Hi, I'm Sangho, founder of yourly—AI assistant for personal/professional growth. I'm building both a product and a community where people can reflect on daily life, discuss experiences, and share insights together. If this interests you, join our Discord community for your growth journey.
This resource explores gamification beyond basic streaks, badges, and leaderboards by examining examples from Yu-kai Chou's Octalysis Framework, which has greatly inspired my approach to gamification. If you're interested in learning more about this field, check out Yu-kai Chou's site as well.
Products that incorporate a larger narrative or world-building element give users a sense of purpose beyond just using a tool. While some might dismiss this storytelling approach as childish, connecting users to a bigger mission—like being part of an exclusive community or contributing to meaningful change—creates powerful emotional engagement that keeps them coming back.
Users are motivated by a sense of growth and achievement when overcoming challenges within the product. By providing clear goals, progress indicators, and rewards for mastery, products can tap into our inherent desire to improve and prove our competence to ourselves and others.
People enjoy expressing their creativity and seeing immediate results from their actions. Products that offer meaningful choices, customization options, and rapid feedback loops create engaging experiences that keep users experimenting and invested in their unique contributions.
When users feel they own something within a product—whether digital assets, customized profiles, or accumulated resources—they become more invested in the experience. This core drive explains why collecting features, personalization options, and virtual property are such powerful engagement tools.
Humans are inherently social creatures motivated by connection, acceptance, and competition with others. Products that incorporate social elements like teams, mentorship, collaborative challenges, or friendly competition create stronger engagement through our desire to interact with others.
Social Influence & Relatedness
Limited availability or time-sensitive opportunities create stronger desire and urgency to act. When products cleverly implement countdown timers, exclusive access, or limited-time events, they tap into our psychological tendency to value what we cannot easily have.