One of the most effective techniques for creating an addictive app is giving random rewards. In this article, I present 7 random rewards for you to use in your apps…
Random Rewards in Gamification
The word random is similar to “chance” which is the unexpected development of a situation. Aliya comes from Latino Alia Which in Latin means dice game. The game seems to have come full circle, with the game directly linked to uncertainty. More specifically, uncertainty breeds commitment, or even player addiction. Distributing random rewards, therefore, is a fundamental weapon in a designer’s arsenal for generating engagement and addiction. As a reminder, their functioning is linked to dopamine secreted by the brain.
Here are 7 random rewards that take advantage of uncertainty and surprise to create user addiction.
Infinite scroll is an ergonomic exercise that doesn’t require clicking to access new content.
Example: Pinterest
It was Pinterest that brought this practice to the fore. The site was then copied by several web giants: Google (for Google Images) or eBay. You can read a very interesting article on Nir Eyal’s site on Infinite Scrolls.
Easter eggs are a technique used more and more by marketers. It is about hiding a core element (a ‘surprise’) within a service or application.
Example: Snapchat
When Snapchat launched filters on photos, the functionality was not immediately exposed to the general public. These filters can only be unblocked in Settings. For Ryan Hoover, this kind of practice has the advantage of getting users talking and generating discussion. to learn more about easter egg marketing, You can read Ryan Hoover’s article.
A social notification is an alert from an app that lets you know when one of your friends has taken an action in the app. Please note, this is not a push notification, the user only sees this notification when they connect to the application (otherwise it is not a random reward). To be truly effective, the subject and author of the notification must be relevant to the user.
Example: Facebook
The most eminent example is certainly Facebook. But not all notifications have the same effect on the user. A notification from a social game would more easily be perceived as spam, while a notification alert of a new ‘like’ on his profile picture would have the effect of a true random reward.
It is a question of computing the score taking into account the various fluctuating indicators. This fluctuation prevents the user from understanding and knowing what his/her score will be. So he is forced to come and “check” his score if he wants to know his level.
Example: Karma Points in Todoist App
The application takes into account all the work done by the user to calculate the karmic points so that the user cannot predict in advance what his level is.
- Infinite content and seriousness
Providing as much content as possible keeps the user engaged. The random reward is created by alternation between good and bad content. Therefore this technique is based on the same principle as the Infinite Scroll. Furthermore, infinite content also makes it possible to capitalize on an important notion: serendipity. Serendipity is the fact that a user performs an action when they did not initially plan to do it.
Example: Press and media sites.
When you’ve finished reading an article, news sites post suggestions for others to read or watch videos, etc. These sites are constantly offering new content to the visitors. That’s how we can spend a lot of time watching multiple videos on Youtube when we were originally supposed to watch only one…
- ‘Better Chances of Success’
Popularized by Jane McGonigal in her book ‘Reality is broken’ The notion of better chances of success Refers to the ability of games to give players the belief that they can be successful. It is this hope that drives the players to keep going until they reach their goal.
Example: OneMonthRails
One Month Rails is a website for learning to code with Ruby on Rails. Although it is chargeable and many free options exist, One Month Rail stands by its promise: the ability to create a complete application upon completion of the course. The program focuses on a single language (Ruby on Rails) and takes the student step by step in building their application. By following the One Month Rails the student is sure to get the desired result and hence they persevere.
fun failure There is also a term popularized by Jane McGonigal. Still in the context of applications for which performance is important, it is a question of making failure less dramatic by giving it a humorous and funny tone that prompts students to try their luck again and persevere.
Are you using random rewards on your apps or websites?