What is Gamification?

 

 

 

Gamficaiton is More than Badges, Points, Leaderboards. These are physical elements which reflect our core human needs. heres actually a lot more to these seemingly simple elements than what most people think. According Yu-kai Chou gamification is when we tap into our core human drives. He believes these core drives are key to bringing “fun & engagement” into almost any task; these 8 universal core drives are;

 

8 Universal Core Drives

1. Meaning – the desire to feel that our actions have purpose
2. Accomplishment – The drive to achieve and overcome challenges
3. Empowerment – The desire to choose one’s own direction and try a variety of solutions to a problem
4. Ownership – The desire to own things and have possession
5. Social Influence – The drive to interact with, help, learn from, and compete with others
6. Scarcity – The drive of wanting things you can’t have
7. Unpredictability – The drive of wanting to know what will happen next, and...
8. Avoidance – The drive to avoid pain or negative consequences.

Points, Badges and Leaderboards (among many others I'll list shortly) are only effective because they are helping us reach out Core Drives. This is where gamification gets interesting. It's the physiology of making hard or boring task seem fun. For instance;

- Point systems make us feel like we have meaning, purpose and a sense of progression.
- Badges tap into the need for accomplishment & reward
- Leaderboards appeal to our need for social status and influence.

 

The more we understand the psychology behind our core drives, the better we will be at Gamifying our Work, Health, Education & Marketing Efforts. Remember Gamification isn't just about being "Fun" but implementing game elements. Some Companies I have worked with have Live Sales Boards with faces on them. They are link to their KPI (key performance indicators) and rewards (commission). 

 

Gamification Examples

Marketing
Health
Education
Websites

 

Gamification in Marketing

Gamification has been widely applied in marketing. in 2013 Over 70% of Forbes Global 2000 companies surveyed said they planned to use gamification for the purposes of marketing and customer retention. With that being said here are the 3 Major types of Gamficaiton Marketing. 

 

1. Transmedia: 007: GoldenEye

is When you make an entire game out of something you a trying to sell. in 1997 Nintendo did this with "007: GoldenEye". The was a AAA Video Game and was created to bring more attention to the film but actually ended up making more money then the film it's self. Not surprising than 20 years Later the video game industry is now 4x larger than the movie industry. Maybe Movies will start advertising video games? See next point. 
 

2. Brandification: Tesla + PubG 

In-game advertising. Messages, images or videos promoting a Brand, Product or Service within a video games world. One of the frist to do it well was Counter-Strike. The most popular frist shooter game in history Counter-Strike allowed advertiser to promote posters of movies on walls within the game its self like "Smokin Aces" among many others. The most recent example? Tesla + PubG. PubG is one of the most played video games in the world. Tesla as of July 2020 placed their car's as vehicles you can play within the game. If marketing is "being where the attention is" Tesla may go down in history as having the best Video Game Marketing Campaign of all time. 

3. Advergame: Pepsi Man

Advergame's become popular with Pepsi's "Pepsi Man" and 7 Up's 'Spot' in 1999. in 2019 
popular game like 'Candy Crush' & 'Temple Run' begin to be 're-skinned' with companies logos and themes to promote their products or service. These are done through companies like Gamify or secondary popular website platforms like WIX or Shopify. They have been proven to get higher levels of engagement & redemption than traditional advertisement. 

 

Gamification in Health

 

 1. Physical Health: Nike

Nike lunched Nike+Run in 2010 which tracks you'r run time, distance and compares you to yourself and others in area. They have a leaderboard, points and badges. This is classic example on live-feed back and micro-measuring helping runnings to improve as we they become more aware of the smallest increases and encourages us to go further. For more on this check out Top Fitness Apps 2020

 

2. Mental Health: Headspace 

Headspace uses an app which uses gamification to encourage users to complete and master a level of meditation before moving on to a more advanced section. Each session is about ten minutes long, usually in audio format.

 

3. Group Workouts: Les Mills

Other organisations like CrossFit have done well with their group connection and leaderboards but Les Mills 'Be Moved' utilises gamification to another level. They do group class's on stationary bikes with a computer screen in-front of them simulating a futuristic Rollercoaster. You need to login in, it tracks your scores, has leaderboard and if you don't show up to class you get a warning. 7/8 of our core drives are shown with Les Mills. 

 

Gamification in Education

 

 1. Computer Games: MindCraft - Educational Edition 

Math Blaster & Treasure Mountain where the original's however the best example of teaching 21st Century topics via Game Based Learning is MindCraft Education Edition which Teach's Students how to Code through one of the most popular games in the world; MindCraft. If you'r a teacher you know your students know this game. 

 

2. Live Quiz's:  Kahoot

Kahoot allows you to create a multi-choice quiz and through a quick website link (which is provided) students can use their phones to select or type in their answer in real-time. The most interactive and simple form of Gamification in the classroom.

 

3. E-learning Platforms: Archy Learning

Archy Learning is a simple gamified e-learning platform. Teach's can cut and paste youtube links and teachers notes into a learning pathway. Where it gets really fun is the additions; you can add game quiz's, real video games (like the ones mentioned above in Marketing) and Students receive certificates once completed. 

 

Gamification in Websites

 

1. Physical & Online Locations: Foursquare

As Previously mentioned Foursquare was the original website and brand which not only started gamification but grew 10x in five years of implementing game elements into customer onboarding. Bringing both real-life and online elements to their brand, store and website. Watch the video above to learn more about Foursquare.

2. Website: DevHub

In August, 2010 Devhub announced an increase in the number of users who completed their online tasks from 10% to 80% after adding gamification elements. Facebook, Twitter and Myspace will implemented game elements into their signup, interactions and continue to do so. The easiest tool to Gamify your site is through the largest website engine's in the world; Wix & Shopify allows users to ad games to encourage engagement & email subscriptions. 

3. Social: Reddit

The most Famous example is Reddit using badges points, leaderboards, personalisation/aviators, coins and many others they took a basic blog website into one of the top 10 most visited sites in the world through gamification. You can buy "coins" and gift them to article writers. You get points what the amount of time you write, interact and how long you have been a member. Reddit is a perfect example of gamification. In life and business we want to identify the actions we want other (or ourselves) to do - and then measure and reward this actions. 

What actions to you want your audience to do? Can you think of anyway of measuring and rewarding them for doing this? The old saying is true "whatever gets measured, improves". This is why loyalty Cards and AirPoints have done so well; it acknowledges and rewards customers for behaviours the company wants them to continue doing. 

 What other industry's have done well with gamification?