Gamification

Fun: It’s a funny thing really

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Photo 01 03 2015 14 58 15 Fun It 8217 s a funny thing really

I am still in the process of researching fun – but it has been really interesting so far. If you have no taken my quick survey – please do, it will really help me!! – Fun Survey

The thing that is abundantly clear is that fun is purely subjective, what one person finds fun – others may think is a waste of time. The Oxford English Dictionary defines fun as

Enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure
(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fun)

In the study I have done to date, so far I have identified about 21 distinct things that people feel fills this definition for them. Read More ...

Play, games, toys, playfulness and gamification

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Lately I have been thinking about play a lot. This is probably because of watching my children growing up and seeing how play changes into games as they develop. I have written about play before and it does form part of my general Game Thinking framework, but it is lumped with toys and games – rather lazily.

I wanted to give play and my surrounding thoughts on it its own post.

Play

Play is free form and unlike a game does not need to have a point or a goal to it. It exists within a set of rules created by the person or people playing and is born in the imagination.  Often it is a way of exploring the boundaries and extremes of something, in search for new and novel experiences.  It is undertaken for its own sake often for fun and joy. Read More ...

What if we could never use the word Gamification again…?

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A few days ago on the awesome Facebook group Gamification Hub – I posed the following question.

Andrzej Marczewski

If the word gamification was banned from all usage – what would you replace it with. I’d go with “game thinking” personally.

What followed was a fantastic conversation that I felt deserved to be shared. This is just a small example of the great content this group generates.

Roman Rackwitz

In this case, I would try to get rid off everything that sounds like game (because it will still confuse everyone). Read More ...

Signposting and Gamification

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Sometimes, even the best people need to be pointed in the right direction. Signpost next actions to help smooth early stages of a journey. Use “just in time” cues to help users who are stuck.

Whilst autonomy and agency are vital for deep engagement, sometimes too much freedom can be a bad thing. Whilst gamification should be designed around the user, their needs and their experience, there are still stakeholder and business objectives. Creating an environment where a user can get lost benefits no one. Read More ...

Gamification Design Thinking

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Another day another framework. This time I can’t really lay claim to it though. This is my interpretation of Design Thinking – a very well know framework! I have mixed it with a few well know lenses for innovation – again, nothing new. It is presented here just as an aid for those who may not already be using it!

First, here is the basic process of design thinking

 Step by step:

  • Define and understand the actual problem. Very often the initial brief does not hold the problem that needs solving! Question, question and requestion and if needs be, re-frame the problem totally.
  • Empathise with the various people involved. Design thinking is all about putting the user first. So consider what types of user you will have, this is not the same as User or Player Types, this is what people need from the system. Who are the users, why are they using the system. What does Mavis, 83 from Wales need compared to Dave, 23 from Leeds? Sometimes it is good to survey potential or current users to get an idea of who they really are and then come up with some average users to role play with! Also, don’t forget the stakeholders needs in this. What do they want to achieve by gamifying the system? How will they react to it and your ideas?
  • Ideate – come up with ideas! Propose solutions and then analyse them (more in that in a moment). This is part of an iterative process, at this stage though there is no right answer.
  • Experiment with the best ideas. Pretotype and prototype and do it again until you have something you think is worth taking forward.
  • Test your pretoype or prototype with the target audience and with the stakeholders. Iterate between testing and experimentation until you are ready to release at least a minimum viable product (MVP).  Amy Jo Kim has an amazing course on MVP development actually!

Whilst this is set out as a step by step process, actually it is iterative. At any point you could go back tot he start, but by the time you are into the experimentation phase, you should have a pretty solid idea of where you are going. Read More ...

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