Getting Started with the Value Points Mess
So last Wednesday, I was staring at this new feature we built for our app. Felt kinda…empty? Like ordering a burger and getting just the bun. Users were clicking around but bouncing off faster than my cat when I try to give him a bath. Needed extra juice – what we call “value points.”
Grabbed sticky notes and my crappy whiteboard marker. First step – asked the team: “Yo, what makes people actually stay on this thing?” Sarah from UX shrugged: “Maybe rewards?” Mike from dev sighed: “Or maybe less bug crashes?” Classic Mike.
The Awkward Brainstorm Phase
Tried forcing ideas like squeezing toothpaste from an empty tube:
- Scribbled “daily streaks” – because Duolingo’s bird haunts my dreams
- Wrote “exclusive tips” – sounded fancy but nobody knew what that meant
- Drew a trophy icon – then realized trophies are for 5th grade soccer
Felt like chasing my own tail. Took a break, burned my toast, and had this dumb lightbulb moment while scraping charcoal off bread.
The “Duh” Moment & Execution
Instead of inventing crap, I stalked user feedback like a creep. Found 3 repeating complaints:
- “Takes too many clicks to find X”
- “Why can’t I customize Y?”
- “Where’s my progress history?!”
Boom – actual pain points! Not some corporate buzzword bingo. So Tuesday morning, I barged into our dev huddle:
“Scrap the trophy. Let’s build: 1-click access to X, drag-and-drop customization for Y, and a progress timeline.” Crickets…then Mike muttered “finally something that won’t crash.”
What Actually Happened
Launched it Thursday. No confetti, no company-wide email. Just pushed update v4.2 quietly. Checked analytics Friday – session times up 17%. Got two user emails saying “this feels smoother.” Felt better than any trophy icon.
Moral of the story? Value points ain’t glitter you sprinkle on top. They’re duct tape for the holes users are screaming about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to buy a new toaster.
