engagement

10 Things I Wish I Knew About Gamification in 2011

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Lesson 1574418020 10 Things I Wish I Knew About Gamification in 2011

As we edge closer to Gamification EU, I was thinking about the lessons I wish I had learned earlier on when I started in Gamification. Keep in mind, at that stage there was not a lot of information about gamification, it was in its infancy (2011/2012).

  • The word gamification is going to cause you all sorts of trouble in business conversations! Even now, it still has not penetrated into the common lexicon.
  • Gamification is full of experts and evangelists. You have to listen to and learn from both, but be sure to also check the research for yourself and what projects they have worked on.
  • There is no one perfect framework. The majority have their place but don’t rely on just one.
  • Research Gate is your friend as there is more research out there than you realise. There are also academics out there who want to help, but research takes time!
  • There are very few jobs that are specifically for gamification experts or designers. You need to look at user experience, engagement specialists, product owners etc.
  • Gamification is used (for better or worse) as a blanket term for all games based solutions. Life is too short to argue about the true definition – leave that to me 🙂
  • We make use and reference to a lot of psychology, make sure you understand the source, not just the pop psych books.
  • There are usually no quick fixes, the faster the fix, the shorter the engagement.
  • Short term engagement is also fine though, it depends on the needs of the project!
  • Focus on the solution, not the technology or the cleverness of the game design. Solve the problem.
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    Gamification: Is Activity as good as Engagement?

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    Engaged 1525345895 Gamification Is Activity as good as Engagement

    Gamification is often accused of creating activity rather than engagement. Whilst this can be true, is it a bad thing?

    First, let’s look at the difference between activity and engagement. Engagement is very hard to define and has plenty of definitions out there. For our purposes, we will consider it as a state where a person is voluntarily participating in an activity with commitment, without the feeling of being forced or coerced into participation. It is heading towards them “wanting” to participate. Read More ...

    What Does a Gamification Consultant Do??

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    Snapshot 3 What Does a Gamification Consultant Do

    A question that I ask on a very regular basis, once I have explained what gamification is, is “What does a gamification consultant actually do?”

    Well, this short video should help you get the idea!

    Oh and my Gamification Journey Worksheet is still only £10 – going up to 15 soon 🙂

    [purchase_link id=”4857″ style=”text link” color=”” text=”Buy the planner now!” direct=”true”]

    Fun and Gamification?

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    Uni1 Fun and Gamification

    Often when people talk about gamification, they speak about adding fun to everyday work related tasks. The whole Mary Poppins “A Spoonful of Sugar” analogy pops up regularly.  Anyone who has stuck with this blog for a while will know exactly how I feel about her…

    The trouble with fun is how you define it. The Oxford dictionary (thanks Google), goes with

    Enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure: the children were having fun in the play area

    Now, I’ve said this before, but it is worth saying again – fun is subjective. What you find fun, I may not. Consider the following event. Read More ...

    Using Boredom and Curiosity to your Advantage

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    Curiosity Using Boredom and Curiosity to your Advantage

    Curiosity is something that always interests me. I have written about it in the past, but was drawn to looking at it again recently. There are several theories about what curiosity is and how it works; Curiosity Drive Theory, Optimal Arousal Theory, Incongruity Theory and probably more. They all deal with different aspects of what curiosity is.

    Drive Theory considers that curiosity is part of a human need to reduce the discomfort felt when we are uncertain about somemthing.

    Incongruity Theory suggests that we seek to resolve incongruity (differences) between something that happens and our existing understanding. So if something happens that doesn’t match our preconceived ideas of what should happen, we become curious and want to understand it. Read More ...