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Core ConceptsChallenges

Challenges

A Challenge is the goal users work toward. It holds the rules that award points, defines what counts as progress, and fires the completion rewards when someone crosses the finish line.

Rules only award points while a Challenge is active. Activity before a challenge starts does not count.

What makes a good challenge?

  • A clear objective (“Improve pipeline hygiene”)
  • A short timeframe: 1 to 4 weeks works best
  • Two to four rules, not ten
  • Visible progress (leaderboard, badges, progress bar)
  • Some kind of recognition at the end

Frequent, lightweight challenges outperform long, complex ones.

More on this in Designing Effective Challenges.

Challenge types

One-time

No time limit · Progress never resets

No time pressure. Progress accumulates until the target is met. Good for onboarding steps or career milestones that don’t need urgency.

Timebound

Fixed start and end date · Progress never resets

Rules only count activity inside that window, creating urgency. Use for quarterly campaigns, end-of-month pushes, or anything with a real deadline.

Recurring

Resets weekly, monthly, or quarterly

When a period ends, progress goes back to zero and a new cycle starts automatically. Good for building habits and pairs well with consistency badges.

How users get enrolled

There is no sign-up step. Users are enrolled in a challenge the first time a matching rule awards them points. Novigem creates a Challenge Progress record on the spot.

This means a user will not appear in a challenge’s participant list until they have triggered at least one rule. If someone has not earned points, they are not yet in the challenge.

Completion rewards

When a user reaches the target, two optional rewards can fire:

  • Completion bonus: extra points, awarded once per completion
  • Completion badge: a badge linked on the challenge, also awarded once

Both are protected against duplicate awards. If the same completion fires twice, only the first one counts.

Example challenge ideas

Sales: Pipeline Momentum

Points for updating next steps, moving stages, and closing deals.

Customer Success: Account Engagement

Reward touchpoints, health score actions, and renewal prep.

Support: Response Quality

Points for resolving cases within SLA and adding complete notes.

Operations: Clean Data Sprint

Reward field completeness and validation compliance.

Common pitfalls

  • Rewarding activity instead of outcomes: scoring busywork drives busywork
  • Too many overlapping rules: users lose track of what earns what
  • Challenges that run too long: engagement drops sharply beyond 4 to 6 weeks
  • Unclear objectives: simple and visible goals get the most traction
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