The Journey to Find a Mascot/Guide
A few days ago, I received a text message from a friend. It read:
“I am XX years old. I do not need everything to be gamified. I do not give a $#*% about badges and other Pavlovian based incentives”
Expletives aside, I got his point. Gamification isn’t for everyone. Some people are drawn to achievements, badges, and streaks, while others find them unnecessary distractions. Me? I’m just a kid at heart. I sometimes appreciate the gamification of things—Reddit and StackOverflow achievements, for example. I see how they encourage participation and keep people coming back. For a fleeting moment, I even considered adding a similar element to Fractional Developer.
But his text got me thinking: Is gamification really the best way to engage users? Or could we create something more meaningful—a companion to guide users through the site? That’s when the idea of a mascot clicked: a guide that could help users navigate the site, offer tips, and maybe even become the face of a future chatbot.
Why a Mascot?
Fractional Developer is more than just a site; it’s a resource hub and community for developers and companies navigating the world of fractional work. To make the site more engaging and approachable, I wanted something that could embody its personality—a mascot. Not just a symbol, but a guide that offers support, provides tips, and feels like a friendly mentor or coach.
Great platforms often use mascots to build a connection with their audience. Take GitHub’s Octocat, for example: it’s instantly recognizable, fun, and perfectly aligned with the brand’s quirky, developer-focused personality1. A mascot like that doesn’t just make a site memorable—it creates a sense of familiarity and trust. That’s the kind of presence I wanted for Fractional Developer.
With that vision in mind, I turned to ChatGPT for help. What followed was a journey full of creative sparks, surprising insights, and a few laugh-out-loud moments.
The Brainstorming Begins
With a few keystrokes and prompts, ChatGPT took off running, delivering ideas that ranged from inspired to… let’s call them “unique.” Some of the early suggestions were almost poetic in their simplicity: a wise owl perched on a circuit board, a fox clutching a glowing compass, and a turtle with a circuit-patterned shell. Others were, well, a bit much. A robotic octopus juggling eight glowing tools? Perhaps too literal. A penguin coding on a laptop? Adorable but felt too playful for our tone.
Every design sparked a reaction—sometimes awe, sometimes laughter, but always a sense of progress. Each step brought clarity about what worked and what didn’t. For example, the fox with a compass resonated immediately: clever, adaptable, and simple. It was the perfect metaphor for guiding users through the platform. And of course, there was the constellation character—let’s just say it looked like it had escaped from a modern art museum.
The Candidates
Exploring the initial ideas: clever animals and glowing tools.
I’m not sure what “CTP” is in reference to, but certainly a good start.
Pushing the boundaries—sometimes too far.
A few more prompts to get some different options resulted in the following examples:
Frictional Developer? As a name, it wasn’t quite what I was going for. But the designs had promise, especially that first fox—it looked both curious and clever. The next few were very visually striking, but not really the vide I was looking for.
Discovering clarity in the chaos.
Let’s try a few more prompts:
These next few were nearly equally as striking, but closer to back on track. I really liked the clockwork owl, it reminded me of Clash of the Titans. The fox in the last image was quite nice as well. But, would that remind folks too much of the Firefox browser?
The fox, the chameleon, and the owl—guides for a new era.
More prompts to see what we get:
I’m liking the wise old wizard figures. The hiking “trail guide” was also quite nice.
Narrowing It Down
As the ideas flowed, I began to see patterns. The designs I was drawn to shared a few key traits: simplicity, professionalism, and a hint of fun. The mascot needed to feel approachable yet authoritative—a guide rather than a gimmick. This led me to refine the list, focusing on characters that could truly embody the values of Fractional Developer.
The fox with a compass remained a favorite, representing cleverness and adaptability. The chameleon evolved into a sleek, glowing figure holding a digital tablet—a symbol of flexibility and creativity. And the wise owl? It stayed perched with its glowing book, a perfect nod to knowledge and mentorship.
Lessons Learned
This process wasn’t just about designing a mascot; it was a crash course in branding and audience connection. I learned that a mascot isn’t just a logo with eyes; it’s a personality, a symbol of what the site stands for. I also learned that even the quirkiest ideas could spark conversations and lead to better ones.
Through it all, I realized something important: Fractional Developer doesn’t need badges or gamification to make an impact. What it needs is clarity, guidance, and a touch of creativity—all of which can be embodied in this mascot.
What’s Next?
So, will the fox, the chameleon, or the owl make it to the front page? Maybe. Will this mascot become the face of a chatbot someday? Who knows? For now, this journey has been a reminder that even something as small as a mascot can be a big step toward creating a meaningful and engaging experience for users.
And to my friend who inspired this journey with his disdain for gamification: You’re right. We don’t need badges. But every great journey needs a guide—and ours might just be a fox with a glowing compass.
Footnotes
1 Learn more about GitHub’s Octocat and its history in “Go Octocat”.