In one client gamification project, we’re looking at permissions members can achieve as they level up.
This raises some interesting questions.
- How valuable is each permission to the user?
- How will they use it?
- What is the risk?
For example, letting members that reach ‘level 25’ mark answers as accepted solutions sounds handy…until they begin marking every answer they give as an accepted solution.
Or, just as likely, mark the answers of their friends as accepted solutions. Of course, if only 20 members have that permission, you can look out for these problems and manage it. If 200 have that permission, it quickly descends into chaos with accusations of cheating flying around.
If you’re giving members internal permissions, you need to balance the value of the permission with how members could abuse it (and multiply this by how many people will likely have that permission).
This lets you reasonably decide if you can award members with that access. A typical example might show below:
(click here if you can’t see the image)
You will notice the absolute number of members with each permission drops sharply with each access level.
It’s also relatively within the control of most community teams to handle members abusing each level.
Better yet, each level gives members an advancing level of control and prestige they are likely to use and appreciate.
The key is to be relaxed with benefits members can’t abuse (access to a quarterly webinar), while tight on those which could cause challenges (deleting inappropriate posts).