Exclude or include Superuser from standard ranking?

[MrB77]

Hi 

We currently change the ranking structure of a community. We also change the Superuser Programm to an anual Superuser program. 

My question: 

If you have a dedicated Superuser Program in place. Do you give the Superuser a special rank connected to a role and therefore exclude them from the regular ranking 

OR

Are they in the regular ranking (most of the time in the top level of course) and they have an additional role (and badge/icon etc.) that shows they are a superuser?

thanks

Jan

[Wendy_S]

You are going through the same process as went through a couple of years ago where we untied the superuser program from the ranking structure and went to a yearly, auditable program that focuses on quality vs an achieved rank.

All our users go through the same rank structure.
However, when we have identified our potential superusers, invite them to our progam and they accept, they get an extra indicator next to their username. This is done by use giving them a superuser role and duplicating the rank structure and this duplicated ranks structure has the images uploaded and uses the superuser role to assign the right rank/icon combination.

In my opinion, duplicating the rank structure is a messy solution to the need of having that little icon next to the username. We use those icons to differentiate employees vs experts vs admins. I am sure all of this can be achieved by badges or customized avatars. And we've debated that but zi remember we got stuck on the fact that avatars are not easily controlled in the sense that the user must choose the avatr right for them, and removing..also has to be done by the user....
Duplicating the rank has left us a bit more in control..but I would love to re-asses our set up as well.

Bottom line, I think you have options..and you can explore what works best for you. My suggestion is to keep it simple and if you can...I personally would svoid duplicating the rank structure as it can get a little bit of a forest with many many trees.

Let me know if you need more help 🙂
Cheers
Wendy

[MrB77]

Hi @Wendy_S

Thx for that superfast answer 🙂

I have my experience with duplicated ranks as well and I also think it is a lot of work to maintain. 

I hope to have a discussion on that topic here

Currently I think that I would like to keep it simple which means we create as superuser role (this already exists). With this role the user get's a badge, and we have just one dedicated rank (so the users are not in the regular ranking) for those superuser that is sticked to the role as well. If a SU loses his status and with it the role, he is back to the regular ranking. 

thx

Jan 

[Wendy_S]

You are welcome. I hope it was a bit helpful.
to give a little more context. We chose the superusers to go through the ranks still as that gives them the feeling of progression. Seeing yourself climb ranks is part of that inner rewarding feeling that helps motivate users to get to the next level. in fact, many super users are almost outranked. In that sense, I would probably look at ways to have superusers go through the ranks as any normal user and find a way, untied from the ranking, to confirm their superuser status, either through an avatar or indeed a badge. It became easier to revoke a badge from a user since we launched our badges 🙂
https://community.lithium.com/t5/Release-Notes/16-6-Release-Notes/ba-p/235982#revoke

Good discussion!
Hope others join in.
Cheers
Wendy

[PatrickW]

Hey Jan, 

I agree with @Wendy_S that there is no right or wrong but it is more a question of brand/community fit the experience you want to create and the effort  for the administration team.

To answer quickly, I personally see even three options based on what customers use (from most common to least common):

(N.B. I am sure there are more Pro's and Con's to each option but i have listed the most important ones in my view)

Option 1: One specific Superuser rank for the Members of the Superuser Program

Pro's: Simple Administration 

Con's:  No progress for the superuser / no indication how long a user is already a Superuser

Potential Workarounds: Badges for each Year / Amend the rank with a Number that indicates the Year every year

Option 2: Keep the normal Rank structure for the Superusers but highlight their ranks / profiles to show that they are superusers (Badge / Rank icon / color)

Pro's: Gamification concept still applies to superusers

Con's: Might lead to some confusion for the admin due to the duplication of rank structures / Superusers might not be visible enough to the rest of the users

Potential Workarounds: Use Signatures to show Superuser Membership

Option 3: Create a new ranking structure for Superusers

Pro's: Superusers are part of a Gamification strategy

Con's: Administrative effort (similar to Option 2), Potential Confusion for normal users if there are two rank themes

What you want to consider before making the decision are mainly the two following views:

User view:
How do your users tick? 
Would they care more if they 'lost' their superuser rank and 'dropped' back to a normal rank?  Then Option 2 is probably better.

Do they want to stick out and would therefore not be happy with 'just' receiving a rank icon & Badge? Then i'd go for Option 1 or 3.

Admin View

Does the team have the ability to administer a duplicate rank structure in Option 2 and 3 or not?

How many Superusers do you have? Only 1 or is it 20?

How often do you need to add/remove superusers from your program. 

Cheers, 

Patrick

[DanK]

We do the duplicated rank structure to provide a unique icon, however all of our participants are in the top handful of ranks so we only duplicated those. Our annual program started this year so I have added checking the lowest rank invitee to the annual refresh process to ensure that ranks are covered. The plan is that users who exit the program will have the icon removed and return to the normal rank structure.

Badges are also given out to users to show they were a participant, even if they have since left the program.

We have also linked the role that grants users the superuser rank track to all of the additional access that being in the program provides as we give access to private member only areas, the ability to move posts, publishing access (without mod) in the wiki, etc. Using a role to provide all this access makes it very easy to administer the program. The ranks is the hardest part.