The Ultimate 2022 Definition of Gamification

“Gamification is about taking something that is not a game and applying game mechanics to increase user engagement, happiness and loyalty!” This ... Skiptocontent [email protected] Search Close OurProducts TheImpactSuite GrowthEngineeringLMS GrowthEngineeringLearningApp GrowthEngineeringAuthoringTool OurApproach BrainScience SocialLearning Gamification Personalisation Resources Downloads Blog Webinars FreeeLearningContent AboutUs OurStory Sustainability OurClients Awards Partners GDPR ContactUs Menu OurProducts TheImpactSuite GrowthEngineeringLMS GrowthEngineeringLearningApp GrowthEngineeringAuthoringTool OurApproach BrainScience SocialLearning Gamification Personalisation Resources Downloads Blog Webinars FreeeLearningContent AboutUs OurStory Sustainability OurClients Awards Partners GDPR ContactUs GetInTouch BLOG TheUltimateDefinitionofGamification(With6RealWorldExamples) March10,2021 Gamification Whatisthedefinitionofgamification?Well… “Gamificationisabouttakingsomethingthatisnotagameandapplyinggamemechanicstoincreaseuserengagement,happinessandloyalty!” Thismeansthatgamificationtakeselementsfromgame-designandthegeneralprinciplesandtheorieswhichdrivegameplayandappliesthemtoothercontexts. Secondly,gamificationisordinarilyappliedtosolveproblems.Theserangefromissuesofengagementintheworkplacethroughtovoterapathy.Assuch,here’salistofjustsomeoftheproblemsgamificationcanhelpsolve: Learnerengagementinworkplacetraining Salesstaffperformance Yourabilitytocompletechoresandmundanetasks Performanceatthegym Organisationalproductivity Yourabilitytoenter‘flow’ Knowledgeretention Crowdsourcing Recruitmentissues Customerretention Gamificationwillalwayslookslightlydifferentineachcontext.So,let’sgobacktothebeginning. WhatisGamificationandWhereDiditComeFrom? In2002,NickPellingcoinedtheterm‘gamification’andfreestylerapperseverywhererejoicedattherhymingpotentialitoffered. Theworldisnowaverydifferentplace.We’vehadthreenewSpider-men,AndyMurraywonWimbledonandwenolonger‘AskJeeves’ifthere’stheslightestchancethatourmissingsockhasbeensuckedupintoablackhole.Butwhatisthedefinitionofgamification? It’satermyou’veprobablyheardbefore.Maybeyouhaveavagueunderstandingofwhatitis.Maybeyoudon’t.Perhapsyou’veuseditbefore.Perhapsyouhaven’t.Maybethetermmakesyoubreakoutinhives.Maybeitmakesyoujumpforjoy. WhyisEveryonesoConfusedAboutGamification? There’saclearissuewiththeterm.Notwopeopleseemtohavethesameworkingdefinitionofgamification.Itdoesn’thelpthattherearetwodifferenttypesofgamification(‘Structural’and‘Content’). Thenthere’s‘LearningGames’,whicharetheirownbeast,butoftengetdraggedintoconversationsaboutgamification.Then,ofcourse,therearepeoplewhogetconfusedabout‘gameelements’and‘gamemechanics’.Isitaboutuserexperience,orisitaformofbehaviouraldesign,orisitboth?Finally,therearethosepoor,misguidedfolkwhousethetermasacatch-allforanythingtangentiallyconnectedtothegamingworld. Argh!Why!?Thisissodeeply,tragicallywrong. There’sclearlyanunderlyingsenseofconfusionaboutthisword.Ifyourunaquicksearch,you’llfindastartlinglackofclarityonthetopic.Bamboozlementabounds.Asithappens,we’reabouttothrowourownberetintothemix. Infact,bytheendofthisarticle,we’llhavereachedourveryowndefinitionofgamification.Hurrah! WhatisGamification? Backinthehalcyondaysof2014,Gartnersoughttoredefine‘gamification’.AccordingtoGartner,gamificationis“theuseofgamemechanicsandexperiencedesigntodigitallyengageandmotivatepeopletoachievetheirgoals”. Thisisaninterestingdefinition.Itcoversstructuralgamification(‘gamemechanics’)andcontentgamification(‘experiencedesign’)andhighlightstheimportanceofengagementanddrivingmotivation.Andyet,thisdefinitioncomesoffasbothalittletoopreciseandalittletooloose.Solet’sbreakitdown! 1.IsGamificationDigitalorAnalog? Interestingly,Gartner’sdefinitionhonesinon‘digital’engagement.Butwhilstdigitalexperiencestendtobeeasiertogamify,they’renottheonlytypesofexperiencethatcanbegamified. Thinkabouttheloyaltycardyoureceivefromyourlocalcoffeeshop.There’snothingparticularlydigitalaboutapieceofpaperandastamp.It’sveryclearfromtherealworld.Yet,likemanyloyaltyprograms,thisisclearlyanexampleofgamificationinaction. What’smore,weoftenusegamificationinclassroomtraining,withoutusinganydigitalapplicationsasacrutch.LearnersearnBadgesthroughoutthedayandclimbupourmakeshiftLeaderboard.Weevenapplyalevelstructurearoundourcontent. Canyoureallysaythatit’snotagamifiedexperiencejustbecauseit’snothappeningwithinadigitalapplication?…Canyou? 2.DoesGamificationRequireGoals? InGartner’sdefinition,gamificationfocusesonenablingpeopletoachieve‘their’goals.Hence,thisbegsthequestion:canyounotgamifyanexperiencetohelppeopleachieveyourgoals? Couldyounotcreateagamifiedexperiencethatencouragesotherstocompleteasurveyyouhavecreated?Theymaynothavewokenupinthemorningwithaburningdesiretocompleteaquestionnaire,buttheuseofrewardscouldbeenoughtomotivatethemintoaction. Whilstweappreciatetheimportanceofaligningindividualandorganisationalgoals,wedon’tseehowthisimpactsonthedefinitionofgamification. PerhapsGartneristryingtopositiongamificationasagoalalignmenttool. Inotherwords,youcanusegamificationtogetpeopleonboardwithyourowngoals.Thismeansitstopsbeingabouthelpingpeoplerealisetheirownpotential.They’resimplydoingwhatyouneedthemto. Still,evenifthisistrue,itdoesn’tfeelaccuratetoclassifyareconfiguredgoalas‘their’goal.Themotivationhaschanged,buttheauthorofthegoalremainsthesame. 3.Gameception:CanYouGamifyaGame? Gamificationcan’texistonitsown.Itneedstobeappliedtosomethingelse.Yetincapturingthisfact,Gartner’sdefinitionseemstocomeupalittleshort. Hence,there’snomentionofwherethegamemechanics(orexperiencedesign)needtobeapplied,beyondthe‘digital’qualifier.Doesthatmeanthatwecoulddescribethegamingmechanicsusedwithinvideogamesasanexampleofgamification?Thisseemsnonsensicalonthefaceofit,butGartner’sdefinitiondoesn’tnecessarilyruleitout. HowDoWeDefineGamification? Asnit-pickyasthisallmaysound,theconsensusisanimportantthing.Ifwe’reallworkingfromthesamebasedefinition,thenwe’reabletohavebetterconversationsanddrivedeeperunderstanding. Hence,hereatGrowthEngineering,wedefinegamificationas“theapplicationofgamingmechanicstonon-gamingenvironmentstomakedifficulttasksmorepalatable”. Whatwemeanbythisdefinitionisthatgamingmechanics–ExperiencePoints,Levels,Leaderboard,Rewards–helpyoutomakeboringtasksmorefun.Insteadofdraggingyourheelsandputtingoffwhateveritisyouneedtodo,gamificationengagesyou!You’lljumpin,getitdoneandwinthathighscore! Gamificationleveragesourdesiresforstatus,achievement,competitionandtobepartofaninclusivesocialcommunitytoincreaseengagement. ManygamificationmodelsrewardtheuserforcompletingthedesiredtaskandaLeaderboardisthenutilisedsotheystriveforfurtherimprovement.Theseelementsresultinagamificationplatformwithhighlevelsofengagement. GamificationExamples Gamificationhasalongandrichhistory.Andeversincetheterm‘gamification’wasbornin2002,wehaveonlyseenitbecomemoreandmorepopular.Asaresult,it’snowausefultoolinvariousindustriesandsettings. It’smucheasiertounderstandgamificationifyouseeexamplesofitinaction.Assuch,wearenextgoingtoexploresomeofourfavouriteexamplesofgamificationindifferentsettings.Thesegamificationexamplesinclude: Gamificationinhobbiesandactivities Combininggamificationandimmersivetechnology Gamificationincustomerservice Gamifiedmobileapps Gamificationineducation Andgamifiedcorporatetraining Let’sexploretheseexamplesmorein-depthbelow! 1.GamificationIsOutofThisWorld,ScoutsHonour AprimitiveexampleofgamificationwouldberewardingScoutswithabadgeforataskthattheywouldn’tnormallypartakein.Forinstance,Scoutsmayearnbadgesforfishingororienteering. CompetitionamongsttheScoutsreinforcesadesiretokeepgettingmorebadges.ThesebadgesengagetheScoutthroughthedesiresmentionedearlier:status,achievement,competitionandbeingpartofaninclusivesocialcommunity. Thefactthat10outofthe12peopletohavewalkedonthemoonwereScoutsmeanssomethingmustbeworking! 2.Gamification,IChooseYou! PokémonGOhasproventobeoneofthemostsuccessfulmobilegamesofalltime.Whileitnolongeristheglobalphenomenonitwasin2016,itcontinuestobepopulartoday.What’sthesecretsauceyouask?Throughgamification,theapphasmanagedtocaptivateandengageusersworldwide ActingasafuturisticScoutbadge,‘PokémonGo!’rewardeditsuserswithhigh-levelPokémonforwalkinggreatdistances.Thisisanexampleofapplyinggamemechanicstofitness,whichisamarketthatisquicklybecomingpartofourFitbit-wearinglives. Hadyouaskedthoseyoungpeople(andthoseyoungatheart)towalkthosedistanceswithoutanyincentivethenyou’dprobablyfindyourselfoutofluck.Thisisthepowerofgamification! Inthenextcasestudies,youwilllearnmoreabouthowgamificationisusedforenterprisetrainingprogramsandonlinecourses.Keepreading!  3.GamificationinCustomerService,FreshDesk FreshDeskisoneexampleofgamificationinbusiness.Asahelpdesksoftwareplatform,itsvaluecomesfromimprovingcustomersatisfactionforitsclients.Oneofthekeydriverswastheproductivityandperformanceofcustomerserviceagents.Assuch,FreshDeskemployedgamificationtechniquestoincreasetheirenthusiasmandengagementonthejob. Onewayofdoingthiswastotransformthemonotonyofordinaryeverydaytasksintoexcitingquests.Callcentreagentswereawardedwithbadgesforcompletingperformancegoalswithinthesequests.Forexample,thosewhowereabletodeliverspeedyresponsestocustomersreceiveda“FastResolutionBadge”.Apointsystemwasusedwheretheachievementofmultiplelevelsortasksearnedparticipantsawardsortrophies.  Moreover,theuseofaLeaderboardallowedmanagerstotrackperformance.Thisgaveincreasedvisibilityfortopperformersacrossthewholeteam.Inturn,thisencouragedhealthycompetitionamongtheplayers,drivingupengagementlevels.Challengeswerealsosetupinamulti-player/multi-teamenvironment,allowingagentstosocializeandlearnfromeachother.  Hence,whatresultedwasapositivetransformationinemployeeattitudeswhereemployeesbecamebetterengagedwiththeirwork.Managerssawtheircustomerserviceteamsbecomemoreefficientandeffective.Throughgamification,FreshDesksuccessfullysawanincreaseinstaffproductivity,ultimatelyleadingtoenhancedcustomersatisfaction.  4.GamificationinApps,Nike+ WhenNikedevelopedtheNikeRunClubApp(nowNike+),thepurposeoftheappwastomotivatepeopletobeconsistentwiththeirtraining.  AlongsidefeaturessuchasGPStracking,guidedworkoutsandcustomcoachingplans,theappincorporatedelementsofgamificationtoreallyboostuserengagement.  Nikecreatedin-appchallenges,whichalloweduserstocompetewiththeirfriendsorotherfellowappusers.Urgencywasalsousedtodriveuseraction,witheachchallengeaccessibleforalimitedtime. Witheachcompletedrun,usersunlockedachievementsandprizeswhichtheycouldbroadcasttotheirfriends.Smallwinswerecelebratedthroughpersonalizedmessages.Similarly,aLeaderboardencourageduserstotracktheirperformanceandmonitorhowfaraheadofotherrunnerstheywere.Sociallearningwasalsoincorporated,makingitpossibleforuserstosharephotos,stickersandprogresswithfriends. Asaresult,byincorporatinggamificationelementssuchastime-boundchallenges,progresslevels,andawards,Nike+succeededingettingpeopletobecomemoreconsistentinfitness.Retentionwasalsoachievedbytheboostsusersreceivedwitheachcompletionandthenotificationsthatbroughtfriendsbackintotheapp.  Asaresult,salesskyrocketedforNikeshoes.ThishelpedNiketogaincontrolofasignificantportionoftherunningshoemarketeversincethelaunchofNike+. 5.GamificationinEducation,Google WhenGoogleaddedGoogleFormstoitsGoogleDrivesuite,theprogramofferedgamificationtoolsfordifferentkindsofusers.Inthecaseofeducation,Googleinvitedteacherstogamifytheirlessonstoincreaseengagementamongstudents.Forexample,Googleempoweredteacherstocreateandawardbadgeseverytimeastudentproducedgreatwork,ordisplayedexemplarybehaviour.  Recipientscanthenshowoffthebadgesonsocialmedia,orevenonrecruitmentportalstosupporttheirjobapplications.GoogleSheetsalsofacilitatesthecreationofLeaderboardsforlearners.  Accordingly,thisempoweredstudentstotracktheirindividualprogress,andalsoseethetopperformersineachclass.Throughthesegamificationelements,instructorsareabletodeliveracurriculum,wherestudentsarehighlymotivatedandengagedtolearn.  Knowingthepowerofgamification,Googlealsoemployedsimilartechniquesforitsownstaff.Likemanycompanies,Googlewantedtohaveitsemployeessubmittravelexpenseinformationconsistentlyandontime.  Assuch,theytransformedtheirtravelexpensesystemintoaninteractiveplatform,whichgamifiedthewayemployeesmanagedandreportedtheirexpenses.Asaresult,theyachieved100%compliancewithin6monthsoflaunch.  6.GamificationforCorporateTraining,HP HP,theworld’sbiggestpersonalcomputervendorandoneoftheworld’slargesttechbrands,wantedaneffectivewaytomaximizelearningandknowledgerecallfortheirsalesstaff.  InpartnershipwithGrowthEngineering,amobileappcalledTheHPUniAppwaslaunched.Thepurposeoftheappwastotrainsalesteamsoncybersecuritytopics.Workingtogether,weaimedtomaximizelearnerengagementthroughgamification.  AttheheartofthelearningcampaignwastheHPSecurityCup.Themechanicsinviteduserstopartakeinknowledgebattles,wheretheycouldearnpointsuponwinningrounds.SuccessfulplayerscouldthenriseuptheleaderboardinanattempttowintheHPSecurityCup.  Learnerswerealsoabletochallengeeachotherinpeer-to-peerquizbattleswhichdrovefurtherexcitementandparticipation.Asaresult,employeeengagementskyrocketedtoneverbeforeseenlevels,muchtothedelightofHP’smanagementteam.UsingGrowthEngineering’smobileappframework,GrowthEngineeringLearningApp,HPwasabletoachieveoutstandinglearningoutcomesforitsL&Dinitiatives.  Wanttolearnmoreaboutgamification?Luckilyforyou,we’vewrittenjustthething!  OurGuideToGamification:WhatitisandWhyitWorksisaninsightfulresearchnotethatwilltellyoueverythingyouneedtoknow.Grabyourcopyhere! GrowthEngineeringandGamification AndwhataboutusatGrowthEngineering?Whydowecaresomuchaboutthedefinition?Andwhatgivesustherighttodefinetheterm? Well,we’rethe#1providerofgamifiedlearningtechnology,infact,we’retheteamwhopioneereditsusewithinL&D.Whenitcomestogamificationtechniques,weknowwhatwe’retalkingabout. Ourlearningplatformsaregamificationsolutionsthroughandthrough!Everythingwedoismeticulouslydesignedtoengagelearners,fromyourveryfirstlogintoyourone-thousandth,learnersaremotivatedandengagedbygame-likefeaturesonGrowthEngineeringLMS,GrowthEngineeringLearningAppandGrowthEngineeringAuthoringTool. Wanttofindoutmoreabouthowweusegamificationtoengagelearners?Whynotstartwithoneoftheseblogs: ExperiencePointsontheGrowthEngineeringLMS BadgesontheGrowthEngineeringLMS LeaderboardsontheGrowthEngineeringLMS LevelsontheGrowthEngineeringLMS Wanttolearnmoreabouthowgamificationcansolveyourorganisation’sL&Dchallenges?GrowthEngineeringLearningAppblendsgamification,sociallearningandpowerful,in-builtauthoringtoolstogiveyourteamengaginglearningexperiences.Bookademonow! WelcomeToOurBlog!Catchallthelatestlearninganddevelopmenttips,researchandanalysishere.Subscribetomakesureyoudon’tmissabeat! Email SUBSCRIBE Don'tforgettosharethispost! Subscribetoournewsletter! Catchallthelatestlearninganddevelopmenttips,researchandanalysishere.Subscribetomakesureyoudon’tmissabeat! Email Submit RelatedPosts FREERESOURCES UnlockTheWorld’sMostImpactfulL&DResources! Ourunrivalledtreasuretroveofwhitepapers,research,tipsheets,infographicsandmoregivesyoualltheL&Dknowledgeyouneedtostartmakinganimpacttoday.Happyexploring! 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