This could work out pretty well. I remember reading somewhere (can't find the article) that Brian Eno works with artists this way as a producer, creating artificial constraints to expand their creativity. Would be interesting to see how this affects the startup process where optionality can be overwhelming.
I think this is a super interesting idea. It feels like the natural progression of this would be a set of UI tools to rest on top of JIRA / Trello, or a new task management platform of its own. Basically, a way to create the "gameplay" automatically in the UI
I think that this site itself could be the basis of a SaaS product. It's awesome.
However, I also know from painful experience that time spent on this is likely a distraction from actually building the thing. The happy exception would be if this was indeed the core idea of the thing that you're building.
If so: well played.
If not: get back to work.
ps. Most books are also distractions, but I've heard excellent things about Traction.
One of the major but rarely talked about causes of failure for startups is simply the entrepreneur getting demotivated. Gamefication could be an excellent way to deal with that. Beating yourself over the head and giving yourself a guild complex "Focus! Distraction! I should be..." Tend to build resentment and do more harm then good.
Except this isn’t how companies are built. If you have to rely on “motivation” to accomplish something, you’re finished. You’ll never do it, your motivation will run out. And then what’s going to carry you? This goes not just for companies, but for anything else in life, such as school or exercise.
The real way you build a company is by honing a hard discipline: getting up everyday and doing things you have to do whether you like it or not (and usually not). Whether you’re motivated or unmotivated, inspired or uninspired, sick or healthy, confident or afraid. You just get out there and fucking do it, and if you can’t, then be a failure.
A company can stay challenging longer than you can stay motivated.
Some motivations last a lifetime, I don't think our desire to feed ourselves is going away anytime soon..
A lot of current thinking on the subject is based on Abraham Maslow's 1947 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation". Your "hard discipline" seems based on the "esteem" part of his "hierarchy of needs" while this might be a sufficient motivator for some, for many it will likely be beneficial to look for other motivators.
I thought about making it a SaaS product but I made the mistake to build without having any demands. Seeing how much people are enjoying it, maybe I can turn this into something.
I'll sleep on it.
Thanks for the recommendation, adding Traction to the list!
I think if some of the game quests are to improve marketing and design skills then op hit it out of the park. In his case it’s not a waste of time, it’s a genius marketing and design quest.
This is actually cool, I like experiments with (semi-)gamifying work for myself. One thing you always struggle with is good measurements. I had been experimenting with giving myself points for improvements and work on various areas, and there were certainly problems with inflation and "underinvested" areas feeling a little less satisfying. Still, as long as I persevered, this was a nice motivation along with a way to actually track what I did with my time.
I wonder if the skill stats here points to the next level, or are they meant to represent his skills on an absolute scale. Not doubting this person in particular, but I think there is almost always a big room for improvement in any skill in life even if you're already masterful.
I love this UI! And, as a huge JRPG fan, also the idea behind it. Best of luck that you don't run out of health before finishing a few high-level quests!
What a neat application of game design elements and at work here... if nothing else for your own experiences and learnings as you seem to be on that journey :)
Thanks for sharing it. May I ask how much time and effort you've invested to get it to this point?
Further, there is some potential to turn it into a broader tool that others seeking to become more entrepreneurial could benefit from in their daily lives...maybe a freemium MVO model here (charging scrappy entrepreneurs is haphazard at best for both sides).
Beyond that, however, I can see more of an enterprise product potential...
But you shouldn't care what I think. You should care about what your target customer is prepared to pay you for, at
least until you can lead a happy retirement with your runway.
On one hand it looks really cool, on the other hand it gives me flash-era flashbacks. But he is not trying to pass this as an useful homepage to unsuspecting small business owners who should know better, so I guess this is fine.