Hi, Yes, setting goals can certainly persuade people to complete a task. Research in cognitive psychology suggests that a goal's influence on motivation is affected by hitting the sweet spot on three primary features: proximity, difficulty and specificity. In your example, because goals are percentages (and partly because I am ignoring the actual task itself) proximity and difficulty are intertwined. For optimal motivation, follow Anne's suggestion of showing just the next possible reward ... but as the user gets near to completing that goal, you might also reveal the next level so there is always a somewhat distant yet achievable goal in view. For specificity, ensure that the user knows exactly what your percentages mean (which may or may not be obvious). You can find more in the literature re: goal setting theory.
I don't know what your application or task are, but be careful focusing on rewards. Increasing the focus on rewards (upping the extrinsic motivation) naturally reduces intrinsic motivation. Performing a task with reduced intrinsic motivation has been shown to have two unexpected effects on users: 1) it can reduce long-term-strategic thinking, as well as depth of learning, and 2) it will reduce the likelihood that users later recall a pleasant experience (they will think they did it for the reward, not because task itself was worthwhile). Lots on this in management and psychology literature, look for motivation and rewards. Hope this helps. jz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44855 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
