That's my word of honor. The reasons for this train of thought are unclear to me. In 9 cases out of 10, the conversation about gamification begins with: — Yes, yes, we decided to introduce gamification. We are now thinking about points and leaderboards. Maybe there are achievements. What do you think?— Hmm.. I think the following.

PTB — points, tables, badges. These are the same scores, leaderboards and achievements (badges).

And it's only worth mentioning them in one sentence... So immediately the gamemaker's eye starts twitching. And that's why.

These mechanics are chosen for the very beginning of business gamification. It's as if there are no other scenarios.

Well, really. When you got your license, did you immediately get into the hypercar? No, it's not. To begin with, everyone takes a simpler typewriter. They learn how to park, deal with maintenance. They collect data and gain experience. And only then they decide which car is still needed. It's the same in business. And in gamification. We start with a simple one.

However, why was I upset? That's what a gamifier is for. To help people create a good gamification model.

Therefore, today we will analyze these mechanics separately. Let's talk about the pros and cons. And about everyone's favorite pitfalls. Let's get started.

In gamification, points are a reward. We use them to encourage a person to commit actions. We create motivation.

Points can take different forms. Game currencies, experience points. Yes, even draw suns and stars (as in kindergarten).

By themselves, they are certainly very good. To the gamifier, points open up a field of possibilities for their application. In fact, it is a universal means of motivation. Which can be used wherever and whenever you want.

They also develop a habit well. Have you heard about "positive reinforcement"? They are used in pedagogy and training. The dog executed the command and received sugar. So it is here.

For this, all points are of course like. I'm moving on to dislikes.

First. The technical complexity of the implementation.It just sounds simple: "Give points." And there is a complicated logic hidden inside. To whom, how much and for what to charge? And how to process the data? Etc.

Second. The points need to be spent somewhere.That is, what are they for the user? He should be able to spend it somewhere. Get a prize. And this is an additional prize budget. Do you need it at the start?

The third. The points awarded must be counted.A new entity is emerging — the economic model of gamification. For many, this becomes a discovery. How much was given out? How much did you spend? How much is left on your hands? Without control of this process, the whole mechanics breaks down. And very quickly.

And for a snack. Points are an external motivation. That is‑ it is not the person who wants to do something himself. And we force him. Someone will call the mechanics "toxic" for this. But not us))

The main task of leaderboards is to incite competition and excitement. Along the way, they also inform you who is the coolest here.

Some people really fall for it. As soon as they get into any rating, they immediately strive to lead it. It's certainly good for us.

You can also compose a lot of content from leaderboards. To hold various tournaments and promotions. Make posts on social networks. Create information guides. All this attracts a viral audience well.

Their biggest disadvantage is the negative experience.

A crookedly assembled leaderboard harms the product. He does it in the following way: the user sees a leaderboard on top of which the leaders are located; realizes the inaccessibility of their position and loses motivation to get involved in the fight.

Yes, this situation can be solved. We divide the leaderboards into leagues/classes/sections. They will separate the most active from the less active. But this increases the complexity of the implementation, by the way.

Technically, the leaderboard is not as simple as it seems. It implies that each user should have their own profile, name and avatar. If there are no such entities in the product, then they need to be built from scratch.

Another task is to determine by which criterion the leaderboard will be built. In fitness applications, of course, everything is simple: who lifted the barbell how many times or spent calories. But in some e‑com, everything is not so clear anymore: should I rank by money spent or maybe by the number of goods purchased? It looks so-so.

Therefore, I do not recommend starting with leaderboards. You can return to them later. When there are conditions for this in the product.

An achievement is a reward for performing some actions. For example: Petya ate 5 watermelons and got the "Abuser‑watermelon" achievement.

In gamification, they came from games. Ordinary computer ones. They went there with a bang.But I will remind the audience — we are not building a game. We gamify the business. These are completely different tasks.

I hope I won't disappoint anyone, but.. They don't work in business gamification. Leave wet fantasies about involvement and stimulating behavior out of the way. They are not useful. Metrics are not affected. Stamp — tested by experience. And the signature.

Do you see a person offering to start gamification with achievements? Kick it in the neck!! Dirty rags!!

And yet I will add. Achievements can certainly be brought to mind. To benefit from them. But this task is definitely not for the start of gamification.

This article will hopefully help you avoid mistakes. Understand that there are 1000 and 1 opportunities to launch gamification. And it is absolutely not necessary to start with points, achievements and leaderboards.