Why Gamification
Why Not?
Gamification is a clever use of human psychology.
From the famed Nike+ mobile app that entrenched the brand deeper in the minds of its customers and increased exercising rates,to Domino’s Pizza’s Pizza Hero app that engaged its customers to drive sales and even aided in talent recruitment; gamification is one of the MOST UNDERRATED mechanisms to meet business/people goals without breaking the bank.
Whether in application in employee engagement/motivation/retention (as seen below) or customer acquisition, gamification seemingly knows no bounds. Ever since 2003 when the word was first coined, businesses around the world have used gamification to make their products “stickier” to both external and internal customers.
And perhaps, so should you.
The Impact of Gamification
%
of employees are more productive when they use gamification
%
of workers are more likely to stay at a company for 3+ years when tasks are gamified.
%
of people delieve that gamification inspires them to work harder
%
of employees enjoy using gamified systems
In fact, we dare say that the revenue/talent success of many of these behemoths of industry were due in significant part to gamification.
Think also about how Starbucks gamified their My Starbucks Rewards loyalty programme by astutely awarding gold stars to regular customers and creating exclusivity and status elevation.
Or how Duolingo, one of the world’s most successful language learning app, sustains a user’s learning journey by letting users pick up badges, clear stages and buy power-ups.
Even in the education space, 80% of students reported that they would be more productive if their university/institution classes were more game-like. And with more than 97% of youths already playing computer or video games, one has to wonder why more educational institutes aren’t taking advantage of game psychology to help students learn more efficiently.
At its very core, gamification is all about motivation and the desire to do something. Being human, all of us are susceptible to dopamine hits whenever we are rewarded, achieved a goal, or have an opportunity to discover or compete with others. All these psychological mechanisms combine to drive an intended behaviour(s).