Guide: gamification best practices

Gamification works when the ranking is perceived as fair and alive. The platform’s rules already take care of part of that - the rest is your calibration.

What the platform already guarantees

Points come in only with approved completion (the complete rules) - and go out if the enrollment is cancelled.
The institution’s administrative team does not compete: institution administrators and observers (and publishers) stay out of the ranking. Class-specific roles, such as tutor, are not excluded - if the person is also a participant, they can appear.
Test classes do not score - the internal pilot does not pollute the competition.

Calibrating the points

Score by effort, not by political importance: a simple rule (for example, 10 points per estimated hour of content) is defensible and easy to maintain - set the value when creating the content.
Keep the rule stable: repricing old content distorts the history of the competition.

Choosing the ranking window

Monthly for continuous programs: the competition restarts every month and those who arrived later have a real chance - the accumulated total does not become a monopoly.
Yearly for programs that run on the current year’s calendar: the competition restarts each year, with more breathing room than the monthly one.
Total for short programs with a beginning and an end, where the accumulated total is the story itself.

The turn of the month or year follows your institution’s local date (previously, institutions in Brazil saw the monthly ranking restart one day early).

Group competition

To encourage collaboration, enter groups into the competition (how to set it up). Because the ranking uses the average points per member, groups of different sizes compete on equal terms; even so, build groups with at least 3 active members, the minimum to be ranked. With a monthly or yearly ranking, each period becomes a round with a winning group and a trophy for its members - a good hook for the public recognition described below.

Communication that sustains engagement

Explain the rules to participants with the article How to earn points for the ranking - a rule that is understood generates fewer disputes than a rule that is discovered.
Publicly recognize the top finishers of the period (internal announcement, message to the classes) - the ranking motivates more when someone is looking at it.
Physical prizes and awards are your organization’s internal policy - the platform provides the scoreboard; the ceremony is yours.