Stop slapping on points and start designing for motivation

Most stalled programs have the same smell: a glossy layer of points and badges without the pull that makes people care. When the actions aren’t meaningful, no amount of glitter makes them stick. Think about sign‑ups you’ve abandoned. The form had numbers, the copy bragged about rewards, yet nothing tugged you forward. Your coffee cooled on the desk while you clicked away.

Design shifts when you ask, “Which human drive moves this step?” If the goal is for a new teacher to finish onboarding, you don’t need badges first, you need a clear win‑state and the feeling of progress. A three‑step checklist with a progress bar and a short video from a respected mentor sparks accomplishment and social proof. If a product asks for data entry, give people ownership by showing how their inputs instantly personalize their dashboard. When the brain senses purpose, progress, creativity, or belonging, it leans in.

One team I coached swapped a loud leaderboard for a weekly boss challenge that taught one critical skill. The leaderboard had rewarded volume, not mastery, so people gamed it. The boss challenge required applying the skill to a customer scenario, and successful entries unlocked a practical booster—a template that shaved ten minutes off the next task. Participation doubled in two cycles, and quality went up because the challenge itself was the reward.

I might be wrong, but most “gamification fatigue” is really “motivation neglect.” The science is plain: intrinsic drivers (purpose, competence, autonomy, relatedness) sustain behavior. Extrinsic drivers (prizes, points) can help, but they often crowd out the joy of the task if they dominate. The fix isn’t no rewards, it’s rewards that amplify meaningful effort. Map each action to at least one core drive, add honest challenge and feedback, and only then layer recognitions.

This approach draws on self‑determination theory for intrinsic needs, the overjustification effect that warns against over‑rewarding, and the Octalysis idea that each action needs at least one live core drive. When you design the why first, the features become tools instead of crutches.

Start by writing down the handful of behaviors you actually want, then score each one against the eight motivational pulls so you can see where nothing is tugging. Patch the zeros by adding purpose, progress, creativity, or social proof before you think about points. Replace any leaderboard that rewards volume with a small, teachable challenge and give a booster tool only when the skill is demonstrated. Finally, put the flow in front of five users and watch where their eyes light up and where they stall, then tighten the challenge and feedback there. Do this for one key journey this week and ship the upgrade. Give it a try tonight.