New leaderboard and point system recognizes expert contributors and creates better consumer experience
Seattle, Wash — In order to recognize and reward the growing number of doctors and lawyers participating in its Q&A forum, today Avvo, Inc., the largest expert-only online health and legal Q&A resource and directory (www.avvo.com), announced that it is introducing the use of virtual rewards, levels and status, also known as game mechanics.
The more than 120,000 doctors and lawyers participating on Avvo today will receive points for a number of activities on the site including answering questions in the Q&A forum, highlighting quality contributions from other professionals, and sharing or having their content shared on social networks. Weekly and all-time leaderboards and contributor level badges show professionals how they stack up against their peers and what they need to do to get to the next level.
“While Avvo’s experts are intrinsically motivated to provide guidance on Avvo, most people enjoy and are further motivated by friendly competition and recognition,” said Sendi Widjaja, Chief Technology Officer of Avvo. “Avvo’s new gamification brings an additional element of enjoyment to our Q&A forum and recognizes the doctors and lawyers that consistently contribute expert advice that showcases their expertise to the millions of people that use Avvo every month.”
“Game mechanics are increasingly becoming a critical tool for websites and applications to attract and retain users,” said Gabe Zichermann, chair of the Gamification Summit. “In addition to using these techniques to create a stickier user experience, companies like Avvo are also finding that they can raise the level of participation by experts and consumers, introduce a more competitive landscape and improve the caliber and quality of information provided on the site.”
Game Details
- Doctors and lawyers are awarded points for contributing to the Avvo community by:
- Answering questions and writing helpful guides
- Highlighting other professionals’ quality contributions
- Doctors and lawyers are also awarded additional points when:
- Answers are marked as ‘good’ by Q&A participants (professionals and consumers)
- Answers or guides are shared by users via social networks
- Guides are selected as an Avvo Staff Pick
- They participate as an Avvo guest blogger or speaker
For more information please visit: http://www.avvo.com/health-leaderboards/all-time or www.avvo.com/legal-leaderboards/all-time.
About Avvo, Inc.
Avvo is the largest medical and legal resource online that empowers consumers with the information and expert-only advice they need to confidently make the right decisions about their health and legal needs. In addition to its free expert-only Q&A forum, where consumers can ask a lawyer or ask a doctor questions, the site features an extensive professional directory with comprehensive professional profiles, patient and client reviews, peer endorsements and the unbiased, industry-recognized Avvo Rating for more than 90% of practicing doctors and lawyers in the U.S. Launched in 2007, Avvo is privately held, with funding from Benchmark Capital, Ignition Partners and DAG Ventures. For more information, visit www.avvo.com.
