Boost in detail
Long programmes sag in the middle. Week three of a step challenge is rarely as lively as week one, and organisers need levers that are cheaper than another prize. A boost is one such lever: for a defined window, qualifying activity counts for more. A team might earn bonus steps on a weekend, or every poll answered in a particular hour might score extra points. Boosts are announced by the organiser, often with a scheduled notification to the relevant group, and they expire automatically. Because they change what counts, they should be recorded and shown in reports, so consistency and improvement rankings remain interpretable. They also interact with caps and unusual-day flags; a boost on top of a daily cap will not remove the cap. The best boosts are short, visible and tied to a reason, such as a public holiday or a mid-programme slump identified from weekly pace data. Over-use dilutes the effect.
How Sociana uses it
Boosts are part of wellness and points configuration. Time-limited, group-targetable and reportable alongside caps and unusual-day flags.
Example
A walking programme used a weekend boost to lift mid-programme step participation among teams falling behind weekly pace.