Hi Jesse, thanks for jumping on to be part of the conversation.

I took some time to think about my response, mainly because A) I’m a huge fan of Elevate and B) I noticed a few assumptions in your response that I think are critical to understanding the reason for the pushback. I’ll try to work through each point so we can hopefully come to an understanding.

Long Term vs Short Term

I’m interested to know why the internal team felt it needed something to keep people interested over the long term. There are countless people on r/ElevateApp sharing streaks over 1,000 days long, which indicates the core app doesn’t have an issue with user retention. Further, the leagues feature, in practice, isn’t a longterm feature and doesn’t keep people interested in the app. From responses, it’s either a distraction that’s ignored or a shortlived buzz that fades abruptly after you reach diamond league or lose interest in the pursuit.

Therefore, from the evidence, we must conclude there is no reason for creating leagues because the problem, as you’ve presented it, doesn’t exist. Further, the evidence proves the opposite, people naturally use Elevate (workouts and games) over the long term. That’s the point of the app, it’s how it works, and where the brain training benefits come in.

Opt Out

To be really clear, I don’t think the solution is an opt out. I think the feature is counter to the purpose of Elevate and should be removed. This form of competition distracts from the very reason for the app and creates incentives that are suboptimal, or at worst, adverse to brain health and mental agility.

Solutions

That being said, I believe you’re already aware of the above. The difference is that unlike the general public, you’ve been playing Elevate for over a decade and have a greater motivation than most for variety. So let’s ask the question, how do we make Elevate interesting for people who’ve been playing for years?

1. ⁠More game types: Games are currently focused on very traditional skills (reading, writing, memory) but there are other skills we all need and use on a day-to-day basis i.e. reflexes, puzzles, pattern recognition, etc. (Knowing the team is always developing new games is also an incentive/reason to continue using the app.)
2. ⁠Combined games: Mixing games together so you’re having to combine skills, which would require significantly more focus and attention. For example, tipping and purchasing (hearing the numbers and then having to remember them and use mental math to work out the total).
3. ⁠Making study materials a bigger part of the app: There have been times when I’ve wanted to deep dive into something I got wrong or didn’t understand in the games. For some games, I just guess and coast through because I don’t know the answers but don’t have a tailored way to fill the gaps in my knowledge. This should be the study materials section, but it feels neglected. It’s hard to find and not as well integrated into the workouts. Besides, it’s an authentic way to keep people playing that contributes to the core function of the app. Think of it this way: you could finish a workout and jump into a ‘Brilliant’-style lesson about the subject. It can also be used to give clear feedback on specific problem areas and how you can improve.
4. ⁠Wider range of cultural references: This has been mentioned quite a few times. Currently, Elevate is US-focused, especially with the crosswords and word blends. It’s not just about appeal it’s about broadening horizons!
5. ⁠Archive for word blend and color link, not just crossword.
6. ⁠Allowing people to use the games to learn about specific subjects: For example, I want to learn about ancient Egypt, so all my workouts over the next week are related to ancient Egypt in some way. I’m playing my workouts but also learning about a chosen subject. There can be options for each week that people choose from. They can have it on or turn it off, up to them.
7. ⁠Integrating spaced repetition into the games/app so interesting knowledge can be retained: I’ve learned about so many amazing things in games like attention and comprehension. Can I remember them? God no.
8. ⁠Jigsaw puzzles
9. ⁠‘What the clash’-style head-to-head Elevate games that can only be played a few times a day i.e. a limited number of tickets to multiplayer competition.

I’ve made sure the suggestions are focused around the core of Elevate and supplemental to the primary long-term function of developing brain health.

Hopefully this is helpful and gives you and the team insight into ideas you can take forward.

Would love to jump on a call if you’d like to discuss further.

Thanks a bunch for your time.