1. Signing Up
There are two ways to sign up for Competish – using your email or through Facebook Connect. We recommend using you Facebook Connect since we will begin to roll out features specifically tied to your social network.
- A picture of you that will be displayed in the app
- Your first and last name – this is so that everyone knows who they are competing against
- An email address in case we need to contact you
- Location, which helps us set your time zone (comes in handy later on)
You can always edit this information in your profile after you have created an account.
2. Creating a Group
Once you’ve created an account, you are able to create a group – the private areas in which you can compete against your friends and family. Click on the ‘Start a Group’ icon on your home screen and fill in the information below.
- Group name: something short and memorable that represents the participants or the goal (e.g., New Year, New You).
- Location: where you are creating a group (this is to help us find the time zone)
- Time zone: the timezone is based on your location, and will set when the competition begins and ends. This only really matters if there are members of the group that are in a different timezone – it may affect their window to weigh in.
- Start date: when you’d like the competition to begin. Set this a few days from when you’re creating the group to give time for everyone to join.
- Length: how many weeks your competition will last. Our initial research shows that the most effective competitions are between 4 and 12 weeks.
- Buy in: the amount of money each person has to put down. The minimum to start a Competish is $25. Please note: in this current version, we do not collect or transfer money. We recommend the user who created the group collects and distributes the funds using a tool like Venmo (www.venmo.com), Square Cash (www.cash.me), or Paypal (www.paypal.com).
After your group is created, you will be able to invite users using a unique code. Only people with this code will be able to join, so do not share it broadly. Your friend and family will only be able to join up until the midnight before the day your Competish begins, so don’t delay!
3. Joining a Group
If you’ve been invited, joining a group is simple. Go to your home screen, click on ‘Join a Group’, and then enter in or paste the code. Once you’ve entered the group and are sure you want to join, click confirm on the bottom.
Note: do so soon after receiving the invite code – if the Competish has already begun, you will not be able to join the group.
4. Weighing In
The weight loss competition is documenting your weight daily. In order to do so, click the scale icon at the bottom right hand corner of your screen. You will be asked to provide access to your camera and photos – hit accept. Take a picture of your scale with your feet and weight clearly visible. On the next screen, enter in the weight up to 1 decimal point. Make sure the weight you have entered is correct – you will not be able to edit after you’ve submitted it. You are only allowed one weigh in per day.
You should aim to weigh in every day as this builds a good habit and helps you better understand the drivers of your weight fluctuations.
5. Winning Prizes
Throughout the Competish, you and the members of your group can win prizes based on highest percentage weight loss. Below is a list of prizes you can win.
- Weekly
- Match-up: Every week you compete against someone new. Lose a higher percentage of weight than them and you win this prize.
- Top Loser: If you lose more weight than everyone in your group, you’ll also win the the top loser prize.
- Overall Competition
- Biggest Loser: If at the end of the competition, you’ve lost the highest percentage of weight in your entire group, you’ll win the Biggest Loser prize.
- Runner-up: If you’ve lost the second highest percentage of weight, you’ll win the runner up prize.
There are three factors that determine what the actual prize amounts are for your specific group:
- Group size: the number of people that are in your group.
- Buy-in: how much money is pledged by each member.
- Competish length: how many weeks your Competish will last.
Multiplying the number of people in your group by the buy-in amount provides the total prize pool. As an example, if there are six people in your group and you each bought in for $50, the total prize pool is $300. If the Competish length is 4 weeks, we would calculate the value of each prize as follows:
- Weekly match-up prizes (35% of total): Each week there would be 3 match-ups (6 competitors split into groups of 2). Over 4 weeks of competition, that means 12 match-up prizes would be awarded. If we multiply the prize pool ($300) by the category percentage (35%) and then divide by the total number of awarded prizes (12), each weekly match-up prize is worth $8.75.
- Weekly top loser prizes (5% of total): Each week, one person will lose the most amount of weight, winning the weekly top loser prize. In this example, there are 4 prizes (1 for each week). Multiplying the prize pool ($300) by the category percentage (5%) and then dividing by the total number of awarded prizes (4) gives us a weekly top loser prize of $3.75.
- Competish Biggest Loser (45% of total): At the end of the competition, whomever has lost the highest percentage of their weight wins the biggest loser prize. Multiplying the prize pool ($300) by the category percentage (45%) means this prize is worth $135.
- Competish Runner-up (15% of total): Whomever has lost the second highest percentage of their weight wins the runner-up prize. Multiplying the prize pool ($300) by the category percentage (15%) means this prize is worth $45.
The percentages used above for the prize categories are the same for each Competish, regardless of the prize pool or competition length.
There may be some unlikely cases that occur throughout the competition:
- An odd number of competitors: In the case of an odd number of people in a group, one person will be in a match-up by themself. This person would not be eligible for a weekly match-up prize. For example, if there are five people in a group, there would only be two weekly match-up prizes available. However, the odd person out would still be competing for the weekly top loser prize. With an odd number, the weekly top prize is increased to provide incentive for the odd person out.
- A tie: While unlikely, there are cases in which two users may lose the same amount of relative weight. In these cases, the users will split the prize amounts.
If you have any questions about how the prizes are being calculated, please email us at support@competish.com.
6. Exiting the Group
After your competition ends, you may exit the group by clicking on your profile and scrolling down to the ‘Exit Group’ option. You should only do so after the competition has ended, or if all members would like to end the competition early. Doing so will take you back to the home screen, where you are able to create a new group, or join an existing one.
7. Receiving Support
If at any point you have any questions at all, or would like to report behavior, please contact us at support@competish.com – we will aim to get back to you as soon as possible.