Category: Definitions

The Millennial Mindset from a Gamification Perspective

When it comes to attracting and retaining millennial employees, neither Fun nor Fear card will do – they seem neither impressed by ping-pong tables nor afraid of the job market. But two other “F”s, as in Flexibility and Feedback, have been shown by research to carry far greater weight. What other factors shape the millennial mindset and make gamification a highly promising tool to help tackle the biggest threat to employers – the alarmingly low engagement and resulting absence of loyalty? Continue reading The Millennial Mindset from a Gamification Perspective

Gamification Design: What’s fun got to do with it?

Fun is what’s on every game designer’s mind. All the time. And games being our big brothers and role models in most things, fun is a revered and all-powerful deity in gamification practice and theory, as well. But what is fun? And can you ‘design for fun’ or is it a byproduct of good design? Continue reading Gamification Design: What’s fun got to do with it?

For successful learning, nothing is better than failing

Being wrong is a way to learn. Providing that you identify your mistake. And in many games, it makes the player reach the optimal gameplay or understand the goal. This kind of mechanics is very useful in gamification when the user has to learn something on his/her own. Continue reading For successful learning, nothing is better than failing

Is Gamification Really ‘Bullshit’?

Gamification is a recent field that has been the target of much criticism from game designers. We must admit that there are more fails than success stories. But today most of what was held against it has been resolved. Continue reading Is Gamification Really ‘Bullshit’?

The Case for Creative Recruitment

Whether by reducing costs, targeting new recruits more accurately or making you stand out from your rivals, a creative – or even better, gamified – recruitment campaign will give you an edge to hiring that rare pearl for your company. Continue reading The Case for Creative Recruitment

[ Easter Special ] Hide surprises in the garden of gamification!

As much as they may tell us we are too old for the Easter egg hunt, we still all miss it! So why go without? When you create a gamified experience, think about hiding little surprises and clues. Beyond the fun itself, there are some unexpected advantages for user on-boarding and retention.

Continue reading [ Easter Special ] Hide surprises in the garden of gamification!

Why so serious? Because it’s fun!

Save the princess, slay the arch villain, explore the whole map… that’s all so commonplace. With the advance of gamification, we can use a game for many other purposes. Including serious stuff, in the manner of the aptly named “serious games”.

Continue reading Why so serious? Because it’s fun!

Gamification: what’s it all about?

You’re lying comfortably on your couch. From there, you see the pile of dishes stacked in your sink. Problem: between the kitchen and you, there is an X-Box (or a PS4, we’re not judgemental).

The question pops in your head: Do I want to do the dishes or should I rather level up in Skyrim / loot new weapons in GTA?

 

Let’s be honest, if you pick the the answer “dishes”, you won’t enjoy it much.

But if while doing the dishes, you could get a level and unlock the skill “improved saucepan scrubbing” or get a “Sponge +2 immune to ham fat”?

And if you had an interactive timer linked to a leaderboard to challenge your friends on a “washing up” race?

 

A sponge in its natural environment. Not really sexy, nor useful for washing up the dishes.

 


A sponge in its urban environment. Still not sexy, but very useful for washing up.

 


Not a sponge at all. Very sexy but more useful to behead dragons than scrub burnt grease off.

 

Granted, you may still choose video games. But admit at least that doing the dishes would be a lot less dull.

And that’s what gamification is all about.

 

On principle, this can work for everything:

  • Make potential customers discover your product, site, app.
  • Learn a foreign language.
  • Do the dishes.
  • Create a community around a common objective and keep this community active and inter/intra-connected.

Beyond the principle, it can have a concrete impact on…

Your website, your company, your resume, your work place: long story short, on everything that affects you in your own life !

And this is want we want to talk about in this blog.

Welcome to the wonderful world of GAMIFICATION! (CAPS LOCK and exclamation mark, yeah!)