No, no--what's coming first is farmville/foursquare style workouts and tracking.
"Poiesis is King of the elliptical trainer!"
"Achievement unlocked: 200 pound club"
"New badge: Power Hour"
"Most consecutive workout days: Poesis (42)"
Add an iPhone app maybe for cardio workout tracking that's harder to cheat.
This would be totally awesome. Maybe stick a leaderboard up on one of the big screens. Only problem is that it would encourage people to visit the gym, which is a bit of a problem for the current business model. You might have to switch to pay per use. Or maybe charge extra for the frequent users? But then there's a monetary barrier to working out.
I have to ruefully say that if it weren't for the fact that this actually actively contradicts the current business model, it's a great idea.
There are so many ways to improve, too. Leaderboards are an anti pattern in community design because they turn 99% of your customers into losers and losing is not fun. Instead, you either do leagues or publish individual successes within friend groups.
After you have achievements longevity awards are like taking candy from a very wealthy baby. (Only one more month until you get Bronze Boots of Buttkicking! Do not cancel now. Then next month, they are halfway up a new treadmill.)
Leaderboards are an anti pattern in community design because they turn 99% of your customers into losers and losing is not fun.
Of course. I've always wondered about that. Do you have a source for this info? I'm not trying to lay on the wikipedia-snark but rather I'd like to see where to read on social media [anti]patterns.
I actually feel that leaderboards are mostly bad only when there are too many people participating. With a small enough number of participants they can be motivating (although they might be better yet if they were opt-in). There are a subset of people that like to rank themselves and "see how they stack up" against others. As you mentioned, it can also degrade motivation for others which is why an opt-in method might work best for something like this.
Interesting. Is this a widely accepted theory, that leaderboards are a community design anti-pattern?
From my experience, leaderboards are compelling and rewarding even though I know I'll probably never make it to the top. I just like to watch my percentile rank improve.
EDIT: I just saw your response to the other comment. Cool!
My partner and I have been working on something that's very similar to this description for some time now. Earliest feedback has been quite interesting and we're hoping to get a beta out in the wild sometime this year. Those interested in beta testing should let me know :)
"Poiesis is King of the elliptical trainer!" "Achievement unlocked: 200 pound club" "New badge: Power Hour" "Most consecutive workout days: Poesis (42)"
Add an iPhone app maybe for cardio workout tracking that's harder to cheat.
This would be totally awesome. Maybe stick a leaderboard up on one of the big screens. Only problem is that it would encourage people to visit the gym, which is a bit of a problem for the current business model. You might have to switch to pay per use. Or maybe charge extra for the frequent users? But then there's a monetary barrier to working out.
I have to ruefully say that if it weren't for the fact that this actually actively contradicts the current business model, it's a great idea.
It'd at least do well for retention I'd wager.