Apps That Master Gamification

Gone are the days of getting likes or setting your desktop on fire being the only way to feel a sense of accomplishment online. We’re going to show you some of our favourite examples of apps mastering Gamification.

Let’s do it.

• Monday.com - productivity (birthdays, celebrations, goal tracking)

• Strava - Fitness Social Media (Fitness Challenges, partner rewards, achievements)

• Instagram - Social Media (likes, story filters, reporting)

• Netflix - Media (Machine learning, actual games, fast laughs)

Monday.com

First up we have Monday.com - a productivity software focused on ease of use, task transparency, integrations, and achieving goals. We at Gamify have a soft spot for Monday, as we actually use it and love it.

Monday has done a great job when it comes to integrating gamification elements into its core platform. Although the platform is based on productivity and streamlining processes, Monday’s additional elements of gamification are a nice touch - for example, a simple yet effective feature they’ve included is birthday celebrations - displaying staff members’ birthdays with animated confetti. This simple feature helps staff members feel the love on their special day. Nice.

Other uses of gamification that drive Monday’s productivity features are their goal tracking dashboard, which utilises animated graphs and progress bars to communicate team progress in one place.

Strava

There’s no shortage of fitness apps these days, but few manage to appeal to such a broad audience as Strava does. The genius of Strava’s use of gamification is in its simplicity. From first sign-in, basic gamification elements like “kudos” and following are obvious, but as you scratch beneath the surface, Strava’s implementation of gamification deepens.

One of our favourite gamified elements on Strava is its segments, trophies, and local legend. Segments is a community-driven feature, allowing any user to select and name a map segment, and track other users' performance on a live leaderboard. If a user tops a segment’s leaderboard they earn a trophy, until their record is beaten. To make this feature even better, users who complete a segment the most in 90 days earn a local legend badge on their profile - until another user beats their efforts of course.

Instagram

We love seeing the use of gamification on major platforms, and Instagram is no exception. Their gamification techniques are simple but more often than not, the simple approach is often the most effective. For example, we’re all aware of the "love heart" that has triggered dopamine hits in millions of users for over a decade now - but that small "like" button which only takes up 20 pixels of a user’s post is the backbone of the platform’s addictability.

Integral to its core functionality. Instagram story filters have become a wildly popular feature, and the added ability to allow users to create their own filters just sweetens the deal. The additional elements of gamification which actively involve the user are a massive win in our books as they keep users on the app for longer and provide a richer experience.

Netflix

Netflix has come a long way from delivering DVDs from a garage in California. The global streaming giant has not only dominated the industry but continues to refine its platform to be more and more user-centric. Their use of gamification can’t go unnoticed too, for example -  to increase user’s time in-app and engagement, “Fast Laughs” delivers bite-size comedy videos in an Instagram reel style. 

In addition to Fast Laughs, Netflix recently implemented actual video games into its platform, which may feel like a weird choice to many users. Something to take note of on these popular platforms is that the first iteration of a feature is usually a test of popularity or a glimpse into where the company’s focus is headed over the next 2-5 years.

So whilst the current use of video games is simple and somewhat adjacent to the core Netflix features, its potential for future development is something we look forward to seeing. Not to mention, interactive films and shows, like Black Mirror's Bandersnatch, or Bear Grylls' You vs. Wild. 

Conclusion

Gamification is a fantastic way to increase engagement, loyalty, and joy in your product or service, when done right. As we’ve seen with the examples above, some of the world's biggest everyday apps have reaped the benefits of gamification, and we only see this trend continuing to grow.

What’s your favourite gamification feature in an app? We’d love to hear about it in the comments. And as always, for more info about gamification, check out some of our blogs here.