Eric ParsonsSenior Technical Product ManagerAugust 2014

“Nandita” - Asks questions

Customer / Developer

“Simon” - Expert

Partner/ Consultant

Why gamification?

Reduce support costsDrive more members to answer forum threads by awarding badges

Create a greater sense of communityEncourage members to fill out their profiles and upload photos by awarding badges

Legitimize and structure competition that was already happening via leaderboards

Connect members with experts

Have funEnable moments of fun while our members are solving real business problems

What we built

BadgesMembers earn badges as they complete site actions

LeaderboardsMembers are ranked in multiple leaderboards (overall points, forums, blogs)

Lifetime view and a monthly view (to allow new members to compete against established members)

Native Zimbra Community AppRules-based badge administration

Individual badges and leaderboards have full platform support for comments, favorites, likes, bookmarks, @mentionable, etc.

Badges have email notifications, live alerts, and show up in activity streams as they are earned

Updated version of the “Game On: Community Rewards & Recognition” session Eric co-presented at Zimbra’s The Big Social 2013 event

Troubleshooter Problem Solver Thanks for the

Help

A Picture is Worth

1000 Words

Connected Movie Maker

Tweet Me Fan CelebrityBlogger

Problem Solver 1

1 verified forum answer

Problem Solver 4

50 verified forum answers

Level 1

250 points

Level 8

16,000 points

“I got it while hiking with my wife on

a mountain nearby. Couldn't wait to

get back and login here. How geekish

is that?! ;D”

“Great idea! Love what Microsoft Dynamics has done to bring the

community together. It can only mean even more great things to

come.“

“Great addition to the already awesome-looking community!”

“This will re-engage and make people more interested to stay

connected with the community.”

“This will give me great feedback on the people I can trust and the

ones who are the most knowledgeable in the areas I am looking for

help in. Thank you so much to ALL those who actively participate in

this forum.”

“Definitely a great idea – it encouraged me to update my profile and

put more information in it!”

Lessons learned

Start smallWe didn’t. ;-)

Model your badgesModel your badge requirements against your member metrics to ensure you have the right requirements and enough badges

Include some fun badgesWe were worried about keeping it very professional – One new fun badge is the “I’ve been a member for 2 years and all I got was this lousy badge”

Keep adding new badgesAlways raise the bar

Build in recognition plansWe’ve shifted from tweeting people who’ve earned top badges to the top 3 people who make it into each monthly leaderboard