We were just about done with the New Way of Working, and the next buzzword is already here: gamification. Term for applying elements from computer games in a business context. But even with gamification it is important to first take a step back and go through a thorough design process.
at the top of their hype cycle this summer . So we can expect a fair amount of conferences, articles and eager vendors around that theme in the coming period. It all stems from the success of Foursquare , which turns checking in with your smartphone at locations you visit into a game. You can earn points, badges and discount coupons and compete with your friends for the virtual mayorship of your local bar. That creates competition and users who put their activity patterns bulgaria phone number list at the service of the objectives of the companies behind it. Foursquare's successful template has now been adopted by many other organizations . That's the power of games.
Power of games
Gamification in its current form has very little to do with the power of games. It does have a striking resemblance to the Taylorism of the beginning of the previous century: optimizing the productivity of employees by motivating them extrinsically. Because both collecting badges and winning from your friends are extrinsic incentives . And yet games are good at intrinsically motivating players: playing a game is fun in itself.
Design process
How can we use the power of games? In any case, by avoiding one important fallacy that characterizes many current attempts at gamification: the illusion that an ingredient that works in a game will also work in another context. Games are complex systems with an unpredictable nature. The designer of a game will always want to see that system in action to determine whether the ingredients used have the desired effects. The key to good gamification is therefore the same as the key to good games: a solid design process.
Just like with The New Way of Working, there is no point in fighting the label gamification. But let us fight short-sighted junk. Let us work on the wonderful potential that games offer for stimulating sustainable behavior on a personal level (healthier living), organizational level (contributing to corporate goals) and societal level (less CO2 emissions). With this interpretation, gamification will bring us beautiful things.
This opinion article was also published in Het Financieele Dagblad.