Rahul Vohra's 7 principles of game design

Game design is not gamification. It is not simply taking your product and adding points, levels, trophies, and badges. Gamification was a big deal 10 years ago, but it didn’t work. And to understand why, we have to understand human motivation.

At Superhuman, we set a very concrete goal: get to Inbox Zero. But the goal must also be achievable, which is why we onboard our users.

Well, then, and this is going to sound crazy, we increase the challenge level. We give you a really challenging goal: hit Inbox Zero without ever touching the mouse. This balances your perceived skill with the perceived challenge, thus resulting in flow.

How do you design a game?1. Goals2. Emotions3. Controls4. Toys5. Flow

flow is incredible. How do we make it? Well, these are the conditions:1. You must always know what to do next.2. You must always know how to do it.3. You must be free from distractions.4. You must get clear and immediate feedback.5. And this is the hardest to get right. You must feel a balance between challenge and skill.

As it turns out, there is no unifying theory of game design. To create games, we have to draw upon the art and science of psychology, mathematics, interaction design, and storytelling.

Consider your own product. Is it fun, even without a goal? Does it indulge moments of playful exploration? Does it create moments of pleasant surprise? If so, congratulations because then you have a toy and you're on the way to building a great game.

Superhuman is productivity software, but I'm really a gamer at heart — and I've built a framework for applying game design to business software.