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As per my observation the web apps that somehow relates its user to play with numbers and statistics have higher level of getting success rate then the ones that don't (not necessarily).

Use case: Stack Exchange has this reputation system which is one of the factor that we all love, apart from good info of course. Then, we had Orkut, which had only interactiveness but not anything like point system etc., then, Facebook came up with something like how many 'like', 'share'? etc which was smaller but number based tactic (I know it was not intentional).

My question is, if I am building a small n/w app for flower enthusiasts then would it be better if I make something on point system? Or is it ok to build just another n/w site just for interacting?

Opinion: I thought if we have something like points based system it attracts more users and it would have a reason for them to keep coming back to site.

Any answers with data is appreciated.

EDIT: We still have Orkut , sorry to use past tense :)

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    Gamification is a very fine art. – dnbrv Apr 30 '12 at 14:12
  • You are referring to some form of reputation status, which is really nothing new. Most web-based communities have always had them, going way back to basic web forums where a person's reputation was tracked by number of posts (often being correlated to a particular 'title'). Everyone like's to build reputation, so it wouldn't hurt, but I don't think it's going to be a major way to attract folks to the site. – DA01 Apr 30 '12 at 15:10
  • @DA01 yes, i mean the same. – sree May 1 '12 at 6:10
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In order to explore the value of gamification you need to have two things close to heart. (1) Gamification does not work without content AND (2) to have accurate and up to date content you need incentives i. e. gamification.

(1) Gamification need content

It's quite obvious, but there are some services using just gamification as such, meaning it is just a game. Early versions of check-in services used gamification beacuse they could. You could check-in on different places, earning badges and reputation along the way and have a weekly highscore list to look at and strive for the top - but there are no content. I'm here and you are there, that's it. It will be boring and only new users will use this kind of service without content. You need content to get gamification to work.

(2) Incentives drive users to keep content accurate and up to date

When we understand that we need content, we should also know that this content need to be accurate in order to have visitors. We have all visited sites with very good content when it was written, but then left unattended for several years making it old and not that useful anymore. To deal with that we need to have users who are willing to update and moderate the content making it useful for visitors. Those gate keepers and key masters need to have incentives in order to continue moderation of the core value of the site. That incentive can be a salary to employees OR reputation and badges in the context of gamification.

In your case for flower enthusiasts it is unlikely that you're sponsor are willing to hire personnel to do the job, at least in the beginning of this project (I'm guessing, but between the lines of your question this is what I interpret). Then you need to gather users who are willing to spend time on your site moderating content - and that's where gamification comes in. Use it wisely, and it has a potential to be successful.

Useful links:

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    +1 thank you for the input, u touched some of the core ideas that was in my mind as a question mark. – sree May 1 '12 at 6:23
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    Thanks @sree that was my intention. Good luck with the flower site! – Benny Skogberg May 1 '12 at 7:17

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