Cogniss key terms

Activity

An Activity is a single experience your users go through in your app. Every Activity needs to be paired with a Topic (a collection of content blocks that make up the activity) and an Activity Template (how the content blocks are displayed to the end user).

Activity Template

To deliver a specific type of experience to your app users - eg. informational content, interactive content, games, simulations, and more. An Activity Template is paired with a Topic to form an Activity (or experience).

Activity Response

A record of a user’s interaction with an Activity, including completion status, timing, and any answers or results produced.

App

A software program designed to perform specific tasks on a device (web or mobile).

App Media

Files uploaded to Cogniss Creator that have been used in an application.

App Introduction

Introductory content for standalone apps, shown before user sign-in, that helps users understand the app and what to expect.

App Submission

The process of taking your app built on Cogniss and placing it in Apple and/or Google’s app stores, making them accessible to the public (mobile apps only)

App Template

A pre-built app that can be used as a foundation to build your own app. The content, style, automation, etc. can be changed to suit your needs.

AppUser

A record of a User's app profile data, such as AppAdmin status and XP.

Avatar

A visual representation of a user within an app. Avatar images are configured per app by creators and can be set up as either a Basic Avatar or a Layered Avatar, depending on the level of customisation provided.

Badge

A gamification element that is awarded to the user after certain criteria are met.

Banned User

A user who has been prohibited by an Admin from accessing the platform due to violations of rules or inappropriate behavior. Banned users cannot access any apps on the platform, and the associated email address is also blocked, preventing the creation of a new account.

Behavior

Criteria are conditions that, in conjunction with triggers, are used to create Behaviors. When the Trigger and the Criteria for a specific Behavior are met, a specified result gets activated. For example, a user completes an ActivityResponse (meeting the completion criteria), which then triggers the app to reward the user with a badge.

Boolean

A custom profile field type for yes/no or true/false questions

Campaigns

A team-based competition with defined start and end dates. Teams accumulate points throughout the campaign, with real-time rankings showing the team on the top of the leaderboard.

Cogniss Creator

An advanced no-code app development platform to create highly customized digital health & behavior change solutions.

Cogniss Markup Language (CML)

A special scripting language that can be used in any text field in Cogniss, with support for Rich Text Formatting (see below). It allows for variables, basic calculations, dynamic referencing of content, image display, graph display, and conditionals. For example, you can use CML to display a custom message to a user with their name.

Content Block

Content Blocks are the most basic unit of content and could be in the form of text, images, audio, videos, multiple-choice questions, etc. Content Blocks are grouped under Topics and form an Activity, an experience your users go through in your app.

Criteria

Specific conditions can be used to trigger specific events. There are three types of criteria: global, local, and legacy.

Currencies

In-app rewards that app users can earn and exchange for virtual goods within the shop, including avatars, stickers and vouchers.

Dashboard

The home page/main screen that your app user sees when they launch a Cogniss-powered application. The dashboard page utilises widgets to add functions/features to it.

Data Controller

A data controller is an individual, company, or entity that decides the "why" (purposes) and "how" (means) of processing personal data, holding the primary responsibility for compliance with data protection laws like the GDPR, even when a third-party processor handles the data on their behalf.

Data Processor

A data processor is a person, company, or entity that processes personal data on behalf of a data controller, following the controller's specific instructions, rather than deciding the purposes for processing themselves.

Environment

There are multiple versions of the Cogniss platform that you can use at different stages of app creation. Generally, you will have access to Cogniss's QA (non-public) environment, which you can use to edit and make changes to your app before it is launched to the public in a Live environment.

Event

Any user interaction within your app (e.g. completing an activity, navigating to the dashboard page, etc.) is recorded as an event.

External Template

A type of Activity Template that is not directly linked to Cogniss code. (e.g. choose your own adventure, any game templates). It allows creators to deliver interactive and diverse experiences within a Cogniss app. External templates can also be customised or created for specific user cases, typically at an additional cost.

Feedback

Specific information or content that can be presented to the app user after an activity is completed based on set criteria.

Font

The typeface that determines the appearance of text in your app. This is set in the Style tab.

Gamification

Adding game-like elements (points, badges, leaderboards, challenges, rewards) to non-game apps to boost user engagement, motivation, and retention by tapping into psychological needs for achievement and competition, making the experience more fun and encouraging repeat use. It's about making non-game activities more compelling, not turning the whole app into a game.

Global Criteria

An advanced condition that can be used to identify specific user groups based on their behavior (e.g. Activity Responses) or profile data. Global Criteria are tied to Behaviors to enable personalised automation.

Health Kit

A native Cogniss integration allowing data from wearable devices to be brought into Cogniss applications. This is currently just available for iOS devices.

Cogniss Insights

A data insights interface that lets you access aggregated app data in the form of visual dashboards or drill down into granular details. Cogniss Insights is also where you go to manually export data from your application.

Levels

A gamification element that refers to a user's progress in your app. These are configured in the 'Settings' tab in Cogniss Creator.

Local Criteria

A condition used to display a specific Content Block to app users who meet certain requirements such as their Activity Responses or profile data.

Mobile Application

An application specifically designed and made available on mobile devices.

Notification

System-generated messages that are delivered to users at precise times when using the app. There are 3 types of notification: In-app notification, email, and push notification

Notification Center

A centralized place to store and view received push notifications in Cogniss mobile apps

Pages

The app screens that are listed under the More tab of your mobile or web app. This can be used to include additional information about your app, such as acknowledgements or a FAQ section.

Pathways

A type of Activity Template used to define the flow and conditions for a collection of Activities that allow them to be experienced together (eg, units in a lesson with "unit" being an Activity and "lesson" being a Pathway).

Personal Identifiable Information (PII)

Any data that can be used to identify a specific individual directly or indirectly. Examples include name, email address, IP address, or any combination of data points that can be linked to a specific person.

Posts

User-generated content in the Newsfeed can receive comments and reactions.

Product Tutorial

A piece of content designed to guide app creators and platform admins on how to get started with the Cogniss platform, including using features such as the Creator Menu and Insights Menu.

Profile

App user information that stores basic attributes about the user (e.g. username, name). As an app creator, you can add more user profile attributes as required.

Progress Charts

Dynamic visual trackers that update in real-time as users complete activities in the app, showing goal progression over a set period of time. Progress charts can also be used to display health kit data points in the app as well.

Push notification

This is a communication message sent to the home screen of the user's mobile device to inform them of specific information at a specific time and frequency. Note: push notifications are only available on mobile apps.

QuestionResponse

User's response to a content block. Note that when content blocks do not require a response, this is shown as blank, but it will still record a time stamp for how long a user engaged with that particular piece of content.

Rich Text Formatting

Core text display used in Cogniss-powered apps, which allows for basic text formatting provided by the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) rich-text controls.

Results

Used in Behaviors, Results are what happen when Triggers and Criteria become True (met). There are four main types of Results: Transaction, Notification, Randomizer, and Event.

Scored Survey

A type of activity where creators can assign scores to answers in multi-choice or multi-select questions. The total score can be used to determine criteria for triggering Behaviors, providing feedback, or awarding rewards to users based on their results.

Search

A functionality that allows users or admins to find specific items such as Activities, Apps, or Users within the Cogniss platform. Cogniss search supports relevance improvements through stop words to provide better results.

Software Development Kit (SDK)

A comprehensive collection of tools, libraries, documentation, and code samples that developers use to create applications for a specific platform, operating system, or programming language. Cogniss regularly updates the SDK of your application to maintain compliance with Apple and Google’s requirements as part of your SaaS fee.

Subdomain

A prefix added to your main domain name (like sandbox.cogniss.com or academy.cogniss.com) that creates a separate, distinct section or mini-site. Cogniss uses subdomains to point to different environments.

Subject

A group of (usually like/similar) Activities. Think of Subjects as folders that contain related Activities inside.

Cogniss Studio (discontinued)

A simple no-code app creator that lets you create an app using pre-existing App Templates. Studio offers limited customization functionality.

Style

The general colour scheme used across a Cogniss-powered app.

Teams

A group of users that can be managed together within an app. Creators can use teams to create different user flows, apply criteria, conduct A/B test or run team-based competition (campaign).

Terms of Service

An agreement that a user must read and agree to before they are allowed to use your app, which can be modified on Creator based on the use case. This includes the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy.

Text-to-Speech

A feature in Activities that reads content aloud using the device’s default voice. Creators can enable and configure it for their app. This feature enhances accessibility by supporting users who benefit from auditory content.

Topic

Topics are used to group related Content Blocks together. They are similar to Subjects, but are located at the Activity level of your app.

Transaction

The exchange of Virtual Goods or increment/deduction of a specific value, which is recorded and tracked by the user.

Trigger

Used in Behaviors, Triggers activate a specific Result based on user's activity-based (REQUEST) or time-based (SCHEDULE) interaction in your app.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

This is also sometimes referred to as multi-factor authentication (MFA). A type of authentication process that requires a user to present two pieces of authentication in order to log in. Typically, this would involve a static pre-set password and a dynamically generated code using an external authentication app (such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or 2FAS).

Unique Email Address

A platform configuration that restricts each email address to a single user account, preventing multiple accounts from being created with the same email. This setting is enabled by default in Cogniss, although some legacy platforms may still allow multiple accounts to share the same email address.

User

A Cogniss user account record. Anyone who uses a Cogniss-powered app is a user.

User Flow

A planned sequence of steps that a user takes to complete tasks within an app. Defining the User Flow before building an app helps creators design and structure the experience, ensuring it is clear and intuitive for end users.

User Profile Information

Information gathered about and stored for a user, which may include personal identifiable information (e.g., name, gender, age, birthday, company name) or any custom information required by the app. This data can be used within the app to create Criteria and deliver a personalised experience for the user.

User Role

User Roles define the permissions and access levels for admin users in Cogniss. Roles can be assigned at two levels: Platform-level (granting access across all apps and platform features) and App-level (limited to a specific app). Each level includes three types of roles: Admin, Moderator, and Analyst.

Virtual Table

A tool that enables app creators to upload, manage and maintain large sets of data for user profiles. Data can be imported via CSV files and used within the app to personalise experiences or create Criteria.

Voucher

When a user redeems a single-use Voucher, it can trigger the delivery of a specific Result, such as a Virtual Good or give the user access to a specific app.

Voucher Redirects

A feature that sends users to a specific sub-app within a multi-app (super app) environment. It is used when different apps are created for specific user groups, allowing users to access the appropriate app automatically and experience a single app based on their voucher code.

Web App

An application that can be accessed/utilised through any device that can access the web. These are typically more suited to a desktop view.

Web Favicon

Your web app icon on the tab of your internet browser.

Dashboard Widgets

Widgets are individual functions that can be selected and configured to form the dashboard page of your app. Widgets have functions such as check-ins, streaks, daily goal tracker, featured activities, and image header.

XP

Experience points (XP) is a gamification element that can be collected by app users and is incremental.