Financial incentives can be effective for simple tasks, but can backfire for complex tasks. Overuse can lead to users expecting incentives and becoming less motivated by the core product. I recommend focusing on building a strong core product that users will value intrinsically. Financial incentives can be a useful tool, but should be used strategically.

This is the transcript from my talk at TEDx IIT Roorkee on the above subject. The video is at the bottom.

I call this “Value Centered Design”. In the Value Centered approach, we need to start with a discovery process as well. However instead of finding unmet needs, we go about uncovering the core values that drive us and our users. We then use these values as the pivot in the design process.

You can always transplant ideas and concepts. Ideas are patterns that give you a glimpse of how life operates. If they work in one situation, they would most likely work in another. This is the core essence of innovation. Look for the patterns that make things work. Then apply the same patterns in places where you would least expect to find it. Here is a pattern that works in sociology and can just as easily be adapted to developing and marketing products.