The goal of many business gamicifcation sites is to build a community. It’s not enough to make profiles, user generated-content tools, and other social software available to users. You have to give gamers a super-compelling reason to use them.
The key to promoting community-building behaviors is realizing that the required gameplay behaviors are social in nature. These include the following:
Leaving comments
Writing reviews
Giving a “thumbs up” or “high five” (or whatever they’re called on your site)
Asking a question
Answering a question
Sharing an idea
Sharing ideas is often called ideation. Creative in nature, ideation can be thought of as the process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas. It occurs in all stages of a thought cycle and is an essential part of the design process. No wonder it’s considered a high-value gameplay behavior.
The key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with gameplay behaviors might include the following:
Number of comments
Number of reviews
Number of “thumbs ups” or “high fives”
Number of questions asked
Number of questions answered
Number of ideas shared
Be aware that for each community, the most valuable behaviors you want to drive may vary. For example, in a support community, you might reward gamers for being the first to reply to a question about a product. In a health and fitness community, you might recognize gamers for sharing their progress with the group.
Note that as people engage with your community, their rank and status should be elevated as well.