The limitations of behaviorism
As a designer gamifying experiences, you need to be aware of the limitations of behaviorism. Here are some key points to consider:
- Loss aversion: People care more about avoiding losses than gaining rewards. For example, users may be more motivated to keep their current points than to earn new ones.
- Power of defaults: People are more likely to stick with default options because they require less effort. For example, if a game automatically assigns daily tasks, users are more likely to complete them than if they had to choose tasks themselves.
- Confirmation bias: People tend to see what they expect to see, reinforcing their existing beliefs. For example, if users believe they are bad at a game, they may interpret their performance as worse than it actually is.