I still think making the user’s highest achieved safe days more visible would solve many of these problems, for those that want them solved. It would let you strive to beat your own personal best for any goal.
Current Beeminder really has nothing to strive for, only the stinger to avoid. It works really well for harnessing avoidance based motivation but it is prone to missing the whole approach and striving side of motivation.
When I’m hovering around the road on a goal, I find the bare minimum quotas helpful and motivating. Getting into the green can be something to strive for and knowing exactly how much I have to do get there is awesome. Once I get above that point there’s nothing obvious to aim for. I suspect the punishment of losing those numbers is keeping me on the road rather than above it. I’ve been happy to notice recently that the Android widgets do tell you the bare minimum to earn the next safe day, provided your road isn’t flat. That’s better than nothing but what I’d really like is to know how much I have to do to get above my peak safe days.
I’d like to see Beeminder bring out the best in me, not just the bare minimum.
Suggestions / Feature Requests:
- Bold peak safe days waterline on the graph
- Bare minimum to get above peak safe days
- Peak safe days value available through the API