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Gamification Growing: What 2012 Will Bring

Kate — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:13:36 +0000

There were several articles this week which took a look at how gamification is at a turning point in the business world. According to TechCrunch blogger Joseph Puopolo, gamification has grown beyond the “awkward teenager phase” now that businesses are recognizing the term and seeing impressive results from implementations of gaming principles in the workplace. Gamification advocate Gabe Zimmerman suggests that gamification is no longer a simple buzzword, but that “the use of gamification to drive social change is a big movement in culture…gamification is a new discipline with deep roots and extraordinary potential.” Only time will tell, but more and more analysts seem to agree that gamification is going play a bigger role in society soon.

Forbes Blogger Claims Gamification “will become integral to the social business”

Kate — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:31:59 +0000

This Forbes article suggests that, thanks to the success of Bunchball and SAP’s recently announced interest in gamifying its products (among other factors), gamification is going to be a major factor in upcoming businesses. He also describes how “gamification” is moving past the buzzword stage and into common business vocabulary: “Mario [gamification initiative lead at SAP] explains that he and his colleagues are past the point where they need to explain gamification to clients. In fact clients are coming to them and asking for game-centric solutions. And clients come from a wide range of industries.”

A New Mogl in Town

Kate — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:15:01 +0000

Here’s one to keep an eye on. Mogl, a new San Diego-based company, is giving users incentive to dine out at partnering restaurants by making a game of it. Mogl takes the frequent shopper punch card program to a new level by modernizing and spanning across 350 participating restaurants (and counting!). Cash prizes are rewarded for achievements such as being the most frequent user to visit a restaurant in a month. This is one of those gamification programs that just makes sense, and will build customer loyalty without getting in the way of dining experience, but rather augmenting it.

Understanding Serious Games in Business

Kate — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:42:10 +0000

As serious games gain recognition in the business world, it is important that we understand them completely. This article by senior Forrester Research analyst TJ Keitt gives an excellent explanation of what can be expected from serious games used internally in businesses, and the best areas to implement gamification within a company. Keitt acknowledges that gamification is not a new concept, but is indeed tried and true. “Look in your sales department — that’s been gamified for years through competitions replete with leaderboards and trips, money, and prizes for top performers. What makes gamification seem so new and different is a group of vendors have emerged to automate these gaming elements, providing APIs which can integrate these tools into a range of business applications, thus making it easier to gamify other business processes.” Modern serious games add an extra layer of technology that just makes sense by making the gamification process more convenient and engaging. Read on for more insight on how to get the most out of serious games.

Undergraduates get involved in Serious Games Initiative

Kate — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:16:09 +0000

At University of Washington Bothell, students are breaking into serious games with the help of the university’s Center for Serious Play. Their first project is a Farmville-esque Facebook game that raises awareness about local wetlands restoration. Colleges are a good place to look for innovation and industry patterns – seeing gamification crop up at more colleges, both in study and in practice (like Rochester Institute of Technology’s Just Press Play project), suggests that serious games will be a driving force in the next few years.

Ringing in the New Year with Gamification

Kate — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:48:05 +0000

Major Financial Advisory firm Deloitte has released a list of the top ten Technology Trends which they predict will have the biggest impact in 2012. Gamification made their cut! According to Bill Briggs, co-author of the report, “The next 12 months will see several technologies including the cloud, big data and mobility continue to grow, while a topic like gamification is just starting to emerge at the enterprise level…It will be important for CIOs to help lead their organizations in these areas.” Not convinced? Check out this infographic by Big Door which highlights the rise of gamification in 2011! It is definitely a good time for serious games, and companies are beginning to acknowledge this important technology as something that’s here to stay.

The Big Leagues of Serious Games

Kate — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:49:13 +0000

This article analyzes the projected future of gamification. “Research company Gartner reckons that by 2012, more than 70% of the Forbes’ major companies will have at least one ‘gamified’ application.” According to Gartner’s research vice president Brian Burke, “Gamification could become as important as Facebook, eBay, or Amazon…understanding how to apply game mechanics to motivate positive behavioral change is critical to success.” Check out the article for a definition of gamification and a description of what Burke considers the three key ingredients to a successful gamified application.

Gamification introduced to the NHL

Kate — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:54:47 +0000

Would you consider yourself a diehard fan of a sports team? If that team had an application that allowed you to earn achievements for watching their games and participating in other fan activities, would you want to join in? Sounds like a great idea to me for fans who want to show off their pride! The L.A. Kings are formulating such a program now, complete with awesome prizes. “Users will earn online badges and trophies…earning points will also unlock exclusive rewards such as signed merchandise, personalized messages from the players, behind-the-scenes videos, private arena tours and more.” According to Bunchball CRP Steve Patrizi, this is a natural progression for the sports marketing industry. “The fans are ultimately their business, so they understand how to relate to fans better than a lot of other companies.” I would definitely expect to see more gamification in this vein in the future.

The Wall Street Journal Weighs in on Gamification

Kate — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:11:59 +0000

According to this Wall Street Journal article, gamification is on the rise, with more companies investing in the techniques every day. “Tech-industry research firm Gartner estimates that by 2014, some 70% of large companies will use the techniques for at least one business process.” The article examines some large company implementations, including Deloitte’s virtual badge system, IBM’s Sims-like training system, and SAP AG’s golf minigames. Why is interest in gamification on the rise? It is too early to tell the success of some of these programs, but research shows that they will benefit a company more than the training systems of old. “A study last year by Traci Sitzmann, an assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado Denver Business School found that employees trained on video games learned more factual information, attained a higher skill level and retained information longer than workers who learned in less interactive environments.”

Subtle Gamification Yields Big Results in Survey Study

Kate — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:55:54 +0000

This entertaining read from research-live.com analyses the success of gamification when incorporated into even a very primitive format – written surveys. Surveys rely heavily on a user’s willingness and dedication to participate. Engage Research and GMI quickly found that a user who enjoyed the survey’s experience would produce both higher quantity and quality feedback. The next most pressing question was, what could they do to entertain the survey takers? Read on for some of the elegantly subtle ways that gamification was integrated into the surveys. Engaging the users was key – puzzles and graphics, no matter how simple, seem to yield much better results!