without challenges

24. Good Games break down challenges into steps so
that you always feel that you are achieving
something

25. • Core drive that motivates people to accomplish
their goals, focus on career path, learn new skills.
• Motivates by showing how far we have come and
how much we have grown

26. A good game has 3 components
• Obstacles
• Progress
• Accomplishment of Win State

27. The Cake that was too easy to make
General’s Mills Betty Crocker Cakes
So Easy, I feel Guilty

28. Tell users they are
progressing

29. The Progress Bar

30. The Language learning App
gives users badges and virtual
currency as they level up their
streaks
Duolingo
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/10/26/gamification-the-key-duolingo-success-says-product-manager-gilani-canvas-conference
https://medium.com/the-mission/3-things-i-learned-from-365-days-straight-on-duolingo-a54923ac9d9b

31. Give them rewards when they achieve
desired actions
We are wired to get to the win state
Every time we complete a task, we get a massive rush of endorphins

32. Using Points, badges,
Leaderboards

33. • The Quora’s - Most popular writer
• Medium’s Top writer
• Amazon - Top 100 reviewer
• Git and Stack Overflow Badges
• Karma Points at Reddit

34. • They get status symbols because of the efforts
they put in to provide some value.
• Do not just give away Points or Badges for shallow
things. Users know it is for your own benefit
• Make them feel accomplished and smart- they
made a difference

35. Challenge # 2
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill the Core Drive 2- Feeling of
Accomplishment and Development in to The Joy
• Hint : Obstacle, Progress, Win State, Celebrating
their wins
Time - 05 minutes

36. Core Drive #3
Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback
Being in the zone, when working/ doing becomes play,

37. • When we do something because of the creativity it
requires to solve a problem or create something
• Music, Writing, Building a product, creating a piece
of art, Strategy Games

38. Define Win State but not the journey

39. Gamers at crowdsourcing online puzzle game - FoldIt
demystified the structure of protein responsible for
HIV growth in 10 days, something scientists have
been trying to decades
Crowdsourcing - Solving big problems together

40. • The Content Creation - Stories in Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube
and Snapchat.
• Selling on Online Platform - creating a listing, getting sales and
running a business
• Medium, Quora, Kindle Publishing
Give them tools to create their own experience

41. Use it to give them an opportunity to play
During the pilot, the piano staircase led to an increase in commuters taking the stairs by 66%.

42. Challenge # 3
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill the Core Drive 3-
Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback
• Hint : Win state but option to choose the path,
unique experiences, fun and engaging
Time - 05 minutes

43. Core Drive #4
Ownership and Possession
The pleasure derived from owning something

44. The IKEA Effect
We feel a sense of greater sense of ownership and
love towards things we build or co-create
DIY Furniture
Subway
The project you worked on
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/11-091.pdf

45. The Endowment Effect
Humans tend to prefer objects they already possess
over those they do not.
We place a higher value on an object we are asked to give up,
than on a similar object we are asked to obtain
https://kenthendricks.com/endowment-effect/

46. • Freemium - Make people feel they own it already
• The Trial Strategy
• The Money Back Guarantee

47. The Curious Case of
Collectibles
Humans collecting things since the beginning of civilization. The need
to collect things before any impending danger
The Trump Cards, Baseball cards, the stickers are all great examples.
Complete a set of cards, monsters, Pokemon Go
https://kenthendricks.com/endowment-effect/

48. The Alfred Effect- The Loyalty
of Users
When system customized according to your
needs, you feel find it hard to switch
Example - Amazon’s personalized search engine ,
YouTube playlists
Google Search

49. • But it is also the reason why people do not let go of
habits, beliefs - positive or negative ,Toxic Relationships
and identity.
• Becomes negative when used with black hat motivations
like scarcity and avoidance. Example staying in a Toxic
Relationship to avoid the drama , Renewing a subscription
or else you will loose complete access

50. Challenge # 4
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill the Core Drive 4- Ownership
and Possession
• Hint : Making them attached but not insecure
Time - 05 minutes

51. Core Drive #5
Social Influence and Relatedness
The motivation driven by our social standing.
What others think, feel or do about us

52. It has both Positive and Negative Effects
Casted out of the Society was a death
sentence in the pre-historic ages.

53. OPower works with utility companies to provide households with data on how
much energy they are consuming, how they match up with neighbors, and if
they are close to any new milestones. Led to saving over 1 Terawatt of Energy
Savings in the world which equates to $120 Mn and decrease in pollution if
100,000 cars off the road
To Learn and to compete with our peers
https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-gamification-examples-human-race/

54. • The Online Course Publishing Platform
• The Mentorship programs in Colleges and Corporates
• The Karma Points
• User Reviews considered more genuine than those by the experts
To teach and share Experiences
https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-gamification-examples-human-race/

55. • Opower reduced 2.6 terawatt hours of electricity through
16 million households worldwide between 2007 and 2013,
the equivalent of $300 Million22. They were personally
endorsed by President Barrack Obama, named a
Technology Pioneer at the prestigious World Economic
Forum, and placed on the CNBC Disruptor 50 List23.
Healthy Competition
https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-gamification-examples-human-race/

56. But Also drives negative
behavior
https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-gamification-examples-human-race/

57. ( What will other people think about us? )
Log Kya Kahenge Syndrome
NEGATIVE
Sabki Pasand Nirma
( Everyone uses this product, so shall you - The Social Conformity )

58. Challenge # 5
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill the Core Drive 5- Social
Influence and Relatedness
• Hint : Ways to learn and compete from each other,
share with others and influence
Time - 05 minutes

59. Core Drive #6
Scarcity
If it is hard to get, it got to be good
The FOMO

60. Scarcity through exclusivity
Facebook of earlier days was open only for students of Harvard. Created a lot of buzz and hype
The IIT and IIM obsession in India few years back
The 30 under 30, the 40 under 40

61. Scarcity through time
restriction
The Limited Edition
The Limited Offers Sales

62. Perceived Difficulty and
Value
Dribbble Invite - Invitation to this online community for designers
is only through invite by the “players” who “draft them”

63. Pay your way to escape
scarcity
Storage space running out? Refer a friend or buy space
Pay extra for “express” delivery
Only limited features in Freemium Subscription

64. If something is too abundant,
people do not like it anymore
Imagine if GOT was telecasted as
Kyuki Skas Bhi Kabi Bahu Thi

65. Challenge # 6
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill the Core Drive 6- Scarcity
• Hint : Hoe can Joy create perceived value?
Time - 05 minutes

66. Core Drive #7
Unpredictability and Curiosity
The eternal drive to seek thrill and novelty

67. Swipe Swipe Swipe
What will be my match like?
Who can I match with?

68. That TV series you just
Binge Watched!

69. Infinite Scroll: The Web’s
Slot Machine
Like a loose slot machine, the infinite scroll gives
users fast access to variable rewards. The feed that keeps getting updates

70. The Mystery Box

71. Alexa

72. The Content Curiosity

73. The Good ‘ol Lottery
The 100 Cashbacks in Paytm
The Amazon Quiz
The Wheel of Fortune
Fortune Cookies

74. Challenge # 7
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• How will you instill the Core Drive 7-
Unpredictability and Curiosity
• Hint : What user will not expect but will be happy
to have, try to combine it with a positive drive
Time - 05 minutes

75. Core Drive #8
Loss and Avoidance
Fear of loosing what I have earned till now- money/energy/reputation/belief /life

76. Pointing a gun at the users
- Do what I say, or else
• The Online Learning Apps that take away the courses you paid for if you do not
renew the subscription
• The crops in the Farmvilla App used to die if the users did not come to water
them - Appointment Dynamic- keep coming back
• Make users resent the system. If given an opportunity and if fully convinced,
they will move out of the system

77. Facebook - Delete or
Deactivate?

78. But if planned well, can help users do things
they don’t want but need - Bitter Medicine

79. The Life Insurance and the other
insurances/ protection plans we buy
and renew every year

80. Games like Zombie Run where the
users have to run to not get caught
by the Zombies

81. The Duolingo Streak
goes back to 0, if the
user misses to
complain the task
But they also give
users an option to
repair the streak

82. Challenge # 8
• Joy an online meditation app that wants to
increase its user retention and engagement.
• Is there a way you can use the Core Drive 8 -
Avoidance to drive positive behavior?
• Hint : Think of tough love .
Time - 05 minutes

83. To Conclude
• With great power comes great responsibility
• Let’s build products that make users feel
empowered not guilty or tricked

84. Share your Octalysis
Framework with 1 person
on your table
Time - 10 minutes

85. Questions?

86. Further Reading
• https://yukaichou.com/
• Actionable Gamification - Beyond Points, Badges and Leaderboards
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxpW2ltDNow
• Gamification By Design
• http://gamification-research.org/2014/08/flow/
• https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/endowment-effect
• https://yukaichou.com/gamification-study/8-core-drives-
gamification-4-ownership-possession/

87. Thank you
Say Hello at
jagriti@uxgorilla.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagritipande/