Designing an XP System for Real-Life Skills
I tried to build a leveling system that accurately measures real-life skill.
Designing a leveling system for real-life skills is a complex task, as there are several key differences between video games and real-life progress. Firstly, there is no skill cap in real life – you can never truly master any subject or skill. Secondly, progress is not always linear, as it goes through various stages of acquisition, including a "plateau" phase where improvement seems slow or nonexistent.
Lastly, the way we improve real-life skills differs from video games – practicing the same action repeatedly will only make you better at that specific action, rather than improving your overall performance.
Levely, an RPG-inspired focus-timer app, aims to provide visual progression for real-life skills by using XP points. However, creating a system that feels fun and rewarding without forcing users to monitor their practice sessions carefully is challenging. The app cannot measure how good you are at a skill directly, and forcing users to write their intentions before starting a session might be an unwanted extra step.
The leveling system should mimic the journey of acquiring a new skill and provide a sense of commitment, consistency, and achievement. Users earn XP points for every minute spent in a focused state, and every level requires a certain amount of XP points. The initial levels need to have smaller XP requirements than later levels, as the progress tends to slow down as users become more competent.
Ultimately, Levely can provide an extra incentive for users to stay focused and persistent by offering visual feedback and small rewards for completing focus sessions.
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