Gamification

Gamification: Why Aren’t Badges Enough?

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Gamification Gamification Why Aren 8217 t Badges Enough

Recently I wrote a piece about the fact there was more to gamification than just trophies, but I never really explained why. A few people have asked, so I thought I would have a go at explaining.

Just Because You Build It, Doesn’t Mean They Will Come

The first reason is simple, but one that I never really thought of until I started using them on my site. For trophies and the like to actually start to work – you need the people you wish to keep engaged to actually be registered with you. When you are in a company and are using it on an intranet, that is simple, as they all have to be registered to use it. However, when you are trying to use it on your website or blog, it is not quite the same. Very few people will register just for the chance to earn badges on your site! So here it goes back to the same old thing, content. If the content is good and there is some reason to join (comments, ability to add reviews, competitions etc.) then you can use badges to help to keep people engaged. On Yet Another Review Site I use them to encourage a little competitions between the editors and the reviewers. Experience points, badges and public monthly leader boards are all used to help encourage them to do more on the site. Read More ...

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Gamification: You May Already Be Using It!

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Gamification Gamification You May Already Be Using It

Right, so back to gamification.

I thought I would take a quick look at a couple of gamification techniques you may already be using on your website or blog, but not realise that’s what it is!

Exploration and Engagement

First up, that little box that slides out of the corner of the page and says “RECOMMENDED FOR YOU”. On WordPress there is a great plugin called “The Slide” by SimpleReach. It is there to try and keep you on the site a bit longer – to increase your engagement – and is actually very good at doing it. It shows you another story on the site that is related in some way to the one you have just been reading thus, encouraging you to look a bit deeper into the site. In gamification terms, it would be called Exploration. You are giving the reader a simple signpost to help them explore the site and discover new content. You are influencing their behaviour. On this blog I noticed that rather than people just staying on the one page, they averaged three pages per visit. Read More ...

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Social Reach: Grains of rice on a chessboard

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172060 1357 Social Reach Grains of rice on a chessboard

In a recent blog post for my company’s blog, Gamification for your company, I made brief mention of evangelists and social reach. The general gist was that in this world of social media, a few enthusiastic supporters or evangelists could be worth more than a mediocre marketing campaign. Social reach can be a much underestimated, but very powerful way to spread brand awareness.

To explain, I will make use of an old legend (deep huh!).

This legend has been given roots in both India and China, but the upshot is the same. A powerful man offers (King or Emperor) offers a wise man a reward of their choosing. In china this is for the invention of chess, in India this id for beating the king at a game of chess. The wise asked for grains of rice as his prize, given in the following manner. Starting with a single grain of rice on the first square of the board, each subsequent square should contain double the amount of the last. Therefore, the second would contain 2 grains, the third 4, the fourth 8 and so on. This seemed simple enough. Read More ...

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Why use Gamification and not just Incentives?

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Money game Why use Gamification and not just Incentives

It’s not just about money

One thing that is often asked when people talk about gamification is why use that and not just offer incentives.

Well. My first answer is always “but that is gamification”. That is usually followed with “just very basic and possibly expensive!”. Offering incentives is normally a financial concern. If you do X we will pay you Y. It is certainly a good motivator, money always is, but it does not cover other important aspects of good work. A word you often hear in my gamification blogs is engagement. Sure, money is a great motivator, but it does not help you engage with the job in hand. Read More ...

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Gamification: It’s not all about trophies

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Gamification 300x56 Gamification It s not all about trophies

There is a lot of talk by those in the know who are getting fed up with people associating gamification with nothing but trophies and badges. Stick a badge on it and it is gamified. Personally I am not sure I am totally with them. For me if it works, use it. However, more often than not achievements and the like are only short term fixes on their own. There needs to be a strategy in place that will are only short term fixes on their own. There needs to be a strategy in place that will keep the users engaged, one that uses the more obvious rewards to enforce the less simple to grasp game mechanics. This article will look at a small selection of game mechanics that can be used in most gamification situations. Read More ...

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