Innovation Alphabet

Gamification

in a nutshell

Gamification is actually adding a game-like element to make more fun and engaging something that’s not necessarily a game. It’s all about turning a task that might be boring or difficult into a more enjoyable and motivating activity. You can also earn points, badges, and rewards for completing certain actions or challenges. Are you ready to play?

A compact electronic pinball game A compact electronic pinball game
Application Fields

Jane McGonigal is game research director of the Institute for Future and among the leading interpreters of gamification. She stated that this method should not make tasks easy for the people undertaking them. It should make them harder. Played too many video games, you might say. Well, may be. But what she really means is that the more challenging the task, the greater the sense of achievement upon taking it up. Let’s see if you agree with some of these application fields.

Employee Training: Many companies use gamification to make their employee onboarding programs more engaging and effective. They might use games, quizzes, or simulations to help employees learn new skills, understand company policies, or complete compliance training. I also discuss it in this guide on HR Digital Transformation.

Marketing: Gamification can be used to create fun experiences while promoting products or services. For example, a company might create a contest that fosters customers to share information about the company on social media or refer friends to the company. Think about the “Starbucks Rewards” program. It allows customers to earn points or “stars” for their purchases, which they can redeem for free drinks or food items.

A taste of the “Starbucks Rewards” program — source: Starbucks

Customer Loyalty: Companies can use gamification to encourage customer loyalty by creating loyalty programs that reward customers for repeat purchases or other behaviors, such as leaving a product review or referring a friend. Again, these rewards can then be redeemed for discounts or other perks.

Industries

• Gamification in the Education Industry
Duolingo is a language-learning app that uses a game-like interface to teach users new vocabulary and grammar. It rewards users with points, badges, and progress bars as they complete lessons and advance through the levels. This gamification approach is what helped Duolingo become one of the most popular learning apps in the world.

Duolingo rewards users with points, badges, and progress bars as they complete lessons — source: LinkedIn

• Gamification in Healthcare
The “Zamzee” program is a gamified activity tracker designed for children which literally boosted kids’ physical activity. The program has been used in schools and pediatric clinics to promote exercise and reduce childhood obesity. It encourages children to be more physically active by rewarding them with points and badges for completing daily challenges and reaching fitness goals.

• Gamification in Finance
Do you have a hard time saving money? The “SaveUp” app is a gamified savings and financial education platform. It rewards users with points and prizes for saving money, paying down debt, and learning about personal finance. Users can then redeem their points for chances to win cash prizes, gift cards, and other rewards. SaveUp has been really successful in motivating people to save more and improve their financial literacy which is a too-often underestimated milestone.

Business Functions

• Gamification in support of Sales
SalesHood is an all-in-one Sales Enablement Platform that uses game-like elements to engage and motivate sales teams. The platform features interactive sales training modules, quizzes, and challenges, and it rewards sales reps with badges, points, and recognition for completing training and hitting sales targets. The gamification approach has helped many companies like Copado, ActivTrak, and the Sage Group increase sales performance.

The gamification approach of SalesHood

• Gamification in support of Human Resources
Among the many strategies employed by this department, Mya is an AI-powered recruitment chatbot that uses gamification to assess job candidates’ skills and qualifications. The chatbot engages candidates in a series of interactive challenges and simulations that test their abilities and knowledge, rewarding them with points and badges. Due to its effectiveness, the tool was acquired by StepStone GMBh on May 2021.

• Gamification in support of Customer Service
Many companies use the IT service desk software HelpDesk to incentivize customer service reps to provide excellent service. The platform features leaderboards, badges, and rewards for reps who resolve customer issues quickly and effectively. This gamification approach has helped increase customer satisfaction and reduce customer wait times, while also improving employee engagement and motivation.

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