Rising numbers are the only reward Unsplash photographers can expect. The quest for views and downloads is ultimately a game, and a new change to the stats page will go a long way towards pushing the gamification further.
Starting today, users will be able to access the so-called ‘milestones’, which are located directly below the stats dashboard and above the ranking of the photos. There are four columns, three of which display dynamic content: Your first upload, a number of features on the editorial page, certain thresholds of views and of the downloads. They are illustrated with emojis and record the date on which the last milestone of each category was reached.
I have the feeling that some space is being wasted here, if the first box only contains the date of the first upload. Once you know that, you can still forget it – but you can’t achieve anything new. Goals like 100, 500 or 1000 uploads for new milestones might be useful.
Milestones have been sent by e-mail for a long time already (and will continue to do so in the future) and for Unsplash they are an important part of keeping photographers motivated to make their photos available on the platform for free. I can’t deny that I’m always trying to outdo myself because of this confirmation, so I’m very happy about the change.
The Unsplash system would probably offer even more motivation if you could publicly display your success on your profile in one way or another. With the display of Likes, the last clue was removed some time ago, so it’s unlikely that Unsplash will ever go down this path. On the other hand, the team always has an open ear for the community, and if enough people ask – who knows what is possible.
Update: After the release of this article the new feature was officially announced. The team itself knows that there’s still room for improvement and has revealed that these milestones will of course be integrated even deeper into the site.
We’ve got some new we think you’ll might exciting. As well as through your milestone emails, there’s now a new section in your stats that lists all of your milestones
We’ll continue to integrate your milestones throughout the site a little more with notifications and adding individual photo milestones in the future too!
Alex Begin on Slack
