Walking is one of the most accessible forms of exercise, but let’s face it: staying motivated to walk every day can be a challenge.

That’s why we introduced the Streak, a feature designed to turn daily walking into a fun and habit-forming experience.

🔥 WeWard’s Streak

So, what exactly is the Streak in our app?

It’s a visual counter that tracks how many consecutive days you’ve validated your steps in the app. Every day you log your steps, your Streak grows by one, represented by a flame.

The longer your Streak, the more flames you accumulate.

But here’s the catch: if you miss a day, your Streak resets to zero.

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🔮 Why is the Streak such a Powerful tool ?

The Streak isn’t just a counter, it’s a carefully crafted system that taps into powerful psychological principles.

By combining these principles, the Streak turns walking into a daily ritual, rewards consistency, and keeps users motivated to return every day.

🔋 The Power of Habits

In his bestselling book The Power of Habit, C. Duhigg explains how habits are formed through a loop of cue, routine, and reward. The Streak feature leverages this loop perfectly:

• Cue: A notification reminding users to validate their steps.
• Routine: The act of walking and validating steps.
• Reward: The satisfaction of seeing the Streak grow and earning Wards.

Over time, this loop becomes automatic, turning daily walking into a habit.

As Duhigg writes, “Once a habit is formed, the brain stops fully participating in decision-making.”

📉 Loss Aversion

Another powerful psychological mechanism at play is loss aversion, a concept popularized by behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

Loss aversion refers to the idea that people prefer to avoid losses rather than acquire equivalent gains. In other words, the pain of losing something is stronger than the pleasure of gaining it.

With the Streak feature, users aren’t just working toward a goal, they’re also avoiding the disappointment of losing their progress.

🎮 Gamification and the Reward System

The Streak also taps into the brain’s natural love for games and rewards.

Each flame in the Streak is a visual representation of progress, triggering the release of dopamine. This gamified element makes the experience addictive in the best way possible,.

Also, when reaching some key milestones (3, 7, and 30 days for example), users are also rewarded with a special reward . They get the feeling of accomplishing a goal, and can now show it to others, whether it’s an animated circle around their profile picture or an exclusive app icon only high streak users have.

⚖️ Balancing Challenge and Support

While the Streak is designed to motivate users through challenge, we also recognize that life can get in the way. Missing a day shouldn’t mean losing all progress.

that’s where Jokers and Streak Freezes come in.

🃏 Jokers: A Second Chance

Jokers allow users to repair a missed day by spending 50 Wards (digital currency in the app).

This small cost ensures that users don’t rely on Jokers too often, preserving the challenge of maintaining a streak.

At the same time, it gives them a way to recover from an off day, reducing frustration and keeping them engaged.

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❄️ Streak Freezes: A Pause Button

Streak Freezes are consumable items that users can equip to “freeze” their streak if they miss a day.

Unlike Jokers, Freezes don’t increment the streak—they simply preserve it. This subtle difference ensures that streaks still feel earned, while giving users flexibility for busy or unpredictable days.

By offering these tools, we strike a delicate balance: keeping the Streak challenging enough to feel rewarding, but forgiving enough to prevent discouragement. After all, the goal isn’t just to build streaks, it’s to build habits that last.

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💗 The Impact on Retention and Engagement

Since introducing the Streak feature, we’ve seen a significant boost in user retention and daily engagement.

Retention: Keeping Users Hooked

One of the most striking results has been the improvement in retention rates. Users with active streaks are far more likely to return to the app consistently.

For example, here’s a graph comparing retention of users with a streak of 3 or more and all users:

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The Role of Jokers and Streak Freezes

Interestingly, the introduction of Jokers and Streak Freezes has further boosted retention. These features reduce frustration without diluting the challenge:

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By giving users tools to recover from missed days, we’ve made the Streak more accessible without sacrificing its motivational power.

Conclusion: What’s Next for the Streak?

The Streak has already become a cornerstone of the WeWard experience, driving engagement and helping users build lasting habits.

Over time, we’ve enhanced it with features like new milestone rewards and social sharing, all designed to make streaks more rewarding and motivating.

But we’re not stopping there. We’re constantly exploring new ways to improve the Streak, from refining communication to introducing even more personalized rewards and challenges.

Our goal is simple: to keep users inspired, engaged, and walking toward their goals, one step at a time.

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