In general, my default practice is to only load essential apps that I use regularly on my phone. I don’t want to provide data about my location, internet habits, app usage or any other private data to app providers and their “trusted partners”. So for me, that means I’ll never install Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and many other apps on my phone.
Recently I installed a swimming app on my phone. It’s been great to have my current workout displayed with video tutorials. The app is pretty decent. I’ve been using in daily for two weeks.
However, like many apps, it uses gamification to encourage use. It has a status bar that displays how many workouts I have completed in a row. When I completed 7, it rewarded me with an animated trophy, then encouraged me to “go for the next level”.
Please. Spare me.
I have zero interest in cheesy gamification tactics. Instead of motivating me, they actually are a turn off for me.
I have plenty of motivation to swim. That’s why I bought the program and use it every day.
Duolingo is another program I started using a few weeks ago to improve my Spanish. Instead of an app, I access it through a web browser. Unfortunately its gamification includes animations of cartoonish people jumping around, dancing and applauding at each stage of learning.
I can’t stand it. It is maddening. Perhaps I would like it if I was 5 years old – but even that’s doubtful.
I ended up quitting Duolingo after a few days. If I want to learn more Spanish, I’ll find something else to use.
These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg of course. Every app has alerts, badges, levels, like counts, followers and other made up “rewards” to keep users on the app.
I’ve got a better idea – make a good app, offer decent support and your users will probably stick around. If you make it even better than the competition, you’ll stand out even more.
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for this to happen. Instead, I’ll just keep deleting apps.
