Challenges & Leaderboards

Status: Brainstorm Phase: Phase 8 | Tier: Free + Pro

Overview

Badges reward lifetime milestones. IQ Points reward consistent engagement. Challenges and Leaderboards add the third dimension: time-bounded goals and social competition. Each month, High IQ presents a set of challenges — specific, achievable objectives with clear IQ Point rewards. Complete a challenge and you earn points, flairs, and progress toward your next badge. An opt-in referral leaderboard shows the top referrers of the month, adding a competitive layer for users who want to see how they stack up. Challenges transform passive app usage into active goal pursuit. Without challenges, a user who imports an order and reads a report has “used the app.” With challenges, that same user is also “2/3 of the way through the Explorer Challenge” and has a reason to come back tomorrow for one more strain. The psychological difference is enormous — challenges turn retention from something the app hopes for into something the user works toward. Leaderboards add social proof and aspiration. Seeing that the top referrer this month has 12 confirmed referrals makes 5 referrals feel achievable. Seeing your own name on the board — even at #47 — creates a stake. Leaderboards are opt-in because competition is not for everyone, but for the users who do opt in, they become the most engaged segment of the community. The challenge system is designed to be lightweight, repeatable, and integrated with every other growth feature. Challenges reference actions that the app already tracks (orders, scans, shares, referrals), so no new tracking infrastructure is needed. The reward structure (IQ Points + flairs) uses existing systems. The only new components are the challenge definitions, the challenge progress UI, and the monthly reset logic.

Monthly Challenges

Each month features 4-5 challenges spanning different aspects of the app. Challenges reset on the 1st of each month. Incomplete challenges expire — there is no carry-over.

Standard Monthly Challenges

These challenges rotate monthly but draw from a consistent pool:

Explorer Challenge: Try 3 New Strains

Property	Value
Objective	Add 3 strains you have never tracked before to your collection
IQ Points	200
Flair	”Explorer” flair (displayed on profile for the month)
Tracking	Count of new unique strains added during the calendar month
Difficulty	Medium — requires 3 purchases or imports, achievable for active users

Scientist Challenge: Scan 2 Labels

Property	Value
Objective	Scan 2 cannabis product labels using the Label Scanner
IQ Points	100
Flair	”Scientist” flair
Tracking	Count of completed label scans during the calendar month
Difficulty	Easy — requires having 2 cannabis products with readable labels

Consistency Challenge: Sync Orders 3 Weeks in a Row

Property	Value
Objective	Import at least one dispensary order in 3 consecutive weeks
IQ Points	150
Flair	”Consistent” flair
Tracking	Weekly order import flags; 3 consecutive weeks required
Difficulty	Medium-Hard — requires regular dispensary visits or pre-planned imports

Property	Value
Objective	Share any content via Share Cards at least once during the week
IQ Points	50 (per week, up to 4x per month = 200 total)
Flair	None (too frequent for a flair)
Tracking	Weekly share count; resets each Monday
Difficulty	Easy — a single share of any type completes it

Referral Challenge: Refer a Friend

Property	Value
Objective	Have 1 new confirmed referral during the calendar month
IQ Points	500
Flair	”Recruiter” flair
Tracking	Count of referrals confirmed (friend uploaded first order) during the month
Difficulty	Hard — requires convincing someone to download, sign up, AND import an order

The 500 IQ Points for the Referral Challenge are in addition to the standard referral rewards. This makes the monthly challenge period the most lucrative time to refer friends.

Monthly Bonus Challenge

Each month features one rotating bonus challenge that keeps the experience fresh:

Month	Bonus Challenge	Reward
January	”New Year, New Strains” — Try 5 strains from a High Family you have never explored	300 IQ + “Adventurer” flair
February	”Pairing Expert” — Scan a label AND read the full report for the same strain, 3 times	250 IQ + “Thorough” flair
March	”Spring Cleaning” — Archive 5 finished items from your stash	150 IQ + “Organized” flair
April	”420 Challenge” — See Annual Events below	Limited edition badge
May	”Recommendation Round” — Share 3 different report sections with friends	200 IQ + “Advisor” flair
June	”Summer Sampler” — Try strains from 3 different dispensaries	250 IQ + “Well-Traveled” flair
July	”710 Challenge” — See Annual Events below	Limited edition badge
August	”Terpene Hunter” — Scan 5 labels and identify 3+ unique dominant terpenes	300 IQ + “Terpene Hunter” flair
September	”Back to Basics” — Re-purchase and re-review 3 strains you rated 4+ stars	200 IQ + “Loyal” flair
October	”Strain Collector” — Add 10 unique strains to your collection	400 IQ + “Collector” flair
November	”Community Month” — Refer 2 friends AND share 5 pieces of content	500 IQ + “Community Leader” flair
December	”Year in Review” — View your annual summary and share your Cannabis Personality	250 IQ + “Reflective” flair

Annual Events

Two calendar events get special treatment with limited-edition badges that can never be earned again outside of their annual window.

420 Challenge (April 1-30)

The most important date on the cannabis calendar gets a dedicated challenge:

Objective: Complete 4 out of 5 mini-challenges during April:
1. Import at least 2 orders
2. Scan at least 1 label
3. Share at least 2 pieces of content
4. Try at least 1 new strain
5. Read at least 3 full research reports
Reward: Limited edition “420” badge (Epic rarity, unique design, year-stamped: “420 2026”)
IQ Points: 420 (naturally)
Exclusivity: Each year’s 420 badge has a unique design. Collecting multiple years creates a visible history

710 Challenge (July 1-31)

For concentrate enthusiasts (710 upside down spells “OIL”):

Objective: Complete 3 out of 4 mini-challenges during July:
1. Scan 2 concentrate/extract labels
2. Try 2 new strains commonly used in concentrates
3. Share a label scan result
4. Read a report section on terpene profiles (relevant to concentrate quality)
Reward: Limited edition “710” badge (Epic rarity, year-stamped: “710 2026”)
IQ Points: 250
Exclusivity: Same year-stamped exclusivity as the 420 badge

Referral Leaderboard

The referral leaderboard is a monthly ranking of users by confirmed referral count. It is entirely opt-in — users must explicitly choose to appear on the leaderboard.

Leaderboard Display

Element	Visibility
Username	Shown (display name, not real name)
Referral count	Shown (confirmed referrals this month)
Badges earned	Shown (Community badge icons next to username)
Profile frame	Shown (referral tier frame visible)
Location	NOT shown
Real name	NOT shown
Strain data	NOT shown

Monthly Prizes

The top 3 referrers each month receive additional rewards:

Rank	Prize
#1	High IQ branded merch (sticker pack + hat) + 1,000 bonus IQ + “Top Referrer” animated flair for the next month
#2	750 bonus IQ + “Community Spotlight” feature (profile highlighted in Community section)
#3	500 bonus IQ + “Rising Star” flair for the next month

Leaderboard Rules

Opt-in required — Users must toggle “Show me on leaderboard” in settings. Default is off.
Monthly reset — Leaderboard resets on the 1st of each month. Previous months’ rankings are archived.
Minimum threshold — Users need at least 1 confirmed referral to appear on the leaderboard
Anti-gaming — Same anti-abuse protections as the Referral System (order upload requirement, Apple ID uniqueness, velocity detection)
Visible count — All leaderboard participants can see how many people are on the board and their own rank, even if they are not in the top 10

User Value

Challenges turn “I should open that app” into “I’m one strain away from completing the Explorer Challenge” — the difference between passive usage and active engagement.

How It Works

Monthly Challenges Appear

On the 1st of each month, the Challenges tab refreshes with new objectives. A push notification announces: “February’s challenges are live — 1,200 IQ Points up for grabs.”

Track Progress

Each challenge shows a progress bar and specific count (e.g., “1/3 new strains”). Progress updates in real time as the user takes qualifying actions.

Complete a Challenge

When a challenge objective is met, a celebration animation plays. IQ Points are credited immediately. If the challenge includes a flair, it is applied to the user’s profile.

Challenge Summary

At the end of the month, a summary card shows completed challenges, total IQ Points earned, and how the user compares to the community average. This summary is shareable.

Leaderboard Update

For opt-in users, the referral leaderboard updates in real time throughout the month. End-of-month rankings determine prize distribution.

Technical Approach

Architecture

Component	Technology	Notes
Challenge Definitions	Convex `challenges` table	Monthly challenge configs with objectives, rewards, and tracking rules
Progress Tracking	Convex mutations	Each qualifying action (order import, scan, share) triggers a progress update mutation
Monthly Reset	Trigger.dev scheduled task	Runs on the 1st: archives previous month, activates new challenges, resets leaderboard
Leaderboard	Convex query with index	Sorted by confirmed referral count, filtered to opted-in users
Flairs	Convex `user_flairs` table	Active flair displayed on profile; expires when the month ends
Push Notifications	Expo Notifications	Monthly challenge announcement, challenge completion, leaderboard rank changes
Prize Distribution	Manual + automated	IQ Points automated; merch fulfillment manual

Data Model (Convex)

challenges
  - challengeId: string (unique per month, e.g., "2026-02-explorer")
  - month: string (e.g., "2026-02")
  - name: string
  - description: string
  - objective: string
  - targetCount: number
  - metric: string (e.g., "newStrains", "labelScans", "shares")
  - iqReward: number
  - flairId?: string
  - isBonus: boolean
  - isAnnualEvent: boolean

challenge_progress
  - userId: Id<"users">
  - challengeId: string
  - currentCount: number
  - completedAt?: number
  - rewardClaimed: boolean

user_flairs
  - userId: Id<"users">
  - flairId: string
  - name: string
  - earnedFrom: string (challenge ID)
  - activeUntil: number (end of month)

leaderboard_optins
  - userId: Id<"users">
  - optedIn: boolean
  - optedInAt: number

leaderboard_archive
  - month: string
  - rankings: Array<{ userId, rank, referralCount, prizes }>

Challenge Progress Flow

When a user performs a qualifying action (e.g., imports an order with a new strain):

The order import mutation completes successfully
A post-action hook checks active challenges for the current month
If the action matches a challenge metric, the challenge_progress document is updated
If the updated count meets the target, the challenge is marked complete
IQ Points are credited and flair is activated (if applicable)
A completion notification is shown in the app

This flow piggybacks on existing mutations — no separate “challenge tracking” system is needed. The check happens as a side effect of actions the user is already taking.

Tier Impact

Tier	Access
Free	Participate in all standard monthly challenges, earn IQ Points from completions, see leaderboard (view only)
Pro	All Free benefits + bonus challenges (monthly rotating + annual events), leaderboard opt-in and participation, limited-edition event badges (420, 710), challenge completion share cards, 1.5x IQ Point multiplier on challenge rewards

Dependencies

Open Questions

Challenge difficulty calibration — The proposed challenges are guesses. “Try 3 new strains” might be trivial for heavy users and impossible for occasional users. Should challenges have difficulty tiers (Easy / Medium / Hard) with scaled rewards?
Incomplete challenge psychology — Expired, incomplete challenges can feel like failure. Should incomplete challenges show “you were 2/3 of the way there!” encouragement, or simply disappear? Research suggests that near-miss feedback increases future participation.
Challenge fatigue — If users see the same challenge types every month (try strains, scan labels, share content), does it become stale? The rotating bonus challenge helps, but the standard pool may need to be larger (8-10 challenges, 5 active per month).
Leaderboard size — How many users are visible on the leaderboard? Top 10? Top 50? Top 100? Smaller boards feel more prestigious; larger boards give more users the thrill of being “on the board.”
Team challenges — Could future iterations support group challenges? “Your friend group collectively tried 20 new strains this month.” This requires the Friend Connections infrastructure from Strain Compatibility.
Regional leaderboards — Should leaderboards be global or segmented by region/state? Regional boards reduce the gap between casual and power users, but the user base may be too small for regional segmentation at launch.

IQ Points — The currency that challenge rewards are denominated in
Community Badges — Challenges and badges reinforce each other (badge progress is a challenge type)
Referral System — Referral leaderboard and referral challenge depend on this system
Cannabis Personality — December’s bonus challenge references the annual personality summary
Share Cards — Challenge completion and monthly summary cards use the share card system

Product Strategy

Roadmap

Testing & Quality

Notebooks

Core Features

AI & Media

Growth & Social

Personalization

Infrastructure & Costs

Pricing & Strategy

Challenges & Leaderboards

Overview

Monthly Challenges

Standard Monthly Challenges

Monthly Bonus Challenge

Annual Events

420 Challenge (April 1-30)

710 Challenge (July 1-31)

Referral Leaderboard

Leaderboard Display

Monthly Prizes

Leaderboard Rules

User Value

How It Works

Technical Approach

Architecture

Data Model (Convex)

Challenge Progress Flow

Tier Impact

Dependencies

Open Questions

​Overview

​Monthly Challenges

​Standard Monthly Challenges

​Monthly Bonus Challenge

​Annual Events

​420 Challenge (April 1-30)

​710 Challenge (July 1-31)

​Referral Leaderboard

​Leaderboard Display

​Monthly Prizes

​Leaderboard Rules

​User Value

​How It Works

​Technical Approach

​Architecture

​Data Model (Convex)

​Challenge Progress Flow

​Tier Impact

​Dependencies

​Open Questions

​Related Features

Overview

Monthly Challenges

Standard Monthly Challenges

Monthly Bonus Challenge

Annual Events

420 Challenge (April 1-30)

710 Challenge (July 1-31)

Referral Leaderboard

Leaderboard Display

Monthly Prizes

Leaderboard Rules

User Value

How It Works

Technical Approach

Architecture

Data Model (Convex)

Challenge Progress Flow

Tier Impact

Dependencies

Open Questions

Related Features