by Yu-kai Chou
Define Desired Actions
The next step is to define the Desired Actions for the Users, which become Win-States once they commit to the actions. This is where we lay out all the little actions and steps that we want users to take in chronological order as part of a player journey.
Discovery Phase Desired Actions:
1) Learn about Yu-kai’s content through a conference, social media, or friend referral
2) Land on an interesting content page within YukaiChou.com
3) Click on the Octalysis link
Onboarding Phase Desired Actions:
1) Skim the Octalysis article
2) Share the Octalysis article with friends
3) Watch Yu-kai’s TEDx talk
4) Click on Yu-kai’s About Me Page.
5) Fill in the email subscription form
Scaffolding Phase Desired Actions:
1) Receive weekly emails on great content
2) Open Weekly Emails
3) Visit YukaiChou.com and read articles weekly
4) Share articles with friends
5) Participate in the Octalysis Explorers Facebook Group
6) Buy and read Yu-kai’s book
7) Watch all free episodes of the Beginner’s Guide to Gamification
7) Sign up for Octalysis Workshops
8) Obtain the Level 1 Octalysis Certificate
Endgame Phase Desired Actions:
1) Sign up for Octalysis Prime
2) Watch all 200 OP Videos as well as past workshop recordings
3) Attend Weekly Office Hours
4) Learn a new Game Technique and apply it every week
5) Participate in exclusive discussion groups
6) View weekly Octalysis case studies on websites, games, or products.
7) Examine case studies and Showcases of actual member projects
8) Become an Octalysis Licensee in their region
9) Work directly with Yu-kai Chou and the Octalysis Group
These are the Desired Actions that form a logical player journey that extends all the way into the Endgame. The Endgame itself becomes the activities in Octalysis Prime, including Live Office Hours, exclusive discussion groups within a community, and weekly behavioral psychology content under the context of Octalysis. So if a user has invested a lot of time in Scaffolding and wants to take the next step forward into the Endgame, it becomes a natural step to sign up for Octalysis Prime.
Every designed element needs to motivate users towards these Desired Actions. If it does not, the element is a distraction and should be thrown away. Every Desired Action, when committed, leads to a Win-State.
Define Feedback Mechanics
Feedback Mechanics are information delivery mechanisms that communicate to the user that their actions are meaningful. It allows them to track their progress towards the Win-State, feel the urgency of time, understand the unpredictable nature of the experience, and more. All Feedback Mechanics should become Triggers that promote the Desired Actions further, or else it should not be there.
The first step to understand possible Feedback Mechanics is to define mediums of interaction and communication. These are all the places I am able to actually plant these Feedback Mechanics as well as Triggers:
YukaiChou.com Website
OctalysisGroup.com Website
Yu-kai’s Book (Hey - you are here right now!)
Email List
Twitter and Facebook Group
Speaker engagements
Videos
Workshops
The second step is to figure out what Feedback Mechanics I can insert into the site. This is what most people think about when they think “Gamification Design.” These are the elements that allow communication of the 8 Core Drives that motivate behavior.
Countdown Timers (Core Drives 6 and 8)
Unlockable Content Page (Core Drive 3 and 6)
Virtual Dice Roll Overlays (Core Drive 4 and 7)
Little Tweet Bird on sidebar (Core Drives 5 and 7)
Glowing Choice Overlay (Core Drives 2, 7)
Embedded Videos (Core Drives 1, 5, and 7)
Status Points via Captain Up or another Gamification Platform (Core Drives 2, 4, and 6)
Hello Bar Top Display (Core Drives 1, 2, 6, and 7)
Game Technique Collection Sets (Core Drives 2, 4, 6, and 7)
Leaderboards via Captain Up (Core Drives 2, 5, 6, and 8)
Certificates (Core Drives 2, 4, 5, and 6)
Blog Posts to showcase members and announce information (Core Drives 1, 2, 5, 6, 7)
Achievement Symbols via Captain Up (Core Drives 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7)
Animated Popup Interfaces (Core Drives 1, 2, 5, 6, 8)
Character Growth Charts (Core Drives 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8)
Exchangeable Points that can be traded or redeemed (Core Drives 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
As mentioned, this list is by no means exhaustive, but gives you a basic idea of the various elements I can use to insert game techniques as well as Core Drives to trigger users towards the Desired Actions. In a robust Strategy Dashboard this list may be a lot longer.
Incentives and Rewards
The last item to define in the Octalysis Strategy Dashboard is Rewards, which is what the experience designer can give users when they commit the Desired Actions and arrive at the Win-State. The list below is in the order of abundance to scarce based on what the reward giver can issue:
Status Points
Achievement Symbols
Social Community
Feeling of accomplishment and progression
Featured on the Emails
Easter Egg Surprises
Featured on the website
Free eBook
Featured on the videos
Free Physical Book
Signed Physical Book
Discount on Workshops
Spend personal time with Yu-kai
Opportunity to work with Yu-kai
Octalysis License
Beyond rewards, I also want to make Octalysis Prime itself rewarding and meaningful. Based on the brainstorming above, below are the programs I can provide once someone signs up to Octalysis Prime:
Weekly Office Hours
Chapter-by-Chapter Takeaways for books on Game Design, Motivational Psychology, and Behavioral Economics. These include books that were referenced a lot in this book and many more
Access to all Beginner’s Guide to Gamification videos and other workshop recordings. Since later videos will be locked, access to all videos would be a reward.
100% off discounts (free) to every future workshop, which can easily be thousands of dollars of savings as long as members attend one
Weekly video/post about a new game technique, and encourage members to use it in their surrounding environment
Accountability buddy to discuss the week’s Game Technique usage
Practical use-case teaching: how to negotiate a higher salary, how to use Black Hat to close deals, how to do parenting more effectively, how to deal with your coworkers, etc.
Exclusive discussion groups
Weekly case studies on Octalysis
Weekly analysis of a website, game or product.
Analysis of recent popular products and why they became successful
Game technique combinations teaching
The dynamic relationships between Core Drives
Case studies and Showcase of actual member projects
Live Streaming and Recordings of me researching on new games
I believe if I can implement all or a subset of the features above, it would be substantially valuable for the user.
Level I Octalysis Ideation Process
Once the Octalysis Strategy Dashboard is fully defined, the next step is to go through the 8 Core Drives and come up with new ideas that appeal to people’s 8 Core Drives toward the Desired Actions. Below is a quick Level I Octalysis Ideation example:
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling
Messages (via
Hello Bar and blog posts) that show users that they can transform their lives into something greater through the Octalysis movement. Earlier we mentioned that for Core Drive 1 to work, believability is very important. I wholeheartedly believe in my value proposition, and so the key is to communicate that in a believable manner.
Showcase pro bono projects we do for world changing causes such as our campaigns with nonprofits to save the Amazon Rainforest. (Did you know at the current rate, the Amazon Rainforest will be completely gone within forty years?)
Establish a sense of Elitism through the concept of “Good Gamification” as opposed to the subpar implementations that currently exist in the market.
This idea just came to me as I was editing this chapter: for our Octalysis Prime offers, we could also do a “Save the World Weekly” campaign where each week we take one global problem and I showcase how to use Octalysis to design something that improves or solves the issue. At this point in my own design process, I would go up and add this to the offerings within Octalysis Prime.
Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment
Clear design that never lets users feel confused about what is the Desired Action. Use a combination of Glowing Choices and Desert Oasis.
Constantly let users feel that they made the smartest choice being part of the Octalysis Prime program. Always provide so much value that every time they log in, they hit a delightful Win-State.
Octalysis Prime members can increase their Knowledge Scores by viewing more content, and attending more sessions. High Knowledge Score members can earn certificates that will make a difference on their resumes.
Perhaps extending beyond that, every subscribed user can start off with an empty Octalysis shape as their profile. As they increase their knowledge or activity in certain fields, that Core Drive will be visually expanded. In this case, some members who choose to engage all the Social Influence content as well as participate in community events, can be shown as specialists in Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness. This ends up being one of the core concepts that will be elaborated on later.
Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
A new and upgraded Octalysis Tool that people can use to design and analyze their own projects. At this point, I would go back to “Desired Actions” and add “Use Octalysis tool on own projects” into the Scaffolding Phase. Always keep in mind that the Octalysis Strategy Dashboard is a living document that grows based on more refined thinking.
Member submission of their own work and receive feedback during Office Hours.
Member voting on what products or campaigns I analyze next. This places a small sense of agency into the users’ hands. Remember, Core Drive 3 is all about turning passive observers into active players.
Chain Combos: if users sign up to Octalysis Prime as well as obtained other Achievement symbols on my site, they can obtain greater rewards that compound. During the designing process, some ideas are vague. That’s okay. Just know what you would ideally like to put into the experience and often you will find a great refined model later on.
Each week, members will learn a new Game Technique that they will be encouraged to use in their own actual projects that week. They can share their experience with their accountability buddies or the community and gain feedback.
“Specialists” in a certain Core Drive will be allowed to host sessions themselves and share their experience and research on certain topics.
Monthly “Octalysis Design Challenges” where the community competes in solving or improving the designs of other organizations - many non-profits for a good cause.
Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession & Feedback
Collection Sets: Allow users to collect more Game Techniques, which will become the key to some higher level Octalysis magic later on.
Earn the Level 1 Octalysis Certificate as well as other concrete career-boosting items.
Use Easter Egg pop-ups to randomly give browsing users a free book, even signed. Remember, if you need to give out a reward, you can always go back to the Rewards/Incentives section of the Strategy Dashboard and pick from the list there. That’s your arsenal to create delightful experiences.
Show users how the Octalysis knowledge can benefit their health, productivity, happiness, and income. Sometimes people may view my work on Octalysis as too academic or theoretical, and so it’s only for hardcore product managers or behavioral designers. However, it is important to communicate that this knowledge quickly translates to things that impact everyone into their daily lives, from negotiating a higher salary or raising funding for their organization, all the way to becoming a better parent
A Personal Octalysis Report, where the Core Drives that motivate a person more are revealed - with tips and advice on how to use this knowledge.
Exchangeable Points. Perhaps have some type of “in-game currency,” perhaps called “Chou Coins.” (Okay, don’t laugh. This is just a brainstorming name, alright?) Users can accumulate Chou Coins and use them to unlock more scarce rewards and experiences within the Octalysis Prime experience.
Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness
Entry Level Watercooler: Octalysis Explorers Facebook Group.
Premium: OP Mastermind - OP Members can discuss advanced topics and keep each other accountable via a private Slack Group.
Group Quest: Only after X users receiving the the Octalysis Certificate will the next level be opened. This will incentivize people to invite their friends to take on the challenge too.
“Success Buddies” - Accountability and practice buddies for Octalysis activities, enabling peer-mentoring.
Top Members showcase display. I don’t want this to be a real competitive leaderboard, so probably won’t show specific stats of the players nor their ranks, but merely randomly display members in the top 10%.
Further Conformity Anchors, showing regional group scores may be interesting. Again, this incentivizes people to invite their friends to participate and improve the group rankings. What type of group rewards are to be given will need to be flushed out later.
Use Twitter #hashtags for Octalysis (such as #OctalysisBook) to display a sense of relatedness between users. This can also work involving Instagram where every time someone sees an ad they identify the Core Drives in it on Instagram with #Octalysis labels.
If I ultimately decide to go with the Chou Coins idea, then it opens up a new set of potential rewards and the ability to introduce Social Treasures. Perhaps every day users have an opportunity to “tip” Chou Coins to someone they appreciate in the community, with each Chou Coin becoming two coins when tipped (to a certain limit). Generosity takes a person further than self-consumption.
Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience
We want subscribers to feel committed. There should still be an admission process for signing up. But it can’t be too difficult, to avoid creating any procrastination. Perhaps when they sign up to Octalysis Prime, they have to answer a question like, “In five sentences or less, share what you plan to do with the knowledge obtained from the membership.” Of course, people who obviously have malicious intents would also be rejected, but this is mostly to set a barrier of commitment for those that want to be part of the war against boredom.
Dangling: if there is additional content that members need to unlock or “earn,” display lock-like feedback mechanics and provide users info on exactly how to unlock it. Even when people join Octalysis Prime, still make it a journey where things are paced out instead of overwhelming the user at once.
Of course, a big part of Core Drive 6 design is making things challenging to the point where there is an actual sense of accomplishment (Core Drive 2) when completed. It is important to still make the Octalysis Certificates and other high-end rewards very difficult to obtain. That way they actually symbolize something meaningful.
A Torture Break, Anchored Juxtaposition and Evanescent Opportunity Combo: there will always be content that is only reserved for premium members, but some
of the new content I create for Octlaysis Prime will be free on my blog for one or three days with a displayed countdown timer. After three days, it will be locked up for OP members only. However, a new Timer will appear, initiating a one year countdown. After a full year, the content will become publicly available - indefinitely. This means that if people want some of the Premium content and don’t feel like paying, they either need to have enough diligence to be on my blog every day (another Desired Action), or have enough patience to wait an entire year before it comes out. As mentioned before, most free-to-play games monetize based on exchanging people’s time/patience with money.
As mentioned before, since I want to have enough bandwidth to create all 90 Beginner’s Guide to Gamification videos, later episodes will be locked and only accessible to OP members. Many viewers have also been collecting a set of secret keywords. My plan is that those with all the keywords from the free videos will get 50% off for the monthly subscription plan. People who then collect all of the keywords after that will get an amazing reward worth remembering.
Create Daily 1-Hour Group Quests to get people to return often. The idea is to see if I could somehow pull off a daily activity, where if enough people take a certain Desired Action within a one hour period, something amazing happens. This requires further thinking and designing.
Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity
Goofy and unpredictable videos in The Beginner’s Guide to Gamification. Part of the basic set of what’s already in the current site is the Core Drive 7 strategy of constantly changing backgrounds for each sentence. It is a bit shaky for some people, but many people comment that despite their short attention spans, they always finish my videos because they want to see where I appear next. For the newer premium videos, I plan to stand still while I switch scenes so my viewers won’t feel dizzy anymore.