[译]五大法宝让你的网站/产品更具趣味性[TRANS]

 

又翻译了一篇关于SNS的文章:-)

 

Top 5 Ways to Make Your Site More Fun
[译]五大法宝让你的网站/产品更具趣味性

原作：Gabe Zichermann是《游戏式营销》（Wiley出版社，已出版）和《趣味件（Funware）实战》（Manning出版社，预计2010年第三季度出版）的作者。同时他也是新兴的专业移动社区网络公司beamME的CEO，我们可以在http://funwareblog.com上看到很多他关于游戏和世界的想法的文章。
译者：阿木（http://waymangood.spaces.live.com , amourguo(at)gmail.com）

 

    Just like sex, fun sells. The early proof of that can be seen in the amazing success of location-based networks such as Gowalla(), MyTown and Foursquare(), and in the breakthrough marketing efforts of major brands like Nike, Coke and Chase. Even finance made fun can be a winner — Mint.com’s meteoric rise was in no small part due to the fun, social engagement of its approach. Ever feel elated while using Quicken? I didn’t think so.
    有趣的东西总是很受欢迎。在这一点上，已经有很多令人兴奋的成功案例，比如基于地理定位的社区网络：Gowalla, MyTown 和 Foursquare；再比如在营销上取得巨大突破的公司如Nike, 可口可乐, 和Chase等；甚至是原本枯燥的财经类应用如果设计得富有趣味性的话，也能成为赢家——Mint.com（译者注：知名个人金融网站）的快速成长在很大程度上也归功于他的趣味性和社会融入度，而你在使用Quicken（译者注：一款专统的家庭及个人财务管理软）时会觉得有趣吗？呵呵，反正我不这么认为。

 

    The trend continues, with an ever-increasing number of startups looking to get an edge with consumers through fun. Their weapons of choice: Game Mechanics.
    这种趋势仍在继续，越来越多的新兴公司依靠趣味性来博得用户的青睐，而他们手中的武器就是：游戏机制。

 

    When taken together, game mechanics such as points, leaderboards, badges, challenges and levels form part of what we call a Funware Loop. In my latest book I argue that the best and most compelling loyalty programs are built extensively around Funware and when applied creatively, can make any consumer web or mobile app experience more engaging.
    归纳来讲，这些游戏机制诸如积分、排行榜、徽章、挑战和等级，共同形成了一个环，我们称之为趣味件环（译者注：Funware Loop，好像没有什么中文短语可以把这个翻译得恰到好处）。在我的新书中我也谈到了，最好的、最有说服力的用户忠诚度计划（loyalty programs）必定要围绕着趣味件这个核心进行并且要有创造性的去运用它，这能使无论Web应用或是移动应用都获得更加精彩的用户体验。

 

    Whether you sell organic foods online, develop mobile application or run the world’s largest social network, you can benefit from applying the 5 simple strategies listed below to increase engagement.
    无论你是在线销售有机食品、开发移动设备应用程序或是运营世界顶级的社区网络，你都可以通过推行下面将要提到的这5条简单的策略并从中获得收益。

 

    After all, who doesn’t like a little fun every once in a while?
    毕竟，谁会不想不经意间生活中能多一些有趣的玩意儿呢？

 

1. Points | 积分

    Points are an essential part of any Funware Loop, and a great starting point for “gameifying” your site or app. Points allow you to keep track of user activities and make it easy to shape user behavior. Start by listing all the actions that you’d want users to perform and assign relative values to each, taking care to get the balance right.
    积分是趣味件环的一个基本组成部分，积分是“游戏化”你的网站或应用程序的一个绝佳的起点。积分策略让你可以了解用户的行为，并引导用户形成你所期望的更加健康的用户行为。首先你可以列出你期望让用户去做的所有的行为，并给这些行为分配相应的分值，当然，在分配的时候要注意保持一定的平衡。

 

    In most cases, you’ll want to emphasize user growth and engagement, so be sure to offer healthy point slugs for referrals and activities that generate user interaction (adding friends/followers, for example). Keep your point denominations reasonable: if you begin by giving away millions of points for every activity, you’ll reduce your future room to grow. Also don’t over design to deal with cheaters on day one; you’ll have plenty of time to work on that later.
    在大多数情况下，你都会比较重视你的用户的成长和容入度，所以对于能产生有益的用户交互(如：添加好友、添加关注者等)的用户和行为要给予积分奖励（译者注：即心理学上讲的正激励的引导方式）。确保你的积分体系的制定是合理的：如果你一开始就把上百万的积分都分配了各种行为，这无疑是扼杀了你未来的成长空间。另外在开始时也没有必要针对可能出现的作弊者做过度的设计，首先要关注最重要的部分，你之后还有大把的时间去做这些。

 

    Once you’ve begun to assign points for various activities, you’ll need to ensure that you’re giving users an easy way to see their score and how they compare against others. The easiest way to accomplish both is with a leaderboard.
    当你开始为各种各样的行为分配积分的时候，你要确保能你给予用户一个简单的途径去查看他们的积分，并方便让用户可以与其他用户进行比较，而最简单的实现方法就是排行榜。

 

 
    Points help your users keep track of how they are doing in your app. Here, popular mobile social network MyTown uses dollars in lieu of points (something you should generally avoid unless it’s thematically relevant to your site/app).
    积分策略可以帮助你的用户了解他们在你的应用中的状态。如上图，知名的移动社区网络“MyTown”使用了美元“$”作为他们积分的计量单位（通常来讲，你应当避免这样，而是选择一项跟你的网站/应用相关的积分计量单位，如QQ的Q币、开心网的开心币）。

 

2. Leaderboards | 排行榜

    Like the scoreboard at a sporting event, leaderboards are a universal way to convey to your fans and customers that a “game” is being played. The key to being successful with a leaderboard mechanic is to ensure that users are motivated by friendly competition while simultaneously not de-motivated by users who are better, faster and have been playing longer than them. There is no better solution to this problem than Facebook Connect.
    就如同一些赛事上的计分榜，排行榜可以让你的用户能够意识到他是正在“玩游戏”。通过排行榜的机制获得成功的关键就在于，要通过友好的竞争让用户得到激励，同时又不能因为其他用户更好、更快或是加入的时间比他更早而让该用户失去希望和动力。对于这个问题，似乎没有比Facebook Connect（译者注：允许用户从外部网站访问 Facebook 数据，这使得普通网站也可以具有社交功能。详见http://developers.facebook.com/connect.php）更好的方案了。

 

    The easiest option: show the points accumulated by your customers relative to their social graph, giving them a contextual ranking. Through callouts, illustrate how easily they can rise to the level of their next-highest performing friend (e.g. “invite two more people to beat Debbie’s score”). Of course, you should also show a global Top 10 and geo-located leaderboards if you can, but these should actually be somewhat buried in your design.
    最简易的方案：展示相对于用户的社交关系的累加积分，并给予他们一个相应的等级。通过标注（比如那种消息气泡），告诉用户他们如果想让自己的级别超过他的一位当前级别更高的好友是件很简单的事（例如，当用户查看他的好友“Debbie”的时候则提示他：“只需要再邀请2位好友，你就可以超过Debbie的分数”）。当然，你也可以不仅仅展示一个总榜行，还可以展示一个本地排行（比如基于你所在的城市，或是你的好友圈），但是由于信息量会过大，你应该把一些功能巧妙地“藏”在你的设计里。

 

    Though points and leaderboards are quite powerful (and sufficient for most game-like experiences that target the achiever in us), they lack the ability to create social rewards for parallel or tangential activities. For that, there are badges.
    虽然积分和排行很有用处（并且对于大多数的游戏式体验的应用也已经足够了），但是它依然缺少对平行活动或切向活动提供社会性奖励（例如关注、认可、表扬和感谢等等）的能力。这时，徽章机制就应运而生了。

 

    Social leaderboards, like this one from the wildly successful Facebook game Who Has the Biggest Brain (Playfish/EA), show your score relative to your friends on Facebook, making it easy to both feel successful and competitive at the same time.
    上图中的排行榜，来自最成功的Facebook游戏——Who Has the Biggest Brain(Playfish/EA)，它显示了用户相对于其他Facebook好友的积分，这让人既有成就感又有竞争的压力。

 

3. Badges | 徽章

    The best way to think about badges is as a demonstrable, fun reward for a specific activity that is easily socialized with others. Much as Boy and Girl Scouts receive merit badges for particular activities, you too can create an almost limitless set of attractive, visual objects that can be “sewn” onto a users’ social graph – typically their Facebook wall or Twitter stream. By giving your customers an easy thing to crow about, you maximize the likelihood that they will evangelize your site/product to others while also creating a positive association for them.
    最好的理解徽章机制的方式就是：他是一种针对特定的社会化行为的可供展示的趣味性的奖励形式。就像美国童子军的奖章一样，你也可以无限量地设定各种诱人的、形象的徽章并把它们“缝合”到用户的社交体系上，比如说用户的Facebook wall或是Titter stream。当你的用户有了这些吹嘘的资本之后，他们在向身边的人炫耀并建立他在他圈子里的地位的过程中，你的网站和产品也就同时得到了宣传。

 

    Think of badges as rewards for ongoing contests that users are constantly engaged in – whether or not they are directly connected to point balances. In many applications, badges are issued without warning (see Foursquare), leveraging the power of operant conditioning – like slot machines – to keep users playing. Where possible, offer an auto-tweet/post option for your badges – braggarts are a great way to get the word out about your app.
    把徽章作为用户参加各种竞赛的奖赏，无论这些竞赛是否是直接地与积分相关联。在很多的应用中，徽章是在没有预兆的情况下颁发给用户的（如Foursquare），这样可以巧妙地进行用户的可控行为调节，就像老虎机一样，吸引用户有不停地去玩。如果可能的话，为徽章系统提供一个获得徽章后自动发布消息的功能，用户之间的相互夸耀是让你的应用传播到全世界的一个很好的途径。（译者注：QQ会员的徽章系统和开心组件“非常礼遇2010”中的勋章好像就部分遵从了这一原则）

 

    Where badges are frequently (though not always) given as a reward for a set of non-obvious activities, challenges are a direct way to engage users around a specific task – and are an essential part of the Funware Loop.
    当徽章频繁地（虽然不总是）为一些并非显而易见的活动颁发给用户作为奖赏的时候，挑战机制则是吸引用户来参加某项任务的一条直接的办法，它也是趣味件环（Funware Loop）中的一个基本部分。

 

    A badge by any other name is… a ribbon? Farmville, the uber-popular Facebook game uses ribbons to offer periodic rewards to users. Where possible, make your badges attractive and relevant to your users.
    徽章的其他形式也可以是...绶带？在Farmville（Facebook中的一款很受欢迎的游戏）中就使用了绶带来为用户提供周期性的奖赏。如果可能的话，把你的徽章做得更具有吸引力一些，并且最好与你的受众用户群的特点相关。

 

4. Challenges | 挑战

    Most walkathons and sales campaigns start with a challenge: “sign up ten walkers/new customers/friends and receive a reward.” Everyone has, at one time or another, taken up a challenge like this, and they are an essential part of an end-to-end system for customer loyalty. Once you have a sufficient group of users collecting and comparing their points, you can start offering them the option to compete for more points and virtual rewards.
    在大多数的步行马拉松慈善筹款和促销活动中，一般都是以某项挑战作为开始：“发展5个慈善步行者/客户/好友，你就可以得到奖励”。几乎所有的人都曾不只一次地接受过这种挑战，而这种挑战也是用户忠诚度衔接系统的一个基本组成部分。一旦你积累了足够多的用户并允许用户进行积分比较，你就可以开始鼓励他们为更多的积分和虚拟奖励而展开相互竞争。

 

    For example, you could offer users 10,000 bonus points for signing up 4 friends for your service. Automate the notifications, issue a congratulatory message, and immediately offer another pre-built challenge (e.g., 100,000 points for 20 signups). Consider offering a wide range of challenges tied to your evergreen and time-sensitive business objectives and allow users to access a list so that they can pick their own.
    举例来说，如果用户推荐4个好友注册了你的服务，你可以给用户1万个奖励积分。并自动发送通知，发布一条祝贺消息，并且随即提供下一项预设好的挑战任务（比如，继续推荐20个好友成功注册的话，用户可以得到10万的奖励积分）。你可以提供大量的各种各样的挑战任务来绑定你的长期的或是现时的经营目标，并且可以让用户查看这些挑战的列表和选择他们自己喜欢的挑战项目。

 

    With all the activity around points, badges and challenges, it seems obvious that users might need some easy way to track and reflect on their achievements within your app/site. Levels, a game mechanic from the earliest of video games, are the perfect solution for creating a constant sense of forward motion and the opportunity for reflection.
    有了所有的这些围绕着积分、徽章和挑战进行的活动，显然用户还可能会需要一种更加直接简便的途径来查看他们在你的应用/网站上所取得的成果。而从最早的电子游戏中借鉴而来的等级体制，就是一个绝佳的方式用以对用户形成一种持续的激励，并提供一个让用户内省的机会。

 

    Gowalla, a mobile social network, has a sophisticated and well-conceived challenge mode, known as trips. Like many winning Funware designs, Gowalla allows users to also see the complete list of challenges to choose the ones they like best.
    移动社区网络公司Gowalla拥有一套成熟完备的挑战模式，称为Trips（旅程）。正如很多的成功趣味件设计一样，Gowalla允许用户查看所有的挑战项目的列表，并且他们可以选择自己喜欢的项目来自由参与。

 

5. Levels | 等级

    If there is a single mantra we could extract from the multi-billion-dollar casual games industry that has spawned Bejeweled, Diner Dash and Farmville, it’s “Reward Early, Reward Often (and don’t go negative).” While this is relatively easy to do, users in a more complex loyalty program or on Funware-based sites, frequently need levels to create a discrete sense of achievement. Levels allow users to feel like they’ve accomplished something by showing structured progression through the overall experience.
    如果要从催生了诸如Bejeweled, Diner Dash 和 Farmville等几个成功游戏的价值数十亿美元的休闲游戏产业总结出一句话来概括他们的成功的话，那将会是：“即时且时常的对用户进行奖励”。这些是相对容易做到的，用户在一个更加复杂的忠诚度计划或基于趣味件的网站中，经常需要等级来满足他们的成就感。等级让用户觉得如同他们经过一系列的努力而终于取得了一项进展。

 

    Levels can be complex to design properly, so start with simple breakpoints and leave yourself room to expand. Use numbers or letters to denote your levels and set their breakpoints with increasing degrees of difficulty. A good rule of thumb is that it should be at least twice as hard to complete the fourth level as it is the first, and so on.
    等级体系可以被设计的非常复杂，不过你可以从简单的升级断点机制（即到达某一点即进入更高的级别）开始来设计你的等级体系，以便留有的空间来改进和扩充。你可以使用数字或字母来标示等级，并把各级别的升级断点设为渐增的模式。在这方面，一项基本的原则就是从第1级起，每隔4个等级时升级所需新增的积分至少要翻倍，从而让升级的难度呈渐进的趋势。


    Diner Dash uses a clearly defined level system. Every time you clear the restaurant of patrons, you clear a board; multiple cleared boards gives you a finished level. Imagine doing the same thing with a fitness app: as users perform tasks and improve their health, they ascend the ranks.
    Diner Dash使用了一个定义清晰的等级体系。每个经营档期清场之后，都会清一次盘，几次清盘之后会根据你的分数（所服务的台数）给你一个等级；你也可以试想一下在一个模拟健身的应用程序上使用同样的等级策略：当用户完成任务并改善健康状况之后，他们也提升了在应用程序中的等级。

 

Conclusion | 结论

    With the breathtaking growth of game mechanics and Funware in the current crop of popular apps and sites, it’s easy to see why so many startups are interested in incorporating points, leaderboards, badges, challenges and levels in their designs.
    游戏机制和趣味件的使用在当前众多的热门应用程序和网站上都呈惊人的增长态势，不难分析出为什么那么多的新兴公司都对在他们的设计中应用积分、排行榜、徽章、挑战和等级等理念兴趣十足。

 

    Whether you are building a healthcare app, forum discussion site or the next Mint.com, these simple game mechanics can make your consumer-facing mobile or web experience substantially more fun and engaging — all for far less than the cost of a traditional loyalty program, and with far greater satisfaction.
    无论你是在开发一个模拟健身的应用程序、一个论坛网站或是下一个Mint.com，这些简单的游戏机制和策略都会让你的面向移动设备或是Web的产品拥有更高的趣味性和展现更大的吸引力，而所有的这些所花费的成本远比传统的用户忠诚度计划要低得多，但是效果却更令人满意。

 

原文地址：http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/funware-game-mechanics/