Skip to main content

We are about to implement Gamification. I have spent hours creating and testing badges/options within our Sandbox.  I think I must have missed things in the Knowledge Base articles, starting with what to include in the TEXT box. Notice it is not called Description or Congratulations box, just TEXT.  I’ve tried to put some thought into what needs to be included in that magic box along with the management of badges.  Our first pilot will have potentially 50 badges, and that is just for the PILOT! Badge management could become very unruly, very quickly when we open it up to everyone!

I want to share my notes and ask if I am overlooking anything.

WHAT BEST PRACTICES WOULD YOU ADD?
How do you determine the points?
Have I overthought this?

Title

The title should be descriptive and differentiate the badge from others. Keep in mind your audience. Cute or silly titles may not translate well in a professional environment.

Example: Microsoft Teams First Post - HouseLens MS Teams Challenge to Artists

Text box should contain the following information:

  1. Who this badge is for (audience/branch)
    1. At this time there is no way to limit who sees which badges, so everyone will see every badge
  2. Time frame when the badge is available or will be awarded
    1. badges cannot be deleted after the program or contest is over or it will delete the points/coins participants earned, therefore badges must remain open
    2. Setting an expiration date (annually or by promotion/event) would allow you to delete badges (along with the points/coins) to clear the list, but participants should be notified if rewards are activated, so they have time to spend their coins.
  3. How to earn the badge – Specify:
    1. the exact criteria used for earning the badge
    2. why (objective) the badge is being offered,
    3. and if this is part of any Contest
    4. how quickly they can expect to see the badge once they have completed the task
      1. If the badge is begin rewarded manually, a window when that activity will be completed might be appreciated
  4. Expiration – If a badge is going to be scheduled to be deleted, note a date when points or coins will disappear.

Example:

Eligibility

HouseLens Artists

Availability

March 15-31, 2022

Criteria

Awarded when you (a HouseLens Artists) are reported making your first post in the HouseLens Artists Communication Team Channels between the dates of March 15-31, 2022.

This badge is included in the HouseLens MS Teams Challenge to artists to adopt and utilize MS Teams to improve communication, engagement and sharing. This contest will run between March 15-31, 2022.

The Microsoft Teams User Activity Report will be used to identify when posts are made.

This badge is manually awarded through Seek Now University. Badges will be awarded once a day between 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Expiration Date

May 1, 2022 – All points or coins rewarded by this badge will expire and disappear on May 1, 2022. This may affect your standing on Leader Boards.

Any coins rewarded by this badge must be traded for rewards in the Rewards Shop by April 30, 2022.

 

TIP: I found creating a table, then snagging a screen shot, allowed me to enter a much better-looking summary of the badge, than if I just typed it in plain text. This also allows me to keep a record of all badge descriptions so I can go back to revise/update as needed quickly (as in the grammar error that is underlined in the example below, that I didn’t catch) 
I’m still playing with width, but I think I’ll adjust it to 600px?

Points

This is an area where I am struggling the most. You don’t want to reward too many points/coins and be giving rewards away; but you want to ensure rewards are within reach.

Our first pilot will NOT utilize the Rewards Shop, therefore points are not as critical. We will just be providing rewards directly to the first, second and third places on the Leader Board.

@tschoone - well written up. Thank you.

 

A proposal / recommendation - magnitude of score should be relevant to an aspect of the learning - it criticality, priority at the organization. For example: I wanted to encourage my first time folk to get a hundred points from the system for completing our New Hire Training training - their first action in the training. It is one of the few corporate pushed recommendation and is a biggie in our eyes. So the magnitude of 100 makes sense.

NOW though, I am worried about how much higher can I go with this….with scores out of control? Your scoring becomes irrelevant compared to the badge received. And that may not be a good thing.

If I started lower though….I would not be in the pickle that I am in right now...which is potentially not being able to scale a scoring system appropriately.

Hope the story helps.


@community-admin Where can I find a library of all the badges to create a strategy around instead needing to screenshot to see all of them at one time?


Hello @tschoone,

Could you provide information regarding the Time frame when the badge is available or will be awarded” where you mention:

Setting an expiration date (annually or by promotion/event) would allow you to delete badges (along with the points/coins) to clear the list, but participants should be notified if rewards are activated, so they have time to spend their coins.

 

How did you set badges to expire?

Thanks!


Reply