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Is it all a game? Understanding the principles of gamificationIntroduction
Firms may engage in gamification, turning traditional processes into deeper, more engaging
game-like experiences for customers and employees. This is mainly done through collecting
points, bonuses, or badges and being able and share this with neighbours, friends, etc. Many
firms are expected to adopt gamification, but in most cases it is likely that it will fail business
objectives processes not correctly gamified. This is because there is a lack of
understanding about the concept.
2. Gamification defined
Gamification is the application of lessons from the gaming domain to change behaviours in
non-game situations. These can be focused on business process or outcomes, with players
inside the company or outside. It is a recent development to control behaviour and increase
loyalty and engagement due to 3 reasons:
1. Game industry has grown and become more important more research on what makes
engaging and successful which resulted in theories, lessons, and frameworks on design and
management of games and motivation of people
2. Social media and web-based technologies have changed how individuals and organisations
participate, co-create, discuss, and modify any type of experience firms can generate lots
of data, produce gamified employment and experience which generates new data
3. Firms always look for new and better ways to connect with, learn from, and influence the
behaviour of employees and customers.
3. Why gamification works
Gamification changes behaviour through reinforcement and emotions. Negative and positive
reinforcements, intrinsic or external, motivate behaviour and encourage repetition of these
behaviours if they lead to satisfying outcomes and positive emotions. Successful gamification
involves the repetition of desired outcomes through reinforcement and emotions that
makes sure the behaviour becomes a habit and less resources are necessary each time. It is
important that you reward employees or customers for satisfying behaviour and that this is
done with the right reinforcements to obtain satisfying outcomes.
4. Gamification principles: MDE framework
There are 4 main parties involved in the gamified experience which differ in their
participation, actively contributes to or is passively involved in game experience, and
connection, type of environmental relationship (absorption or immersion) with the gamified
environment. In absorption, the experience unfolds before the person and occupies the
person’s mind; in immersion, a person becomes part of the experience itself, either
physically or virtually.
The 4 parties involved are:
1. Players: those who compete in the gamified experience, real performers, actively
compete, and immersed in the game customers or employees
2. Designers: decision makers in organizations who develop and design, and often manage
and maintain, the gamified experience need to understand MDE framework to create
,effective experience. They are highly active when setting up experience, but afterwards
passively involved making sure that organisation goals are met
3. Spectators: individuals who do not directly compete in the gamified experience but whose
presence will influence how the gamified experience works immersive role as they take
part of the gamified experience but take on a passive role, only indirectly impact the
atmosphere. An example is a supervisor
4. Observers: outside individuals who are passively involved and absorbed in the experience
have no impact, merely watch, but do contribute to popularity of the game. They are
potential players or spectators.
By changing their behaviour or actions it influences how much they are involved or
connected to the game, but usually they stick to one end of the spectrum
4.2 Mechanics
The decisions that designers make on fore hand to specify rules, the goals, the setting, types
of interactions, and boundaries of the situations to be gamified rules of the game that
remain constant. These can be seen as the organisational systems and technologies to
induce appropriate behaviour. There are 3 types:
1. Set up mechanics: considerations that shape the environment of the experience, including
the setting, what objects are needed, and how the objects are to be distributed among
players real life or virtual, finite or infinite, single or multiple player, teams or not
2. Rule mechanics: shape the concept or goal of the gamified experience to be pursued
prescribe what actions are permissible, the constraints, and can be deterministic or non-
deterministic (involving chance).
3. Progression mechanics: describe different types of instruments designers embed to affect
experience while it happens the reinforcements used to increase the likelihood of desired
behaviour being repeated. The reinforcement must be desirable and function as a feedback
mechanism, social rewards most powerful. Make sure there are not too many rewards and
that they stay within the budget.
Gamification mechanics determine who the key parties are, how they interact, how to win or
lose, and where and when the experience takes place.
4.3 Dynamics
Dynamics are the types of player behaviour that emerge as players partake in the game
experience, strategic actions and interactions that emerge during play determined by how
players follow mechanics. The dynamics can be determined by the player composition,
individual nature, as well as spectators and observers. They are difficult to predict and can
result in positive and negative outcomes and behaviour important to anticipate what type
of dynamics might emerge.
4.4 Emotions
Gamification emotions are the mental affective states and reactions evoked among
individual players when they participate in a gamified experience product of how players
follow mechanics and then generate dynamics. Creating player enjoyment is important so
they keep playing the game, but often players will experience mixed emotions.
, All 3 mechanisms have an interdependent relationship and shows how small changes in one
component can impact the other two resulting in different experiences. They have an
iterative circle but also show that designers focus mostly on the mechanics, whilst players
are more interested in the emotions.
5. Gamification at work: the case of American Idol
American Idol is a good example for 3 reasons:
1. Shows how to increase engagement and change behaviour of both employees and
customers contestant enter a contractual agreement on probation and the people in the
audience determine whether they like contestant so people know who will be most likely be
most promising
2. Improves customer and employee engagement at the same time
3. Has become a success story with new talent and profitable TV show by aligning all MDE
5.1 American Idol’s mechanics
All parties consent as they voluntarily participate or watch brings positive emotions.
Progression is based on popularity and reward is winning the show.
5.2 Dynamics
Win and see favourites succeed compete with each other but at other times also
collaborate.
5.3 Emotions
The desired and aspired mental states are the reason people participate. The setup
mechanics are carefully designed as are rule mechanics and progress mechanics. Together
these mechanics support the collaborative and competitive nature of the talent search
competition, and in turn give rise to the powerful emotional attachment felt by contestants
and members of the audience alike.
6. Game on! The value of gamification
There are 5 guidelines to capture value from the gamification framework:
1. Establish the goals you want to achieve and then assess the potential of gamification to
adjust and produce behaviour and outcomes to achieve those goals focus on one goal and
investigate the causality between gamification and business goals
2. Recognise all different roles, not only those of players and designers
3. Prepare yourself for the fact that people will try to cheat leading to negative emotions and
excessive rewards by some. It can also lead to insights that game should be changed and
more innovation caused by the players
4. Managerial goals and strategic objectives will change over time adjust gamified
experience accordingly so people remain interested and engaged leading to the appropriate
behaviour
5. Determine the final phase of the game, do not just keep prolonging it so people will be
kept engaged and eventually can move on to a new gamified process.
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