India’s first Gamification conference is happening Oct 4 in Bangalore. The speaker list is up and the line-up is pretty impressive. Speakers include Mario Herger, Yu-kai Chou, Fergie Miller, Shahnawaz Khan and more. The chance to get face-to-face with leading deployers from the world of gamification, to learn the power of engaging design, how to implement these techniques to reinvent the way you engage with business and the way your business engages with the world, is not to be missed. When you register before Aug 16 you’ll save up to $50 off the regular fee (and ensure your spot). http://www.gamified.in
Andrzej Marczewski
Achievement, Not Just for Achievers!
Achievement is a word that, in gamification especially, has several potential meanings and can cause significant confusion. In gamification, it is often associated with things like points and badges. The same can be said for video games these days (think Xbox achievements and Playstation trophies).
To confuse things more, people can be categorised in gamification and video games (using my user types or Bartle’s player types) as achievers. This makes it look a little like only one type of user will actually experience achievement.
Purpose – A little bit can go a long way
Recently I have been thinking about purpose or meaning a lot. It’s one of the four motivators from RAMP that seems to be the hard to explain and achieve.
When I first started looking into gamification, people used to talk about Epic Meaning when speaking of game mechanics (incorrectly, but that is another story). This is the feeling of being part of something greater. An example I often use is Wikipedia. People contribute to that, freely, because many of them like to feel that they are contributing to something that is larger than themselves and has great meaning to others. So for Wikipedia contributors that is their purpose – “epic meaning”.
Bartle’s Killers . A misunderstood group of people.
Last week I had the opportunity to present at the fabulous Gamification World Congress 2013. Among other things, it was the first and probably only times I would see my face on a 10 foot screen on the front of a building!
Another highlight in a day of highlights, was getting the opportunity to spend a few hours with Richard Bartle. Many of you will have seen me mention him before, the creator of the Bartle Player Types. These types are often spoken about by people involved in gamification and are one of the main inspirations for my User Types. Originally written to model the behaviour of players in his MUD virtual world (the grandfather of all MMO’s like World of Warcraft), the Bartle Player Types have also been adopted by many in gamification.
Money, Motivation and Common Sense
Here I am again, considering extrinsic rewards and their effect on motivation.
Recently I was told that it is obvious that if a person is given more money to do their job, that they will do it better and probably enjoy it more. I stopped myself quoting Deci or Pink, I smiled, politely disagreed and went on with my day. However, it got me thinking. Ignoring the research, I was wondering, what does common sense tell us about that statement.
- I am unhappy in my job, will I be happier if I am given more money?
- If I am unhappy because I am not paid enough, then yes – I will become happier if given more money. This will most likely lead to me being more motivated and engaged.
- If I am unhappy for other reasons, then no – more money won’t help!
- No. There is obviously something else wrong here. If the role is not engaging me, then you can throw all the money in the world at me, it will not make the role more engaging. It may make me happier in the short term, but long term I will still not be engaged or motivated by the role itself.
- If money is a concern for me, if it is on my mind a lot – then yes, that is quite likely. This is because it will be one less thing on my mind to distract me from doing my best work.
- If money is not a concern for me, then money won’t really have much of an impact!
Very unscientific of course, but it makes sense to me. Money is part of the most basic needs in a modern world, it is part of survival. If you don’t have enough of it to cover your needs, it will be a concern for you and will potentially affect the way you are working. However, if you are not engaged in the job, maybe it is a deeper problem, either the job is not right for you or you are not right for the job.