Long after the thrill: Sustaining passionate users
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 9:58 am
Stephen Anderson is no stranger in the Netherlands and is at many conferences with his story. This year we saw him at Interaction '11 in Boulder.
The question he poses is: is it possible to build a long-term relationship with your users using game principles? Often, a boring task is packaged as a game to make it “more fun”. A bit like a spoonful of sugar to make something sour easier to swallow. That almost never works, according to Anderson.
Anderson argues that it is better to use the underlying (psychological) principles of saudi arabia phone number list games than to make a complete game out of it. A powerful example is the use of the feedback loop. Think of a speedometer on the street, which shows your own speed next to the allowed speed. When you connect an in itself boring task like writing down hours to a feedback loop (for example how quickly you filled them in), this works for the human mind like a game. The goal almost automatically becomes to do it faster than your last time. And that is the core: not to add a layer of sugar, but to use game principles to guide the user in the direction of the goal of the task.
Unwritten rules: brands, social psychology and social media
Kate Canales and Ben McAllister of Frog Design opened with the story of someone who hands over money at the end of a meal with friends as a thank you. It’s like leaving a tip at a restaurant. It feels awkward — but why? And why do we feel it so deeply? Kate and Ben presented a powerful analysis of online etiquette and how brands can use that insight.
The question he poses is: is it possible to build a long-term relationship with your users using game principles? Often, a boring task is packaged as a game to make it “more fun”. A bit like a spoonful of sugar to make something sour easier to swallow. That almost never works, according to Anderson.
Anderson argues that it is better to use the underlying (psychological) principles of saudi arabia phone number list games than to make a complete game out of it. A powerful example is the use of the feedback loop. Think of a speedometer on the street, which shows your own speed next to the allowed speed. When you connect an in itself boring task like writing down hours to a feedback loop (for example how quickly you filled them in), this works for the human mind like a game. The goal almost automatically becomes to do it faster than your last time. And that is the core: not to add a layer of sugar, but to use game principles to guide the user in the direction of the goal of the task.
Unwritten rules: brands, social psychology and social media
Kate Canales and Ben McAllister of Frog Design opened with the story of someone who hands over money at the end of a meal with friends as a thank you. It’s like leaving a tip at a restaurant. It feels awkward — but why? And why do we feel it so deeply? Kate and Ben presented a powerful analysis of online etiquette and how brands can use that insight.