Community Values
Mighty Networks
·
2026
Engagement depended entirely on the host
Mighty Networks gives course creators, coaches, and event planners the tools to build communities: activity feeds, courses, events, live streaming, and private chat. But every one of those features requires ongoing effort from hosts to keep going. Nothing in the product could sustain engagement on its own.
Gamification was the strongest fit: self-sustaining incentive loops, long-term habit formation, and a clear signal from hosts who were already asking for it. The question wasn't whether to build it. It was how.
We built a system with four interlocking parts. Hosts define the values that guide member behavior. Members visit daily to build streaks and earn points. They spend those points recognizing others who embody community values. Top members surface on public leaderboards. Each element builds on the last: host intent, member habit, social reinforcement, visibility.
Role
Sole Product Designer
Team
PM, EM, 4 Engineers (web, iOS, Android), QA Engineer, User Researcher
Timeline
Phase 1
Q4 2024 – Q1 2025
Phase 2
Q4 2025 – Q1 2026
A loop that runs without the host
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⭐
🤝
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Results
The features shipped in two phases: streaks and community values in spring 2025, leaderboards in spring 2026.
39% adoption
among pro communities
2× more member growth
in networks with community values on, compared to those without
11% more monthly active members
across networks with community values on
64% of recognitions are peer-to-peer
no host involvement needed
300% more recognitions after leaderboards
the biggest single lift in the project
40–65% notification CTR
vs. 7–12% industry benchmark
Define what matters
Hosts set the values that shape how members give and receive recognition: adjectives that describe the kind of member worth celebrating in their community. For hosts who want a starting point, a curated list of research-backed recommendations makes it easy to get started without overthinking it.
Motivation starts with streaks
Members visit daily to maintain a streak and earn points that can only be spent recognizing others. The currency flows outward by design, turning individual habit into collective appreciation. The game center tracks it all: current streak, points balance, and recent recognitions. On iOS and Android it lives in the member's own profile page, on web in the top global menu.
Recognize anyone, anywhere
Members can recognize each other across any context: posts, comments, chat, or profiles. On iOS and Android, tapping an avatar opens a half-sheet with a recognize button two taps away. On web, hovering over an avatar surfaces a profile card with the same action, no page navigation required.
See the story behind each recognition
Every recognition captures the context in which it happened, so recipients always know where it came from. Recognizers can also leave a personal note, and a "Say Thanks" button opens a direct conversation, turning acknowledgment into a real exchange.
Leaderboards based on values
The leaderboards surface members who best reflect each community value, and separately, the members who recognize others most generously. Keeping both visible was intentional: it rewards being generous, not just being popular.
Rethinking the playbook
The case against building what everyone else already had
The simplest version of this feature was clear: points for likes and comments, a single leaderboard, done. Fast to build, easy to explain, familiar enough that members would know what to do.
Research from Jane McGonigal changed that. Systems rewarding reactions optimize for volume, not quality. The mechanism meant to motivate people ends up changing what they're motivated to do. The question shifted from "how do we reward activity?" to "how do we reinforce the behaviors that make a community worth belonging to?"
That reframe made every decision harder, and there was no direct playbook to follow. The results suggest we landed in the right place.
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