The following lessons are part of my “ReInventing Series” of posts from TEDxPennQuarter:

Design to Motivate Others

Kes Sampanthar gave one of the more interesting talks, distinguishing between LIKE and WANT. Placing these two variable on individual axes, you come up with a chart mapping four quadrants: User Experience (Like, Don’t Want), Usability (Don’t Like, Don’t Want), Addiction (Don’t Like, But Want), and Motivation Design (Like, Want). The core of his talk was on “Motivation Design” — a concept that is so critical when designing a product, service, or organization that people both like and want!

I think the best example of motivational design is the game of golf:

• Create a Challenge – Golf is such a widely popular sport because it is challenging! We set goals for our game, practice, but continually face new challenges to conquer. Without the element of challenge, nobody would be interested in going out to the course knowing exactly how they are going to play.
• Understand Behavioral Economics – People are not rational, and going along with the example above: they are going to keep playing golf even though it can be SO frustrating!
• Social Engagement - People want to be a part of something larger, and to be engaged with other people! The social aspect of golf is a major reason for the sports’ success! People can play together, talk about the sport, and have that shared experience that strengthens relationships. I’d even argue that the social component is what drives individual practice to get better! This is increasingly becoming something we can integrate into products, services, and organizations through social media.
• Game Design – The structures of games come with a set of rules, standards, goals, benchmarks, etc. When thinking about how to design a product/service/organization, keep in mind how we design games and plan accordingly.