If you still can’t quite get your head around games, game design, gamification, and what any of it has to do with your business, you’re missing a big opportunity to add huge value. Let’s review.
Gamification defined
Gamification is the application of game design elements (components, mechanics and dynamics) to non-game or real-life activities. In a business context, it’s about integrating the elements of game design into digital and physical business systems and processes. Design starts with your business objectives. Ultimately, gamification is about using and analysing data to move behaviour in the right direction. And that applies to your employees, customers and channel partners.
Game design is about creating fun
Game design is about creating fun. Pure fun for a mass audience. Designers aim to engage, entertain and entice players into a world of challenge and excitement, far removed from the monochrome realms of everyday life (and work). There’s no built-in agenda. Just fun. The starting point in game design is usually the dynamics and mechanics – the elements that make up the game.
Gamification design is about changing behaviour
Gamification designers, on the other hand, work their magic to create engaging experiences that modify behaviour of a defined group of people. Contact centre teams, or data capture clerks, for example. The starting point in gamification design is identifying participant behaviours and selecting game mechanics and dynamics that will most effectively modify those behaviours.
Gamification drives value
The purpose of gamification is to enhance the way people interact with your business. It’s an accelerant that integrates with core business activities — rather than an end in itself — and it’s not a fix for what’s not working. If your call centre is under-staffed and your consultants are under-skilled, gamifying operations won’t necessarily solve your human resource problems. The key is understanding your participants and focusing on the key behaviours that you want to reinforce. Only then can you properly monitor the behaviours of all participants and entrench a deeper and enhanced relationship with them.
Gamification can be integrated into a vast array of systems and processes to motivate action, change behaviours and entrench the engagement that adds real value to your business. Here’s a start.
Gamification 5 ways
- Drive sales and channel performance with leader boards, progress bars and dashboards for individuals or teams.
- Increase customer interaction with your website. Add a gamification layer to actions like watching videos, reading articles or writing product reviews.
- Enhance service excellence in your contact centre with gamified real-time performance monitoring and feedback.
- Enrich your loyalty program with competitions, challenges and game elements that support deeper customer engagement.
- Encourage employee training and development by integrating game elements into your existing learning platform.
