Gamification

Money, Motivation and Common Sense

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914483 54526013 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.

  1. I am unhappy in my job, will I be happier if I am given more money?
    1. 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.
    2. If I am unhappy for other reasons, then no – more money won’t help!
    I am not engaged by the job, will this improve with more money
    1. 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.
    I am engaged and happy, will giving me more money make me work harder.
    1. 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.
    2. 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. Read More ...

Gamification User Types and the 4 Keys 2 Fun

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I am pretty excited about this one.

Gamification User Types

When I created my gamification User Types definitions, it was with a mind to help people consider who is going to be in their gamified systems and what may motivate them. I started with the intrinsic motivation RAMP I keep talking about, Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. From this I created the Socialiser, Free Spirit, Achiever and Philanthropist user types. That covered the who and the what – who the user may be and what it is that may motivate them. One of the things it didn’t cover was why. Why would people engage in this way and god forbid, why would they find it fun? Read More ...

Gamification Tutorial Series – Episode 1 and 2

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The beginning of June sees not only sunshine, but also a new series of short tutorial / information videos that a few people have asked me to do.

The first video is just a very short introduction to gamification. In it I talk a little about what it is and what it isn’t.

The second video takes a look at motivation and introduces RAMP as a concept.

Future videos will include a deeper look at motivation, the extrinsic vs intrinsic argument, user types, leaderboards, feedback loops, mechanics and more. Read More ...

Teams and Competitive play.

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Last week there was no post from me. The reason was that I was working on rebuilding my games review site (www.yetanotherreviewsite.co.uk). Take a look, you may like it!!

Anyway, it got me thinking, as I looked over the games we have reviewed over the years. What do people like playing? Obviously the answer is – All sorts! However, it made me consider the nature of competition in games and especially gamificaiton.

The general rule of thumb is competition between people is bad mojo for gamification. It leads to bad feeling, lack of engagement, people at the bottom of leaderboards feeling less important than those at the top etc.  However, we keep using it – even though we know all of this! Often this is because we know that it will cater to at least some of the people (for instance I am using Captain Up leaderboards etc for gamifying this site).  I know it won’t appeal to everyone, but with luck it will amuse some. Read More ...

Why does Gamification Fail?

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A question I get asked a lot is, “Why does gamification fail?”. Gartner said that by 2014, 80% of gamified systems will fail due to poor design. My question is, what is poor design? I had thought that it was really just implementing “thin layer” points, badges and leader boards to a system that was already not working. Whilst that is true, it actually misses out on some important extra factors.

So, with that in mind, here are some reasons that I feel will contribute to gamification not working. Read More ...

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