Just out of curiosity, I had a look through some of the historical pages on Wikipedia’s Gamification entry. It was an interesting time line of the evolution of our definition of gamification, first added in October 2010 it seems. Take a look. It is interesting to see that it puts emphasis on technology based solution in 2010, which is dropped by 2012. Around 2011 the term Funware is added to the definition. This gets dropped by the end of 2012. 2012 also sees the idea of game thinking entering the core definition as well as engagement (which vanishes for a bit then comes back in 2013!). In 2013 we see the first mention of solving problems as part of the core definition. Also, Nick Pelling starts to get some credit for coining of the wold Gamification. The difinition that first comes up early 2013 remains pretty much intact right up until presnt day (April 2014).
Andrzej Marczewski
Making motivation worse with Gamification
When people talk about gamification, it is pretty certain the word “motivation” will pop up. “We want to engage and motivate our people, gamification is definitely going to be the answer for that!”.
The trouble here is that gamification is AN answer, not always THE answer.
People lack motivation in job for a number of reasons, often self perpetuating reasons. Whatever their reason, they are often viewed as poor at their job and an irritant. It is easier to view low motivation as an issue with an individual than with the company or setting.
Ark Group KM Conference
Gamification is a hot topic right now. Gartner even has it at the top of its hype cycle right now. But, what is it and has it taken off in the world of Knowledge Management?
Wikipedia defines gamification as;
the use of game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems
Gartner has recently caused a bit of a controversy in gamification circles by narrowing the definition to;
the use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals
Defining gamification – what do people really think?
As many of you know, I recently took exception to a particular definition of gamification that was doing the rounds. However, the positive effect was to make me think about what it really means and also started to make me wonder what other people think of it. So, I asked them – I did a little research…
The results were interesting. I gathered 30 different definitions, some from industry experts and others from people with an interest. They are all listed at the end, but I thought I would share a few thoughts from them.
A few gamification tips
Whilst I am away for a few days, I though I would fill the gap with a quick post for you all. A few gamification tips.