What Is Gamification?

Gamification is the process of adding game-like elements like points, levels, challenges, and rewards in non-game contexts. Gamification takes everyday tasks and turns them into engaging games. Points and rewards are used to motivate you and make boring chores fun. Say you need to walk 10,000 steps a day. A gamified fitness app awards points for each step, lets you earn badges along the way, and offers prizes when you hit big milestones. Suddenly walking isn't a chore, it's an exciting challenge!

How does gamification work?

1) Provide rewards and badges

Gamification uses rewards and badges to motivate users by tapping into their psychological need for achievement and status. When you achieve something in the gamified system, you earn points, badges or rewards to show your progress. This triggers the release of dopamine in the brain that makes the activity rewarding and keeps you engaged.

2) Set clear goals and levels

A gamified system also sets clear goals, levels and progress indicators to keep you working toward a meaningful objective. As you advance, the levels get progressively harder to complete. This challenge motivates you to gain new skills and achieve more. Successfully reaching these milestones gives you a sense of progress and achievement.

3) Make it social

Another aspect of gamification is social interaction and competition. Adding social elements like leaderboards, badges or points that can be shared on social media taps into people's natural drive for social status and competition. You can see how you stack up to others, work to outrank your peers and share your achievements.

The Psychology Behind Gamification

Gamification taps into the human desire for rewards, achievement and competition. As you complete tasks, you earn points, badges or progress to higher levels. This triggers the release of dopamine in the brain, giving you a sense of pleasure and reinforcement. The more you achieve, the more dopamine is released, keeping you engaged and motivated to continue progressing.

Gamification also appeals to our innate drives for status and social comparison. Earning badges, points or higher levels gives you a sense of progress that you can then share with others. This social signaling taps into our competitive instincts - we want to achieve more and do better than our peers. The behavioral feedback, rewards and social drivers combine to make even mundane activities suddenly feel more compelling and game-like.

Benefits of gamification

Gamification offers many benefits to make ordinary tasks more engaging and rewarding. By turning boring chores into an interactive game, you'll gain motivation to complete them.‍

1) Builds in feedback loops

The feedback loops built into gamified systems release dopamine which makes you feel good and keeps you coming back. You'll get instant feedback on your progress and performance through points, badges, and leaderboards. This reinforcement encourages you to take on new challenges and achieve more.

2) Taps into competitive spirit 

Whether competing against yourself or others, you'll push yourself further to come out on top. At work, this can drive increased productivity, creativity, and innovation.

3) Provides a sense of purpose 

The rewards and progression in gamified activities provide a sense of purpose that leads to sustained motivation and action. You'll feel like you're working toward meaningful goals and outcomes. This psychological effect has benefits that extend well beyond any single game or task.

Real World Examples of Gamification

1) Fitness Apps

Fitness apps like Strava and Nike+ Run Club gamify exercise by letting you track your runs and compete with friends. They award badges and post leaderboards to motivate you to get out and jog a little further or faster. These apps make fitness into a social experience that taps into our innate drives for competition and status.

2) Edtech Apps 

Duolingo, the popular language learning app, awards users with points, levels, and achievements as they complete lessons. This turns the process of learning a new language into an engaging game and helps build the habit of practicing every day.

3) Retail Apps

Starbucks, for example, rewards customers with stars for making purchases that can be redeemed for free drinks and food. This encourages customers to use their app to pay and keeps them coming back.

Gamification best practices

To effectively gamify a task, keep these tips in mind:

1) Focus on the user experience

Think about what will motivate and engage your users. Provide rewards and achievements to keep them coming back.

2) Define clear goals and rules

Explain the objectives and parameters to guide user behavior. Keep things challenging yet achievable.

3) Track progress 

Use leaderboards, points, badges, and levels to show advancement. This feedback fuels motivation and competition.

4) Make participation voluntary

Don't force people to be a part. Gamification should enhance an experience, not replace it. Allow users to opt in or out at any time.

5) Keep improving

Monitor how users interact with the system and make changes to optimize enjoyment and impact. Gamification is an iterative process.

With the right approach, you can turn the most mundane activities into engaging experiences. But remember, gamification should be used to enhance an experience, not manipulate people or encourage unhealthy behavior. When applied responsibly, it's a powerful tool for motivation and change.