Case analysis: How to build a user incentive system?

The construction of a user incentive system is generally carried out around the four indicators of " attracting new users, activeness, retention , and monetization." Among them, promoting users to complete core "monetization" business indicators is the top priority of building the entire system, and it is also the significance of building the system. This article will analyze the user incentive systems designed in three "national-level" financial products, namely Alipay , JD Finance , and Lufax , and interpret the deeper design principles.

1. This article mainly analyzes one of the "active" indicators

Analysis of the other three indicators will be output later.

Active indicators in the operational scope can be divided into two active indicators: operational and business.

• Operational activity indicators: DAU (daily active users), MAU (monthly active users), etc.
• Business activity indicators: directly linked to the core business of the product, such as the number of purchase orders, payment frequency, holding amount, etc.

Active indicators are usually the entry point for building a user incentive system, and the first commonly used operational method is user sign-in.

The form of sign-in is daily clocking in, which is a way for users to develop habitual behaviors. We must overestimate the power of habits.

Ovid, the author of "Habit: The Power of Habit", said: "Nothing is more powerful than the power of habit." This is not an empty promise. Just look at yourself and see how you open WeChat involuntarily every few minutes, and you will know how powerful the power of habit is.

The Alipay app, which has hundreds of millions of monthly active users, is trying to get users to develop a habit of opening Alipay on a daily basis. JD Finance, Lufax and other apps are no exception.

1. Alipay

In the Alipay APP, Alipay takes three approaches to improve the active indicators:

1. Users can earn extra “available points” through daily check-ins, bills and payments;
2. Users can directly obtain "level points" through "consumption shopping, life payment, and financial management ";
3. Users continue to participate in charity activities in Ant Forest and Ant Farm.

Alipay provides an additional bonus points entrance called "Receive Points" for users to log in to Alipay daily to receive points. These points are called "available points". The characteristics of these points can be summarized as requiring users to receive them + only used for redemption consumption.

According to Alipay rules, points are composed of three parts: check-in points, store payment points, and Huabei payment points.

Sign-in points:

After the user signs in, he/she will receive the corresponding points. The Alipay sign-in points value for the first day is set at 1 point, and subsequent sign-ins will increase in natural numbers, with a daily cap of 7 points.

Earn points by paying in stores and by paying with Huabei:

Points are generated after users consume or invest . Points are randomly awarded. Points are not placed into the user’s points account by default, and the user needs to actively “click to receive”.

Summary of the design principles of Alipay's "check-in":

Judging from the design of +1 sign-in points, +1 for consecutive daily sign-ins, and a daily maximum of 7 points, Alipay has not added too many incentive mechanisms to guide user participation in this aspect. Because in common sign-in points designs, the starting value is considered to start from a larger number, which gives users a false psychological perception that points accumulate quickly.

Generally, continuous sign-ins of products will result in irregular gradient rewards, and there may even be mysterious gifts after continuous sign-ins. This also takes advantage of the user's uncertainty and curiosity to continuously motivate user participation. The reason why Alipay did not design it this way can be understood that this is related to the original intention of Alipay to design this "check-in" function.

The original intention of Alipay's daily check-in function has always been designed around the core business, that is, earning points by paying in stores and earning points by Huabei payment.

Alipay has designed the points that users earn from paying bills and making payments in a way that users have to actively "click to receive". This forces users to log in every day to receive the points if they want to obtain them. When users receive the points, they can also sign in to earn the points. If no purchase or payment is made on that day, the user can still receive reward points by signing in.

At the first-level entrance, Alipay triggers users to click on the function through text prompts, such as "2 points to be collected". This trigger prompt design is different from the common "red dot" prompt. Perhaps Alipay considers that using the "red dot" prompt all the time can easily make users tired.

At the secondary entrance, the text prompt "Waiting for Collection" is used. On the final landing page , you can see "hanging" points of varying sizes waiting for users to pick up, and sign in below, which clearly tells users that points can be exchanged for a wide range of other products.

Looking at this, don’t you feel excited and can’t wait to pick it? When the user "clicks to receive", the daily check-in function design is implemented, and the daily check-in is implemented at the same time.

Putting the points value in the framework design is similar to users seeing a tree full of fruits in real life, which arouses users' strong desire to possess.

Users can pocket all points through a low-threshold action like “click to receive,” giving them a sense of accomplishment. Not only that, when users pick up the items, the value of their points is also dynamic. This kind of gamification -like instant feedback stimulates users to produce dopamine and get pleasure.

It can be clearly seen that even in such a small link as sign-in, Alipay tries its best to make users addicted through various methods such as product design, UI design, addiction model, gamification mechanism, etc., so that users can develop the habit of daily sign-in and improve user activity rate. And designed around the core business, it also improves business activity indicators, achieving a win-win situation of user activity and commercial monetization.

In addition to "available points", there are "level points". Tier points are more direct and designed for core business.

It should be mentioned here that the "available points" collected through the "Get Points" entrance can only be redeemed, drawn and consumed, and cannot be used for other purposes. And we know that when a product designs a membership level system, the level needs to be upgraded, and the level is generally calculated based on the number of points. In Ant’s membership level rules, membership level is not linked to “available points” but to “level points”.

The characteristics of "level points" are "no need for users to actively claim them + can be used to redeem for consumption + counted towards membership level".

Users can earn points through "shopping, life payment, and financial management". Currently, in Ant Financial's business, users can earn 1 point for every 20 yuan spent.

This is not a design where 1 yuan equals 1 point. It increases the difficulty of upgrading the user's membership level, but precisely because of the difficulty, it also increases the value of the membership level. Points correspond to membership levels. Ant membership levels are divided into four levels: mass, gold, platinum and diamond membership.

The reason why “available points” are not included in the membership level upgrade is that the membership level is linked to Alipay’s core business. Users complete core consumption behaviors, generate points, and then upgrade.

In this way, the value of Ant membership levels is guaranteed. Because membership levels often correspond to privileges and benefits, and for a points system , the value behind the points plays a key role.

Points are very similar to the value of currency. If they are not designed well, there may be inflation or deflation. The best result is to design them to balance supply and demand as much as possible.

But at the same time, Alipay needs to motivate users to be more active through points, which has promoted the design and development of two lines of Alipay points, namely "available points" and "level points".

The reason why users are so keen to participate is that in building a user incentive system, Alipay has integrated various operational means in the design of "points accumulation"; when it comes to user "points consumption", points are exchanged for attractive actual value. This is a points system that is key to improving the "active" indicator.

Alipay is well aware of this and does not just stop at the interest-based incentive of "points", but also extends it to psychological and spiritual incentives.

Ant Forest and Ant Farm were launched. These two activities generate "energy" and "feed" respectively based on users' bill-buying and payment behaviors, giving them value. They are directly linked to tree-planting and charity donations, forming daily tasks, awakening the public welfare awareness of tens of millions of users and increasing the frequency of users' use of Alipay. The "energy" and "feed" here are alternative "points".

On Earth, religion has become the world's largest "company" by relying on human faith. This spiritual sense of mission is more powerful in motivating users than incentives such as points and red envelopes. However, this incentive design is not easy to achieve, and many products are not suitable for such design.

1. JD Finance

JD Finance APP has designed a sign-in function based on the “operation and business” activity indicators.

The manifestation is:

• Users sign in daily to earn coins, which can be used directly to pay for JD.com orders;
• Users complete tasks and earn gold coins, which can be used for redemption;
• The coins and gold coins earned by users are not counted towards the membership level upgrade. Users can obtain growth points by completing core tasks.
• Design an early-rising check-in activity where users continue to participate in the challenge system and share cash.

Users will receive coins when they sign in. The initial sign-in value is 0.02, which is equivalent to 2 cents in RMB. Sign in for 2N consecutive days and get N treasure chests, with an upper limit. Accumulate sign-ins to open treasure chests, and you can get up to 100 coins.

Summary of the design principles of JD Finance's "Sign in to get coins":

JD Finance users can receive coins by signing in. The design mechanism of this sign-in activity is simple. Therefore, if accumulated based on natural days, such rewards will not be attractive to users. For example, adding various rewards, such as getting a treasure chest after accumulating for 2 days. In addition, JD Finance painted a big picture and set a maximum value of "up to 100 coins" as a possible target value to attract user participation.

If we only look at the sign-in design from the perspective of JD Finance sign-in, there is nothing special about it.

However, this sign-in is mainly for direct connection with JD APP shopping, and also serves as an entry point for traffic . Users who sign in at JD Finance and JD APP every day will receive coins and JD beans respectively, as well as a gift package. Form an interactive mechanism between the two apps and divert traffic to each other.

On JD Finance, users can earn gold coins through the task center and complete tasks in four areas: financial management, interaction, life, and consumption. The tasks involve both core business indicators and operational activity indicators, but are mainly based on core business indicators.

According to the time frequency of tasks, they are divided into daily, weekly, and monthly; according to the repetitive frequency of tasks, they are divided into one-time tasks and repeatable tasks. In this way, users are encouraged to participate in the interaction under the dual impetus of temporal frequency and repetitive frequency. Users can spend the gold coins they earn in the gold coin mall.

JD Finance has designed a system where members can get coins by signing in and gold coins by completing tasks, but these are not included in the member growth value. The growth value can only be accumulated for upgrades and cannot be exchanged for goods. If users want to obtain more growth value and upgrade to a higher membership level, they need to complete additional tasks. Similar to the tasks for users to obtain gold coins, it comes from the four aspects of "financial management, interaction, life, and consumption", but there are some differences in the corresponding specific tasks.

The user's growth value is obtained mainly based on the user's completion of business core indicators. After obtaining a one-time growth value by completing a business core indicator, the user can also obtain daily growth value through a business core indicator every day. For example, if the financial management holdings reach 20,000 yuan in the past 30 days, the growth value is composed of two parts: the one-time growth value + the growth value obtained by continuous holdings.

JD Finance’s membership levels are divided into five levels: bronze, silver, gold, platinum and black gold. When users complete a special task, they can quickly reach platinum membership.

Summary of the design principle of JD Finance's "Complete tasks to earn gold coins and growth points":

JD Finance mainly designs core business indicators into each task and guides users to complete them to obtain gold coins and growth points. The core design to attract user participation lies in privileges and offers.

In this regard, JD Finance, like Alipay, strives to increase the value of gold coins by providing a variety of goods for users to redeem. Growth points cannot be consumed by users and can only be used to upgrade to obtain privileges, which in turn provide them with gift packs. Its design principles are generally consistent with Alipay.

When it comes to improving active business indicators, repetitive indicators are more critical in getting users to develop habits.

In addition to this regular function to motivate users to be active, JD Finance has also launched an "early check-in" function and provided a widget "Calendar" for users to complete on a daily basis. These are all carried out by JD Finance based on this indicator of operational needs.

The "early wake-up and check-in" activity is very attractive to users. Users who participate in the check-in only need to pay 1 yuan the day before and get up early from 5 to 8 am the next day to participate in the check-in. They can then share the cash from the daily bonus pool accumulated from the registration fee with those who sign in continuously.

This activity of dividing red envelopes by willpower is just another form of "check-in". But it is more attractive than signing in. At its core, it takes advantage of human laziness. Being overconfident in their own willpower and showing that they only have a short-lived enthusiasm will inevitably lead to some people being unable to sign in on time.

There is also a calendar widget provided by JD Finance, which allows users to have a clear overview of the tasks they will complete every day by opening JD Finance.

This is also the brilliance of this design. It seems that the control and ownership are returned to the users, and the users are motivated to participate in the activities more actively. In fact, when users complete these behaviors, they pay with time and emotions, and sunk costs occur. Naturally, the goal of being active is also achieved.

1. Lu Jin

Lufax APP has been very active in increasing daily active users, mainly as follows:

• Users can participate in "Daily Benefits" every day to receive points, and there are also daily task activities;
• Users can complete tasks, collect medals, gain growth points, and upgrade levels;
• Users can obtain contribution points and upgrade their membership status through the account assets they hold.

Lufax users can get 4 points when they sign in at the beginning, +1 point the next day, and the daily maximum is 9 points. There is a surprise for every 6 consecutive days of signing in, and points can also be earned by completing tasks.

You can get a surprise after signing in for 6 consecutive days. The surprise is an unknown "random reward", which can stimulate the user's curiosity to a certain extent and motivate the user to sign in continuously.

In addition, Lufax also provides users with the ability to obtain growth points and medals by completing tasks. There are 15 levels in total. You will get corresponding points for each level you upgrade. On the other hand, when users complete tasks, they will also receive corresponding medals. Medals are divided into gold medals and silver medals. When you collect 1, 4, 8, or 12 gold medals, you can get a gift package; when you collect 4, 8, 12, or 16 silver medals, you can get a gift package.

Summary of Lufax’s “Points, Growth Value, and Medals” design principles:

Lufax focuses on users' daily operational activity indicators and business indicators. In addition to accumulating points only by signing in, users can also earn points and growth points when completing other tasks, and some can also earn medals. Through the main line of tasks, Lufax has cross-integrated the points system, level system, and medal system.

Its purpose is to improve active indicators and motivate users to complete core tasks. The core of the design is still based on attractive rights and interests such as corresponding privileges and discounts.

In terms of membership level, Lufax mainly focuses on the core business system. According to the rules, contribution value only comes from users' asset investments. There are five membership levels: ordinary member, gold VIP member, platinum VIP, black gold VIP and diamond VIP.

2. Similarities and differences between active design of Alipay, JD Finance and Lufax

From the perspective of analyzing the design of the active indicator system, the three financial products, Alipay, JD Finance and Lufax, are also designed for improvement, but each has its own operational characteristics.

1. As a third-party payment tool, Alipay’s operational and business activity indicators are designed around billing and payment.

In terms of increasing daily activity, we do not sign in just for the sake of signing in. Instead, we guide users to participate by providing additional points rewards that they need to actively claim; and through public welfare activities such as Ant Forest and Ant Farm, we attract users to be active in daily life.

In the function of points, the points system and membership level system design are completed through "available points" and "level points".

1. As a comprehensive financial tool, JD Finance's two active indicators of operation and business are designed around payment and financial management.

The core attraction of signing in is that the coins earned by signing in can be used directly for payment. At the same time, sign in with JD.com to get extra rewards. In order to improve daily activeness, we have also designed an “early check-in” activity with a more flexible format.

JD Finance uses the method of distinguishing between gold coins and growth values ​​to build a points system and membership level system.

1. Lufax is a financial management tool with two active indicators: operation and business. Financial management investment design

Points, growth values, medals, and contribution values ​​are cross-formed to form a points system, a level system, a medal system, and a membership system .

The similarities and differences between Alipay, JD Finance and Lufax are summarized in a table.

As shown in the figure:

Conclusion

This article makes a simple analysis of the "active" indicator in building a user incentive system based on three financial products: Alipay, JD Finance, and Lufax. The deduction may be different from the actual starting point and is for reference only.

In fact: a complete user system must not only consider user stratification and user life cycle management, but also the product's phased goals, which varies from product to product.

Despite this, the underlying system design principles are roughly the same, involving multiple disciplines such as cognitive psychology, behavioral psychology, anthropology, marketing , statistics, etc., as well as user habit cultivation, gamification design, addiction model, RFM model , AARRR and other methodologies.

The design of other indicator systems for the three products, Alipay, JD Finance and Lufax, will be further analyzed in the future.

Source: Fong