Gamification

When Should I Start Thinking About Gamification in My Product?

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Question 1462352268 When Should I Start Thinking About Gamification in My Product

TL:TR NOW!

A question I am often asked is “I am making a new product, when should I start looking at gamification?”

That is usually combined with “How much will it cost?”

The answer to the second is linked to the first, but the first is much easier to answer! Essentially, if you are considering gamification as part of your engagement strategy – build it into your plans at the very very start! As I have stated many times, adding gamification to a product when it is already built – ie patching an engagement issue – is never going to be effective. If you build it into the product and make it core, then it has a much higher chance of actually working. That doesn’t mean it is easier to do at this stage or that it will work – that leads us on to the second question. Will it be expensive? Read More ...

Guest Post: Finding Inspiration in Biology for Creating Game-Like Experiences

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Termling styles Guest Post Finding Inspiration in Biology for Creating Game Like Experiences

Another guest post for you guys from Sal Deniz. I got chatting to him on twitter about his latest project Termling and how he had used his background in biology to create a great avatar maker for his gamified learning app. It is quite technical and speaks about how he leveraged HTML5 canvas and the like. However, it is a great read and shows you can get inspiration for quality solutions from anywhere and everywhere!

Points, badges, and leaderboards are some of the game elements now commonly used in non-game contexts, but complex game elements like allowing users the ability to create a highly customizable avatar is less common. Before HTML5, Flash and complex scripts that manipulated HTML document elements, like div elements, images, or tables, could be used to produce a limited character creation system. With the introduction of HTML5 Canvas, complex avatars can be drawn on the web browser without the use of plugins. The HTML5 Canvas has made it possible for me to create Termling, which is an online tool for studying vocabulary that uses a highly customizable avatar system to motivate users to study. Read More ...

Simulation Breaks Free in Game Thinking

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Game thinking v6 Simulation Breaks Free in Game Thinking

Well, it has been a long time coming – but Simulation has finally broken free from Serious Games in my Game Thinking “framework”. It will take a while for me to update everything, but I wanted to share the draft entry for simulations in Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play.

A simulation is a virtual representation of something from the real world, such as a flight simulator. Often this can be hard to distinguish from a game or a serious game, as they look very game like. The difference is that a simulation does not usually need gameplay elements in order to function and fulfil its designed intent. It exists to allow users to practice an activity in a safe environment. Read More ...

User Experience, Gamification and Consistency

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Decision 1460448570 User Experience Gamification and Consistency

So, once again toilets have taught me something, this time about consistency, and I wanted to pass that on to you. It will seem really simple, but it is something that happens on a regular basis and is annoying as hell. Let me tell you a quick story.

I was at Heathrow airport, as I often am these days. One of my first activities was using the toilets. I followed the signs, turned left into the male section and thought nothing else of it. That is until I needed the loo a few minutes before boarding. Read More ...

Gamification: A thought for those who don’t want it.

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Stamp 895383 960 720 Gamification A thought for those who don 8217 t want it

One of the blockers for gamification is often staff feeling insulted in some way by it. Whether it is because they feel the money could have been better spent, that the concept is beneath them or just that they are resistant to any change at all.

It is true that gamification is often used in enterprise when someone feels there is a need to increase productivity in some way. That may be by using metrics delivered from a gamified environment to map pain points, or areas where there could be productivity increases. It could be by improving the training materials, or making them more palatable. The point is, these are all things that employees have to buy into for them to work. Read More ...