1. Benefits of gamification in real life, 2 examples
Example 1. The trash can that could
In one European city there was a huge park where residents often threw garbage past the trash cans. Then the authorities for the sake of experiment put a new tank with one "highlight" - built-in acoustics. As soon as someone threw garbage into it, a sound simulating a long flight and fall was activated. It felt like there was a huge hole underneath this tank.
Does that sound silly? Nevertheless, the result exceeded all expectations. Park visitors threw not only their own trash into the miracle tank for curiosity's sake, but also the trash that was lying around. This is how gamification made the park cleaner.
Example 2. Music VS obesity
In order to fight obesity, the authorities of another town also found a creative approach. They painted an ordinary staircase in a place where there are escalators in the colors of piano keys. But that's not all. Stepping on them made a sound. So, walking up the stairs, you could not only go up, but also play a melody. Not Chopin, of course, but not bad either.
As a result, the number of people choosing the stairs instead of the escalator increased by 66%.
Such seemingly simple things can make our lives better!
2. Don't mindlessly use extrinsic motivators where intrinsic motivators could be used
For example, to teach a child to read, you should not sponsor him with candy (extrinsic motivators) for every chapter he reads. This will not awaken in him a real love for books. It is better to offer him literature that he himself will be interested in reading. This emerging desire and will serve as an internal motivator.
This example can be applied to the choice of work or hobbies, try it.
3. People like to be excited about achievements and rewards they didn't expect
If you decide to implement gamification in your business, don't make the rewards for users obvious. Rather, instead of the well-known gift for 100 likes, make unexpected surprises for 10, 30 and 50 likes that will motivate the user to keep interacting with your site.
How does it work? Receiving an unexpected prize triggers a release of dopamine (the happy hormone) comparable to winning the jackpot! It's so satisfying that readers start to put their own likes to see if you've got something else in store for them. Interesting way?
4. Gamification in business. Where to start.
If you don't know where to start to incorporate game mechanics into your business, this list from Engage and Empower will help you figure it out. First things first:
- Define your business goals - are game interactions right for you?
- Describe the desired user behavior - what do you want to get out of a customer or client?
- Describe the "players." Who are these people?
- Develop activity cycles - incorporate creative thinking
- Don't forget about entertainment
- Use the right tool
Answer all the questions and then gamification in business will cease to be something difficult for you.
5. Analyze your competitors and don't overdo game mechanics
The authors of the book Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter advise not to forget about competitors and told about the application from the creators of Twitter - Lift.
This app is a personal coach. Want to implement a new habit in your life and get a dose of motivation every day? Easy!!! But there are so many game mechanics that you won't know what to grab right away. For example, the app has a tournament table where the top 100 participants are displayed. But to get at least 99th place in it, you have to work on it for about a year. Most users simply lose heart.
You've come to better yourself, haven't you?
That's commendable! The fact that you're reading book conclusions is crazy cool, but to change your life for the better, you need to do more than just read, it's important to put the new information into practice. To that end, under each article I'm leaving a... for you.
A challenge for a champion:
Try implementing gamification into your self-development process right now. What are your ideas on this? Share them in the comments
If you have your own business, you can implement budget gamification into it to bring in new customers. It's real, think about it.
This was a review of Kevin Werbach and Dan Hunter's book "The Gamification Toolkit: Dynamics, Mechanics, and Components for the Win".