What is gamification?

December 8, 2015
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What is “gamification”? Everyone is suddenly using this new buzzword, but what does it actually mean?

Gamification seems to be the new buzzword, which everyone is talking about and thinking of as the solution for problems in engaging users, customers and employees. I want to start this blog by talking about the term “gamification” and what is means. I will also discuss how game mechanics work and why are they becoming so popular in consumer market as well as in companies’ internal strategies.

Karl  M. Kapp, the author of The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education, writes that “gamification is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems” (Kapp, 2012, 10).  Robert Hunter, who wrote The Gamification Handbook, describes gamification as “the use of game play mechanics for non-game applications, also known as “funware” particularly consumer-oriented web and mobile sites, in order to encourage people to adopt the applications” (Hunter, 2011, 1). Both of these experts put empasis on the effect that gaming elements have on people and their behavior.

According to Badgeville.com, a gaming website, “gamification was a term that was first coined in 2003 by Nick Pelling, but did not gain popularity until 2010. The term gamification began to gather interest and a following in 2010 when companies such as Badgeville started using it to describe their behavior platforms. Gartner spurred the popularity of gamification by saying that ‘more than 50 percent of organizations that manage information processes will gamify those processes’ and also added gamification to their hype cycle. In 2011, more companies started developing gamification platforms as they became more popular.” (Badgeville.com, 2015)

These days more and more companies are using game mechanics in advertising, marketing, branding and education in order to change their users’ or customers’  behavior. In consumer markets gamification is used for example in score and reward systems, frequent flyer programmes and loyalty schemes. “The goal is to create a system in which learners, players, consumers, and employees engage in an abstract challenge, defined by rules, interactivity, and feedback that results in a quantifiable outcome ideally eliciting an emotional reaction. The goal is to create a game in which people want to invest brain share, time, and energy.” (Kapp, 2012, 11)

 

Gaming is more than earning points

When I think of a game, I think of advancing to higher levels and earning more points, but according to experts, that is not all that gaming is. Kapp writes that “the mechanics of playing a game include levels, earning badges, point systems, scores, and time constraints. These are the elements that are used in many games. Mechanics alone are insufficient to turn a boring experience into a game-like engaging experience, but they are crucial building blocks used during the gamification process.” (Kapp, 2012, 11)

“Unfortunately, the least exciting and least useful elements of games have been labeled “gamification.” This is unfortunate because the real power of game-based thinking is in the other elements of games: engagement, storytelling, visualization of characters, and problem solving. Those are the foundations upon which gamification needs to be built. Unfortunately, a few people are devaluing the term “gamification” when it could have real use in describing how to take engagement and learning to the next level. Learning professionals, who have been adding “real” game elements to learning, such as interactivity, storytelling, and problem solving, need to take back the word “gamification” and use it for themselves”. (Kapp, 2012, 12)

 

The goal is engagement

All good games have the ability to emerge you in the story and the action to the extent that you can spend endless hours involved in gaming. This has less to do with getting points and more to do with achieving goals and as experts call them ‘epic wins’. “An explicit goal of the gamification process is to gain a person’s attention and to involve him or her in the process you have created. Engagement of an individual is a primary focus of gamification.” (Kapp, 2012, 12) Through this engagement the players will learn and get motivated.

When the player is operating at the highest levels of his or hers skills, yet still able to advance in the game and achieve things, this speaks directly to our inner motivations.”Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. Gamification taps into the basic desires and needs of the users impulses which revolve around the idea of status and achievement.” (Badgeville.com, 2015)

According to Hunter, all humans have a built-in desire n to engage in gaming and enjoying it. “Gamification works by making technology more engaging and by encouraging desired behaviors, taking advantage of human’s psychological predisposition to engage in gaming.”(Hunter 2011, 1). I, myself, have never been much into gaming but can still understand this idea. All humans seem to want recognition, benefits and satisfaction of a job well done. I see this as the most important things that gamification can add to all services.

 

 
Sources:
 
Badgeville.com (2015), available: https://badgeville.com/wiki/Gamification (accessed 1st of December 2015)
 
Hunter, R. (2011) The Gamification Handboopk – Everything You Need to Know about Gamification
 
Kapp, K.  M. (2012) The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education 
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