Cyber Security is increasingly important. Unfortunately, for many, the training to keep up-to-date with cyber security best practices is not very engaging.
Make sure to Check out Dustin’s Player Type analysis.
Congratulations, Dustin. Well done!
Awesome! Thanks @Dirk and @Sergio for taking the time to go over my resubmission. Your feedback is very insightful and I learned a lot by going through it.
I’ll continue to work on improving my Octalysis skills! ‘
Dustin Lehr
Do you want to join a community of learners and bring your knowledge of Human-Focused Design to the next level?
Here we have another great example of how Gamification can be applied to a non-digital experience.
Joel found many things that could be improved at his driving learning centre in Germany. He successfully used that energy to create a submission for the Level 1 Octalysis Certificate!
Especially the Brainstorming is worth taking a look at. Many of Joel’s ideas build on each other and strengthen each other, which is crucial for creating a synergetic user experience.
Congratulations, Joel. Well done!
I want to thank Yu-kai Chou for the knowledge you spread through the Octalysis Island. It’s a great honor for me to be able to learn from your content.
Joel Schmidt
Do you want to join a community of learners and bring your knowledge of Human-Focused Design to the next level?
When most people hear the word Gamification, they think of apps that attempt to turn boring things into a game. While digital experiences do lend themselves well for engagement design, the realm of Gamification expands far beyond your phone and your computer.
We love how this is reflected in the wide range of topics that are chosen for the Octalysis Certificate submissions.
Learning in Octalysis changed my way of thinking.
Arsham Navid
Arsham‘s submission covers the user experience of a local coffee shop! Take a look at his – beautiful – presentation for inspiration on how to analyse and improve the user engagement of a non-digital experience.
After receiving feedback on his first submission, Arsham came back for round two and delivered! His submission is now one of our favourite examples for the Octalysis Level 1 Certificate.
Congratulations, Arsham. Great job.
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. I am grateful for your positive response. I have enjoyed receiving tips and instructions from you during this project.
Arsham Navid
Do you want to join a community of learners and bring your knowledge of Human-Focused Design to the next level? Don’t hesitate to try out Octalysis Prime for free!
In our last post we introduced twopassionate Octalysis Primers: Joel and DanielSchmidt from Germany. If you missed it, check it out first.
These brothers, friends and now also business partners, recently started a consulting company named Smithery. They do UX consulting with a focus on digital learning experiences. Shortly after launch they are already working for two clients!
Joel Schmidt
Joel, age 21, is the younger brother of the two.
“After High School I took a year of Bible School with the aim to find myself and figure out what I wanted to do.
I have experience with outdoor experiential education: group activities and team-building exercisesand more and more got the feeling that I should do something with business consulting.”
During the interview we observed that we could really see Joel in a consulting position as he comes across as very disarming and kind.
We had a good laugh together when we mentioned that people would likely accept him telling them what they do wrong and should improve. To which Joel simply replied: “Yeah that’s true“, with a perfect disarming smile.
What is it like to work with your brother?
In April 2021 I felt in my heart that it was time to move on. I quit my job as a scaffolder and started Smithery with Daniel. It is great to work with my brother. We’ve had our difference in the past, but we grew very close together now. We often take a walk in the evening to really talk about stuff. Yeah, it’s really nice to have such a brother”
Daniel adds: “Amen to all of that. And Joel adds so much value to the way I do things. He sees so many things that I would completely miss because I’m all about the structure.Joel is like fluid; he understands my structure but can flow through it like water, making all sorts of connections.“
How did you land on Octalysis Prime?
“When I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do, Daniel suggested to sign up for Octalysis Prime.
He reasoned that no matter what I would choose, when working with people, understanding motivation will always help you.
Also even if it is just for yourself. It is very useful to learn more about what moves you, what you are hard-wired to do, and how to motivate yourself to do stuff.
What did you get out of Octalysis Prime?
“Actually, the ‘side-stuff’ has helped me the most. I really resonated with the videos on how to improve your life. It has helped me a lot to structure my life better and make better choices.
For the business, the core about Gamification and the Octalysis framework provides a solid foundation. Particularly useful are the videos that cover the importance of thinking through the four phases of the User Journey.
Something great, and fun, about Octalysis is that it provides a language to talk about motivation in a much more meaningful way. We now see Core Drives everywhere! When watching a TV show we often point out to each other things like: “That is a really good Core Drive 2 example!”
Can you tell us something about your Octalysis Certificate?
Of the brothers Schmidt, Joel was the first to earn his prestigious Octalysis Level 1 Certificate.
“It is really fun to analyze a product, like an app or website, and figure out how to make it more fun and engaging. Going through the steps of defining the Octalysis Strategy Dashboard definitely helps. It helps to make clear what is important for the design, and you can refer back to it during the Brainstorming to get the focus right.”
What the Future Holds
We are looking forward to seeing Smithery grow into a recognized consulting business in Germany, and to read your updates in the Slack Community. This is just the beginning.
“Wait, didn’t I already see a blog post about Colin Hahn’s Octalysis Certificate recently?”
Yes, you did, Colin is on a roll! He attained his Level 1 certificate with this submission about Talent Development. And very shortly after submitted for the prestigious Level 2 Octalysis Certificate, which he achieved in one go!
The chosen experience to analyse and improve is Leadership Engine, a program to develop new leaders at Douglas Dynamics.
Douglas Dynamics is a publicly traded manufacturing company. They produce work truck attachments and install attachments onto work truck chasses.
Currently, 230 of the 1,750 employees are in first-level leadership roles: Team leads, Operations managers and Office managers. But the new leader experience at Douglas Dynamics is inconsistent and ad hoc, creating a significant opportunity for the new Leadership Engine program to improve labor productivity, engagement, and turnover.
Colin diligently creates a full Octalysis Strategy Dashboard, capturing all the information required to guide the design process. For Level 2 this also includes Feedback Vehicles, Feedback Mechanics and Rewards.
By creating an Octalysis Graph to analyze the motivation provided by the current experience he identifies the key areas for improvement.
After Brainstorming for features to fill the gaps and make sure the new experience is motivating for the main Player Type, Colin created visuals to explain his ideas. A requirement for the Level 2 Certificate.
This is his proposal for an improved visual dashboard.
Congratulations Colin for reaching this impressive milestone and adding your name to the Hall of Fame! You’ve earned it.
Try out Octalysis Prime for FREE, if you also want to master all the skills required to motivate your employees.
Did you know that two of our Octalysis Primers are from the same town in Germany? What a coincidence, right?
Or maybe not so much, these two handsome men are actually brothers! But Daniel and Joel share much more than a last name, they are both:
– Passionate Gamers – Driven to make learning more fun – Co-owners of Smithery
Smithery – Forging great learning experiences
Unlike their own experience at German university, Joel and Daniel strongly believe that “learning can and should be something fun.”
Armed with knowledge about Human Motivation, Gamification and UX Design, they started a consultancy business. It is cleverly named Smithery; a place where powerful things are forged, by the brothers Schmidt.
They started working for their first client only two days after launch!
“In the past years I have worked with many organizations in the field where two things that are close to my heart come together: Nerd Culture and Christianity.”
As a leading force for e.g. Allianzmission and MainQuest, he is well-connected and respected through-out Germany.
What is it like to work with your brother?
“I have worked with many different teams, and luckily we have so far always managed to establish a family like culture. But working with your actual brother is really something different.
The age difference between Joel and myself is quite big, 7,5 years. So when I was growing up and going through early adult struggles, Joel was still a child.
In recent years we have grown very close together, and have established a deep sense of openness and trust. Which I think is absolutely necessary because our working relationship is intertwined with our family relationship.”
How did Octalysis Prime help you start a business?
“I have had six years of study and research around topics like Motivational Psychology and Gameful Design at university. But my understanding of these topics came to a new level by digging into Yu-kai’s work. It is actually even bigger than that, a whole new world opened up!
There is also a lot of merit in being part of the OP Slack community. There are some people in the community who just breathe valuable information. And it is great to share different perspectives with like-minded people.
One repeated lesson that stood out to me is to always come back to thinking about motivation – the difference between Human-focused Design and Function-focused Design. To answer the question: joining Octalysis Prime helped with everything.
Can you tell us something about your Octalysis Certificate?
Daniel mentions that he is not all about certificates, as his main focus is on the intrinsic motivation for learning. But he is very happy that he put in the effort to obtain his prestigious Octalysis Level 1 Certificate:
“It is very helpful to take something that you think you know and have studied well, and then have somebody who really knows look at your work and give you feedback that brings you back to reality.
Because the required quality thresholds of the different certificate levels are really enforced it has real value. And it provides the reassurance for myself that I have learned something well.
I know so many people who managed to get their university degree that I won’t take any advice from. Earning an Octalysis Certificates really means something.”
Fun Fact
To wrap up the interview, Daniel shared an amusing story about Octalysis Prime:
He once spent half an hour to click the ‘Defend the Castle’ button in the Challenge Section of the Island exactly 100 times. This made the dragon fly away to patrol for a hundred times, but unfortunately did not reveal any Easter Eggs.
“You may all thank me for testing this so you don’t have to!”
(Button used to say ‘Defend the Castle’)
Part 2 Coming Soon!
A big thanks to Daniel for the interview! Read more about Joel Schmidt’s perspective in Part 2. Spoiler alert: “Joel is like fluid“.
After attending the Behavioral Design Masterclass last year, Colin signed up for a Premium yearly subscription on Octalysis Prime.
As an active user on the Island and steady participant of the weekly Live Coaching Sessions with Yu-kai, he became quite knowledgeable in Human-Focused Design.
Colin combines this knowledge with his expertise in Talent Development and often gives back as a valued member of the Slack community.
The chosen experience for his submission for the Level 1 Octalysis Certificate is his local Chapter for the Association for Talent Development. Check it for inspiration on organizing offline events!
Stay tuned for more, as Colin has already put in the hard work to submit for his Level 2!
Congratulations Colin on obtaining your Level 1 Octalysis Certificate and adding your name to the Hall of Fame.
If you want to dive deeper into Gamification, Behavioral Design and learn how to motivate your customers, your employees, your kids and yourself, try out Octalysis Prime for FREE!
