The Gosuslugi portal, Russia's primary online government services platform, has recently added a new feature aimed at enhancing user engagement through gamification. This new section, dedicated to achievements, allows users to earn badges for completing specific tasks, such as acquiring notable statistics related to their interactions with the portal. This innovative update coincides with the portal's 15th anniversary and aims to reward users for accomplishing various actions relevant to their lives and interactions with state services.
One of the more controversial badges introduced is the 'Learning Traffic Rules' badge, which requires users to have accumulated more than ten traffic violations. This feature aims to gamify the process of using government services, hoping to make the experience more approachable and fun for users. Critics, including some social media users, have already expressed discomfort, raising questions about the appropriateness of rewarding the violations of traffic laws.
The Gosuslugi portal's functionality allows users to track these achievements by accessing their profiles. Users need to navigate through 'Documents and Data,' and then select 'Education' followed by 'Olympics and Achievements' to view their badges. The portal offers recognition for various other actions, such as submitting marriage proposals, adding information about children to their profiles, and registering for blood donations.
Despite the intended light-hearted nature of this new feature, it has sparked considerable debate on social media, particularly concerning the ethics of rewarding achievements linked to legally questionable behavior, such as traffic infractions. Some users have voiced concerns about the message this sends, questioning why non-compliance with traffic rules should be treated as an achievement. For some, this raises broader issues about accountability and safety on the roads.
Adding to the discussion, Sergey Kolunov, a deputy of the State Duma, previously commented on the growing concern surrounding popular messaging apps, emphasizing the role of regulatory agencies rather than legislative bodies when it came to decisions about blocking such platforms as WhatsApp, which is banned for being recognized as extremist by the Russian government.
This move toward gamification on the Gosuslugi portal marks another step toward modernizing the interface and making it more user-friendly and engaging. There’s no doubt this will intrigue many users, particularly younger ones, who appreciate the ability to gamify their interactions with government services.
By incentivizing users to engage more with the portal, officials hope to improve overall service usage and satisfaction. The achievements feature is not only expected to increase traffic to the portal but also encourage individuals to explore the various functionalities available to them within the service, from healthcare registration to educational achievements.
Yet the rollout of these features does raise pertinent questions: how will these badges influence user behavior moving forward? Will they promote responsible behavior, or will they inadvertently encourage rule-breaking for the sake of recognition?
With the introduction of achievement badges, the Gosuslugi portal has opened up new avenues for user engagement. It is now up to the public to decide how these changes will influence their use of government services and the broader societal ramifications of what constitutes recognition and achievement.