If you haven’t heard about ‘Gamification’ till now then let me educate you.
Gamification, as defined by me, is the use of game mechanics, game design and game thinking to solve every day problems.
Its supposed to make stuff that we find hard, easy to do, by introducing elements of a game in it.
Examples of Gamification?
That linkedin bar on your profile which continuously indicates that you have only completed a certain % of your profile.
The awarding of badges on foursquare. And that meaningless irritating number (for twitter users primarily) called the Kluot Score.
Various disciplines of Human Physcology, Game Design, Intrinsic Motivation, Sociology, Organization Behavior etc all play a part in the substance behind this buzzword.
To know more. Google. Or wait for me to write Gamification 101.
For those of you, who have taken the pain to read this far and still don’t know what I am talking about. Please read the below line.
Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Google, Nike, Universal Studios, Linkedin, Hallmark, Salesforce, American Airlines and .. ahem.. Playboy are just some of the companies who have used Gamification successfully.
Still a little apprehensive?
“Gartner Group estimates that by 2015, 70% of the Forbes Global 2000 will be using Gamified apps”
I didn’t make that up.
The Problem?
Since this is a (dare I say science) new and evolving field of study, it has its share of issues.
The reasons are as follows
1. Just like the present swings in the stock market, most people have a vague idea of what it means, a few know what it does and almost no one knows where it’s headed. Including me.
2. Most intelligent, respectable, sober, law-abiding and highly placed people feel that this is just a fad and will go away soon enough. I am tempted to agree. However they said the same thing about Rap Music and that wonderful ear-grating, cocaine induced, profanity filled ‘music’ is still around. Alive and Kicking.
3. While its champions are successful and intellectual beings (See Dr. Amy Jo Kim, Ananth Pai, Rajat Paharia, Gabe Zichermann etc) the hordes are filled with Game Designers, Social Media Fanatics, Gamers, Advertising Types, Anti-Social Internet types and worst of all… Premier B-School Students.
4. While it may be said that the Airlines and Credit Card companies have been using Gamification for decades by introducing loyalty points, that’s like saying Gravity was discovered by the first caveman who dropped a rock on his foot to try and get his wife to stop nagging him. In both cases it was a desperate need and no great science was involved. Gamification is only a few years old.
5. A constant, creeping, broadening of the term is diluting its actual core. Like someone who recently said “Lets make school fun for children by giving them points for all the good stuff that they do”. And I said “Yeah? Like what?”. He said – “Like doing homework, reading up on your chapters, participating in sports, wearing a clean uniform, etc. A perfect example of Gamified learning.” I wanted to hit him on the head cause that’s called ‘Continuous Evaluation’ aka Long Bloody School Exam. Not fun.
6. No one has come out with a P/L statement that has 7 black ink figures under Gamification Services.
Due to the above reasons and more.
It is Last year’s most (drum roll…. trumpets… farting audience) abused/exploited term.
Stay tuned for more.
Startup Yapper 