Community Strategy Insights

The latest insights on community strategy, technology, and value by FeverBee’s founder, Richard Millington

Naming Conventions on Gamification Levels

Richard Millington
Richard Millington

Founder of FeverBee

Take a look at the screenshot below.

The person in first place has 84% more points than the person in 7th place, yet they both have the same ranking.

I bet he could have 300% more points and still share the same ranking.

The problem with naming levels is you soon run out of names and members quickly ‘top out’ at the top level.

If attaining higher levels is motivating additional contributions, then being unable to go any higher similarly reduces motivation to keep participating.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there’s a cluster of members just after the points to achieve Expert status.

You can add more levels…but how many levels above expert can you really have?

There are a few simple solutions here. One is to use numbers. Numbers rise infinitely. Another is to consider naming conventions (like wedding gift anniversaries) which allow for far more levels than ‘novice, beginner, regular, top member, superuser’ etc..

Don’t underestimate just how quickly top members will progress through levels and just how demotivated they might become when they realise they’ve reached the top.

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