Designing a Multi‑Layered User Incentive System for Short‑Video Apps

Introduction

User incentive systems are common tools for driving growth and activity, ranging from holiday campaigns to points and coins. They often appear duplicated, but actually constitute parallel mechanisms that each serve distinct purposes. Based on recent practice and theory, this article outlines typical incentive methods and proposes a layered design for the Haokan Video app.

What Is a User Incentive System

An incentive system designs reward mechanisms around product stages and pathways, using positive feedback to guide users toward product goals. A good system acts like a baton, steering users toward growth, acquisition, retention, and monetization.

Three Core Incentive Types

Platform spirit incentives : special levels, honors, or medals quantified by points or progress, earned through effort rather than purchase, providing social recognition.

Material benefit incentives : virtual currency that can be exchanged for items, rights, or cash, sometimes combined with spirit incentives.

Social‑emotional incentives : interaction‑based rewards such as follower counts or likes that create strong achievement feelings and encourage content creation.

Incentive System Across Product Stages

The system supports the full user‑growth funnel: acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and monetization. Each stage benefits from different incentive types, e.g., material incentives for acquisition ads, task‑based prompts for activation, combined spirit and social incentives for retention, and share‑based rewards for referral.

Redesign for Haokan Video Users

Haokan Video targets middle‑aged male users in a mature market. The redesign focuses on three user groups: high‑activity loyal users, medium‑activity users, and low‑activity or new users. It combines platform spirit incentives (level badges), material incentives (cash coupons, limited‑time benefits), and social incentives (custom emojis, virtual flowers for creators).

Fogg Model Application

Using the Fogg Behavior Model (B = MAP), the design analyses Motivation, Ability, and Prompt. Motivation is enhanced through spirit and social incentives; Ability is improved by simplifying task flows and daily sign‑in; Prompts are delivered via notifications, pop‑ups, and UI cues.

User Segmentation and Task Design

High‑activity users receive pure level‑up tasks and achievement points. Medium‑activity users are encouraged with a 7‑day sign‑in that grants phone‑bill coupons. Low‑activity users see low‑threshold, time‑limited tasks that quickly reward them, driving conversion to higher tiers.

Task Chain and Daily Sign‑In Enhancements

Tasks are ordered from easy to hard, with cloud‑controlled difficulty adjustments. Prompts guide users through harder tasks, and success feedback shows achievement gains. The daily sign‑in feature is highlighted with a new “daily card” that offers lifestyle tips, encouraging users to share and improving next‑day retention.

Strengthening Feedback and Rewards

Both spirit and material rewards trigger prominent UI feedback, such as pop‑ups for cash rewards and visual cues for badge upgrades. Entry points for low‑activity users include a floating ball on the home page and red‑packet styled sign‑in buttons.

Conclusion

Designing an incentive system requires balancing product characteristics, operational models, user traits, and ROI. Simplicity and clarity are emphasized to avoid overwhelming users. The presented framework and case study aim to help designers create effective, respectful incentive experiences.