3 Types of Gamification Rewards for Productivity

Reaching a milestone needs recognition and celebration. The milestones can be for completion of a quest, reaching a skill level or time spent on something.

There are three types of reward systems that are not mutually exclusive. They can be mixed and matched as appropriate and you may find some rewards fit more than one definition.

Status

Status doesn’t have any inherent value in itself but is usually some aesthetic representation of achievement. This is what things like badges and certificates fall into. These can have their own levels of granularity with badges at certain points and then rarer levels of titles (yes this includes job titles but hopefully more fun).

Upgrades

This works particularly well in areas that you are really passionate about and have fun with. Upgrade rewards are tools, objects or services that you can obtain on completion of a certain level in which those things will help with the same type of tasks. From a better sword for slaying dragons to paying a license for the pro version of software that will get more done for you to getting those fancy new training shoes or home gym equipment.

The idea is this can be a flywheel effect of getting better at something gives you access to things that help make you better.

Prizes

These are usually more tangible in nature (although don’t have to be expensive, as they could simply be an imagined prize such as an ultra-rare “badge”). The key feature of a prize is that it is independent of the tasks that you are accomplishing. Where an upgrade will help you with your tasks a prize is meant to just be enjoyed for its own sake and a chance to not make it all about tasks themselves. For example, a brand new video game you want could be a prize for accomplishing a work quest.

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