Cut the bullsh*t: what is gamification and how do I use it
On March 5th, 2012 Henriette Weber wrote:
This Article is written by the awesome Kristina Björkman of Adludo.se who we have partnered up with to give you the best of the best when it comes to apps, gamification, and gamedesign=)
When you play Farmville, you classify what you’re doing as playing a game. If you’re in your garden clearing weed, then you regard it as work. Gamification is all about applying the things that make you addicted to Farmville to your garden work, making it as fun and engaging as Farmville, without turning it into a game. You will still classify what you’re doing as clearing weed.
But you will be more motivated to put in the effort, because you’ll have a clear goal to aim for, and when you accomplish your goal you’ll get instant feedback telling you how great you were. You even get a chance to beat the current high score held by your dear rival and friend, and most importantly, you’ll have had fun.
Why should i bother?
Gamification is all about motivation. Motivation to change a behavior, to spend more time doing an activity, to work harder and more efficiently. This is because we as humans like to do hard work, as long as it is of just the right level. That is, not to easy so that we get bored, but not so hard that we get frustrated and feel incompetent. Games provide us with a clear goal to strive for, and can challenge us with missions created so that we will be able to win, but only if we put in the effort. Games tell you to not give up, and rewards you for every single accomplishment you do, no matter the size of it. On top of this, gaming can be a highly social activity.
The goal of gamification is to take the goals, challenges and feedback structures from the games, as well as a strong social part, and adapt it for things that aren't games. Without making them into one.
Some examples of gamification
There is many different examples of gamification targeted to personal development. One of them are Mint.com that let you manage your personal finances, and compete to save the money. You get missions in the form of saving targets, and there is an option to compete against other people with similar targets.
A tool to increase the effectiveness in your workplace is the Email game, it rewards you for managing your emails. The goal is to help you prioritize between them, and to have you leave each session with an empty inbox. Another great tool for your business is Salesforce, a CRM system with integrated game mechanics and a social layer designed to increase sales.
How do I make this happen?
If your knowledge in game design is limited, figuring out how to gamify your business successfully can be hard to accomplish. There are many guides on the web that explains different a variety of game mechanics often used, but in order to make a successful gamification, it’s often not enough to just add points and badges. You need to create a system that applies to different sorts of people, and you need to know which mechanics best fits the targeted audience and the purpose of the project.