Masterbranch's log

When I started using Masterbranch, I thought it was just a good online résumé page for programmers. It was great, because I could have my LinkedIn profile info and all my projects from GitHub or BitBucket in one place. Who can say  better things about your work than your actual work? But Masterbranch was more than an online portfolio, a lot more (and more to come, I hope…): It is an ego game!

By Daniel García, iOS Developer at minube.com

An ego game

Many people talk about the gamification concept, and many more try to apply it to web projects or applications. But only a few get to do it right. Masterbranch does.

As you don’t have to do anything but link your GitHub or BitBucket accounts and start working, it is extremely easy to see where you stand when compared to your teammates or friend programmers. 

The algorithm seems to work quite well. It takes into account not just the number of commits you do to calculate your DevScore, but also connections, the DevScore of your connections, etc. 

An epic coding battle

I work for minube.com, and I develop iOS apps with my friend Rubén. When we started our last iOS project, both of us had Masterbranch accounts. That day we started an epic coding battle to earn (and keep!) the MVP title (Most Valuable Programmer of the project). 

We also have our Twitter accounts linked, so anytime one of us snatches the MVP from the other, an automatic tweet warns all of our dev friends so they can mock the loser. You get an idea of how tough this has become :)

Every day before leaving the office, we both check our DevScores to know if the MVP is going to be ours for at least one more day.

Having fun and contributing more to Open Source

We work in a high-pressure project with mind-blowing deadlines, so I don’t know if all this is increasing my productivity o not. However, I do know that it is making work much more fun.

In my case, Masterbranch encouraged me to publish more Open Source projects, and to share coding with other people.

What do I ask Masterbranch for the future? More badges and more achievements!

These kind of metrics are great for making our job more fun. In addition, they serve the purpose of illustrating and communicating our skills and projects contributions to an extent that would not be possible with a simple résumé.

Check out Daniel’s MVPs and DevScore or start gaining MVPs by creating your account.