Jeremy Liew (yes, as you can see I’m a devoted reader) wrote a post about the key mechanics of game design, and how they can be applied to social networking sites.
The key mechanics (originally described by Ami Jo Kim) are five:
- Collecting Things
- Earning Points
- Providing Feedback
- Exchanges
- Customization
The things to be collected can be of various types: photos, video, but also friends, favorites, followers, subscribers and so on.
The points to be earned can be: number of views, number of subscribers, votes, etc.
Feedback can be provided by other users in terms of satisfaction, reliability, popularity, etc.
Users like to customize their personal profile, personal page, their virtual identity.
Jeremy adds:
Basically, the key question you’re trying to answer for a first time visitor is “what am I supposed to do here?” One often repeated game design adage is “easy to learn, hard to master“.
and concludes with a suggestion:
If you’re running a social media site, ask yourself if a new user will quickly “get the game” and then want to “get into the game”.
Jeremy’s post contains also many interesting links.
Technorati Tags: Giacomo Vacca, Jeremy Liew, Social Networking
