There is some hurdle that you have to do in a product to capture status. Product managers should define some unique form of proof of work to build a game around. Restrict the template enough so that an initial group of users can get excited about it and then start to build that network effect: <ul><li>Vine came out &amp; said you got 6 seconds — a good restriction to give users; a blank template in which to pour something. But it wasn’t restrictive enough.</li><li>Musical.ly said, “No, we actually want you to use music in the background. And we want you to do a little" That restriction worked better. </li><li>Fiverr - “A marketplace, but everything is $5.” </li></ul>

Scarcity-Based Games

An overlooked aspect of product design is that people use products that just make them feel good. But most founders miss it because the mental frameworks that are common in business tend to be more focused on things that are easily measured.&nbsp;What emotional payoff does your product have?

How Products Make You Feel

Is the idea that status represents a huge piece (and a strategic advantage) in creating network-based services. So you get to networks that are paying with ego/ status, with a sort of an emotional payback rather than a monetary one. Entrepreneurs usually think of the utility of the product rather than the social status they are creating for their users.&nbsp;

Status Based Network

Many people think that their products are very utilitarian. But Eugene Wei, a former product manager at Flipboard, argues that the successful products that people build are actually entertainment-based.As the internet and mobile blended the distinction between categories users are choosing how to maximize their entertainment value at that moment in time. So video games can compete with sports or news. Thet are all entertainment.&nbsp;

Successful Products Are Entertainment-Based

If you make status the key driver of how people act on stage, suddenly everything becomes clear.

Not all friction in the product needs to be removed. The friction required to create content on social networks is is a good type of friction. You can not gain a lot of status if the work put in requires no effort.&nbsp;eg: Twitter frictionless posting created a very divisive fake-news spreading platform.

Positive Friction

During the early days, every product on the Amazom site had a sales rank. And all the authors were competing: “Please, buy my book. I have to move my sales rank up.” . It was a mechanism, made up scarcity. There’s no actual physical constraint time. It's very important for entrepreneurs when building their products to define what scarcity means on their platform.

The Mechanics of Scarcity

James Currier & Eugene Wei (product lead at Amazon, Hulu, Oculus), discuss the underlying status games that drive us all—in technology and life.