According to Wikipedia, “gamification is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage users.”
Gamification, like the name suggests, selectively uses the mechanics that bring out people’s natural desires for competition and achievement in the form of a game.
In the business world, gamification is about driving business objectives and motivating people through data. Gamification may be among the latest tech industry buzzwords, but the concept of using games and gaming tactics to engage users is not new at all.
Credit card companies and airlines have been using the concept of gamification for years to entice customers to earn rewards through their brands.
Lets apply gamification and game mechanics to a community site.
A game has many mechnics which work closely on human desires:
But in the business world, for any gamification project to succeed, businesses need to align the goals of players with those of the organization itself. If your business wants to decrease support costs, for example, encourage members to post content and answer questions and reward them for doing so.
Businesses need to understand who their players are, what motivates them and what goals do they have - then design an experience that helps them to get more involved and take them along a path to achieve their (and in turn the companies) goals. Some gamification vendors offer analytics as part of their products (which is a huge business opportunity as well).
Another benefit to having customers log in and participate on your website is that it allows you to use them as a sounding board.
Lets look at a community site example:
First time user logs into a community
This promotes participation and helps members feel involved in the community.
User helps businesses while feeding his/her human desire(s) (rewards,recognition, self achievement, self expression etc)
Do remember that over time people want increasing rewards for the same activity in order to feel motivated. Businesses need to be constantly on their toes to keep their customers involved.
Gamification, like the name suggests, selectively uses the mechanics that bring out people’s natural desires for competition and achievement in the form of a game.
In the business world, gamification is about driving business objectives and motivating people through data. Gamification may be among the latest tech industry buzzwords, but the concept of using games and gaming tactics to engage users is not new at all.
Credit card companies and airlines have been using the concept of gamification for years to entice customers to earn rewards through their brands.
Lets apply gamification and game mechanics to a community site.
A game has many mechnics which work closely on human desires:
- Point system for activities like creating, rating and sharing content (on their social networks) feeds the human desires of competition, achievement and satisfaction of getting rewards.
- Leader boards works on the principles of recognition and achievement.
- Badges - earned and shared on social sites feed on the human needs of self expression along with the above mentioned needs like status, reward,recognition, competition etc
But in the business world, for any gamification project to succeed, businesses need to align the goals of players with those of the organization itself. If your business wants to decrease support costs, for example, encourage members to post content and answer questions and reward them for doing so.
Businesses need to understand who their players are, what motivates them and what goals do they have - then design an experience that helps them to get more involved and take them along a path to achieve their (and in turn the companies) goals. Some gamification vendors offer analytics as part of their products (which is a huge business opportunity as well).
Another benefit to having customers log in and participate on your website is that it allows you to use them as a sounding board.
Lets look at a community site example:
First time user logs into a community
User helps businesses while feeding his/her human desire(s) (rewards,recognition, self achievement, self expression etc)
Do remember that over time people want increasing rewards for the same activity in order to feel motivated. Businesses need to be constantly on their toes to keep their customers involved.
