Thomas Jenewein, Business Development Manager, SAP Education
Gamification attempts to use principles from games in non-game contexts, such as the work environment. It aims to foster more fun and engagement. At least, this is how gamification is commonly defined. But how does gamification actually differ from playing?
1 Definition and delimitation
The difference between gaming and playing is that gaming has rules. Furthermore, gamification does not map a complex whole context, as is the case with simulation games. Instead, individual elements are used, for example, the collection of points in loyalty programs, or a progress bar showing the completion of your LinkedIn profile.
Gaming and playing according to Sebastian Deterding.
One of the frameworks for categorizing design elements and the motivators that influence them is the Oktalysis-Model (Yu-kai Chou, 2013). It shows many of the elements that you can use in gamification. The most well-known are the achievements that are reflected in points, progress from level to level, and badges. Avatars in the form of a personal profile are also common. Such elements tend to appeal more to extrinsic motivation and are therefore more short-term. However, they can also have an effect on intrinsic motivators, for example, status.
There are plenty of people who like to clock up even more air miles so that they can keep their Miles & More card or collect more points for a voucher. Less positive in an ethical sense are the motivators that originate from, for example, impatience.
Fear of missing out (FOMO) has now been recognized as a clinical syndrome and some applications – such as Facebook – use it to spur users into action (for example, with notifications such as “Five people visited your profile. Find out who here”). In the model, such messages are known as “black hats” as a reference to malicious hackers.
#Overview – Motivators and design elements in gamification according to the octalysis model
Extrinsic motivators | Intrinsic motivators | |
White hat (ethically positive) | Achievements (for example, points, badges) Ownership (for example, avatars, virtual goods) | Meaning (for example, story, higher meaning) Empowerment (for example, unlock, perceived control) Social influence (for example, status, gifts) |
Black hat (ethically questionable) | Scarcity and impatience (for example, countdown) | Unpredictability and curiosity (for example, surprises) Avoidance (for example, loss of points, FOMO) |
2 Implementing gamification
The design elements described above show that there are far more possibilities than merely using points, badges, leaderboards. The central objective of gamification is to motivate a person to take certain action. It makes sense here to plan backwards and to ask oneself:
As well as addressing these questions, gamification should be implemented as a classical feedback loop that must be optimized regularly. So you see - it is not about implementing mechanics - it is about designing desired bahavioral outcomes.
#Practical tip
As a recommendation, activities to gain points should be adapted and renewed or new challenging elements should be deployed.#
You should always bear in mind here that gamification is for achieving business goals and is not an end in itself. It should also be clear that it does not make sense to attempt to improve a poor process with gamification elements.
There are different game preferences depending on the target group. Some players prefer
It is important to satisfy the different preferences. However, most people belong to the socializer group.
3 Three examples of gamification in Human Resources
Recruiting
Health management
Compensation and rewards
Learning & Education
4 Conclusion
Even though gamification is still in its infancy, I believe that it offers great potential if seen from the perspective of motivation design. It is always important to foster employee engagement and motivation. We often lose sight of this in our objectified, calculated, and efficiency-driven working environment. If work can be made even more fun, so much the better. Please do not leave this topic to a chief engagement officer. Try it yourself in your work – and try to think like a game designer sometimes, too.
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