Gamification Event Tracking

This drill implements the event schema from the gamification-system-design drill in PostHog and builds the measurement layer: funnels, cohorts, and dashboards that track gamification health.

Input

• Gamification specification from the gamification-system-design drill
• PostHog project with SDK installed
• Product codebase with gamification logic implemented (or ready for instrumentation)

Steps

1. Implement core gamification events

Using posthog-custom-events, instrument these events at the points where gamification state changes occur in your product:

Points events:

posthog.capture('gamification_points_earned', {
  action: actionName,        // which product action earned points
  points: pointsAwarded,     // points from this action
  total_points: userTotal,   // cumulative total
  level: currentLevel,       // user's current level
  source: 'organic'          // organic | bonus | streak_multiplier
});

Streak events:

posthog.capture('gamification_streak_updated', {
  streak_type: streakType,   // daily_login | weekly_active | etc.
  streak_count: count,       // current consecutive count
  is_milestone: isMilestone, // true at 3, 7, 14, 30, 60, 90
  streak_best: personalBest  // user's all-time best for this streak
});

posthog.capture('gamification_streak_broken', {
  streak_type: streakType,
  streak_count_at_break: lastCount,
  days_since_last_activity: daysMissed,
  grace_period_used: usedGrace  // true if recovery was available but not used
});

Badge events:

posthog.capture('gamification_badge_awarded', {
  badge_id: badgeId,
  badge_name: badgeName,
  badge_tier: tier,          // bronze | silver | gold
  badges_total: totalCount,
  time_to_earn_days: daysFromSignup
});

Level events:

posthog.capture('gamification_level_up', {
  previous_level: prevLevel,
  new_level: newLevel,
  level_name: levelName,
  total_points: totalPoints,
  days_since_signup: daysSinceSignup
});

Leaderboard events:

posthog.capture('gamification_leaderboard_viewed', {
  user_rank: rank,
  leaderboard_scope: scope,  // weekly_global | weekly_team | cohort
  total_participants: count
});

2. Set person properties for gamification state

Update PostHog person properties on each gamification state change:

posthog.people.set({
  gamification_level: currentLevel,
  gamification_total_points: totalPoints,
  gamification_badges_count: badgeCount,
  gamification_longest_streak: longestStreak,
  gamification_current_streak: currentStreak,
  gamification_joined_date: joinDate
});

These properties enable cohort creation and segmentation.

3. Build gamification funnels

Using posthog-funnels, create funnels that measure gamification adoption and progression:

Gamification Onboarding Funnel:

signup_completed
  -> gamification_points_earned (first ever)
    -> gamification_badge_awarded (first badge)
      -> gamification_streak_updated (streak >= 3)
        -> gamification_level_up (level 2+)

Streak Retention Funnel:

gamification_streak_updated (streak = 3)
  -> gamification_streak_updated (streak = 7)
    -> gamification_streak_updated (streak = 14)
      -> gamification_streak_updated (streak = 30)

Break both funnels down by signup cohort (week), acquisition channel, and plan type.

4. Create gamification cohorts

Using posthog-cohorts, create cohorts for targeting and analysis:

• Gamification Active: earned points in last 7 days
• Gamification Dormant: has gamification_level >= 1 but no points earned in 14+ days
• Streak Holders: gamification_current_streak >= 3
• Streak Broken: gamification_streak_broken event in last 7 days AND gamification_current_streak = 0
• Badge Collectors: gamification_badges_count >= 5
• Leaderboard Engaged: gamification_leaderboard_viewed 3+ times in last 14 days
• Level Stalled: same gamification_level for 21+ days with declining weekly points

5. Build the gamification dashboard

Using posthog-dashboards, create a "Gamification Health" dashboard:

| Panel | Visualization | Purpose | |-------|--------------|---------| | Participation rate | Trend line | % of active users earning points this week | | Points earned (weekly) | Bar chart | Total points earned across all users, by week | | Streak distribution | Histogram | How many users at each streak length | | Active streaks trend | Trend line | Count of users with active streak >= 3, by week | | Badge award velocity | Bar chart | Badges awarded per week, by badge tier | | Level distribution | Pie chart | % of gamification users at each level | | Gamification onboarding funnel | Funnel | Drop-off from first points to level 2 | | Streak survival curve | Retention | % of users maintaining streak at day 3, 7, 14, 30 | | Leaderboard engagement | Trend line | Leaderboard views per week | | Gamified vs non-gamified retention | Comparison | Week-over-week retention for gamification participants vs non-participants |

Set alerts:

• Participation rate drops below 30% of active users
• Active streaks count declines 20%+ week-over-week
• Gamification onboarding funnel conversion drops below 40%

6. Set up data pipeline for leaderboards

Using n8n-workflow-basics, build an n8n workflow that:

1. Runs daily via cron
2. Queries PostHog for points earned in the current leaderboard period (weekly)
3. Computes rankings (global, per-team if applicable)
4. Writes rankings to your product database or API
5. Detects rank changes and flags users who moved up 5+ positions (for notification triggers)

Output

• All gamification events instrumented in PostHog
• Person properties tracking gamification state
• 3 funnels measuring gamification adoption and streak retention
• 7 cohorts for targeting interventions
• 10-panel gamification health dashboard with alerts
• Daily leaderboard computation pipeline in n8n

Triggers

Run this drill once during initial setup. Re-run the dashboard and cohort definitions when adding new gamification mechanics. The leaderboard pipeline runs daily on n8n cron.