Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
institutions (i.e. gold stars, house points) and online educational platforms (i.e. Khan
Academy
3
,
DuoLingo
4
and
Memrise
5
), giving children a reward for completing
household chores or good behaviour (i.e. Chore Wars)
6
. If you consider social
activities such as Scouts, gamification is present in the form of collecting badges for
acquired skills and completed tasks, social recognition, all playing a part in the
development of a Scout [3]. It is through recent times that the term of “gamification”
has become a buzzword and a favourable approach to “engaging” clients with new
and exciting design schemes to maintain interest and promote a more enjoyable and
ideally “fun” product [2]. Additionally, gamification can exist both in a physical sense
(i.e. gold star stickers) as well as in a digital sense (i.e. badge and point reward
systems) as an effective way to motivate and engage users. However, while the desire
to modify and encourage specific user behaviour can be the trigger for using a
gamified approach in the first place and that implementing a more enjoyable approach
to ordinary tasks will make it more engaging; and while this is often successful, its
success is not always long-term nor is the approach fresh.
2
Who Are Designing These Systems?
While, gamification approaches have been implemented across an array of areas, the
designers who are creating these experiences may not have a background in game
design, or gamification. The main difference between game design and a gamified
approach is that the gamified approach is used for the design of real world situations,
not artificial ones. Therefore, it is important that the designer is aware that such an
approach produces outcomes that have real world effects and impacts the users
motivations and behaviour - such as customer loyalty or productivity. Ultimately to
what extent can only be viewed after users have engaged with the approach. However,
these desired outcomes may be set by the designer, or stem from company objectives
such as increased employee motivation which can be both positive and negative.
In some cases the thought of turning tasks into a gamified experience, can be an
exciting process and the array of game elements and mechanics that can be used by
the designer can be alluring. In some instances, the options of what game elements
and mechanics to use may become overwhelming with designers opting for typical
elements such as points and badges. This can become a problem if they are
implemented without a meaningful purpose, as this may add an additional layer to a
process that may interfere with the quality of user's engagement and enjoyment (if the
points or badges become the driver of the task) if not taken into deeper consideration.
However, while people designing these systems can vary from inexperienced to
experienced designers. Having two ends of the spectrum can be an important
consideration in acknowledging that the designer's knowledge of using game
elements and mechanics within a gamified approach varies as well. Therefore it is
important to consider the diversity of design objectives as well as to provide adequate
3
www.khanacademy.com
4
Available online and as an application on smart devices.
www.duolingo.com
5
Available online and as an application on smart devices.
www.memirse.com
6
http://www.chorewars.com
