What is Gamification? Definition, Software, Examples, and Best Practices 2022

Gamification interpolates a trigger-action-feedback loop into routine-based tasks to boost adoption and success.

Last Updated: August 26, 2022

Gamification is defined as a technique, a strategy, or a mindset that interpolates a closed loop of trigger-action-feedback into routine-based tasks for employees or users, to improve the rates of adoption, engagement, and success. This article explains how gamification works with examples. It also discusses the top tools and best practices to remember when implementing gamification. 

What Is Gamification?

Gamification is defined as a technique, a strategy, or a mindset that interpolates a closed loop of a trigger, action, and feedback into routine-based tasks for employees or users to improve the rates of adoption, engagement, and success. 

Gamification is the use of game-design features and gaming principles in situations that are not game-related. It can also be described as a collection of methods and procedures for resolving issues by utilizing or putting to use game mechanics. To better understand gamification, let us take a look at the history of gamification. For thousands of years, games and game-like components have been used to educate, entertain, and engage people. Points, badges, and leaderboards are a few traditional game components.

This field has the potential to save businesses millions of dollars by mimicking instruction in a compelling and engaging setting. In 1896, marketers sold stamps to merchants who then used them to reward devoted consumers. The Boy Scout movement was established in 1908, and members received badges to mark their accomplishments in various fields. Charles A. Coonradt wrote The Game of Work, published in 1973, to address the problem of declining productivity in the United States of America.

The first Multi-User Dungeon game, “MUD1,” was created by Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle in 1978, marking the beginning of social video games. People were able to share an online world or reality for the first time in history. In a paper published in 1980, “What Makes Things Fun to Learn, A Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer Games,” Thomas W. Malone, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, discovered that youngsters might learn through playing video games.

The first frequent flier program in the history of the world, AAdvantage, was introduced by American Airlines in 1981. The project aimed to increase customer loyalty and reduce complaints at the company’s contact center by rewarding customers who frequented the business. Academics began to see the potential of gaming in 1982 as computer games have shown a natural ability to captivate players, and articles began to appear investigating potential beneficial applications for the technology.

Holiday Inn introduced the first hotel loyalty program in 1983. The Game of Work: How to Enjoy Work as Much as Play, written by Charles A. Coonradt in 1984, inspired businesses worldwide to consider making work more pleasurable while boosting engagement and productivity. National Car Rental introduced the first rental car rewards program in 1987. By 1990, 30% of American households had NES consoles. PlayStation 1 was the first console game ever released by Sony in 1994.

Based on how various players approach a game, MUD1 developer Richard Bartle defined four main gamer types in 1996. This paradigm would later become the basis for numerous gamification projects. In a study published in 1999, Stephen W. Draper argued that all software designs should prioritize user delight. The importance of game mechanics began to be understood before 2000.

Nick Pelling first used the term “gamification” in 2002 to describe the activities and studies that have taken place and will continue to do so. Rajat Paharia established Bunchball in 2005 as a platform to increase website engagement by incorporating gaming dynamics. Before they would start using the term “gamification,” another three years would pass. Kevan Davis created Chore Wars in 2007. The website aimed to make completing chores more appealing by turning them into a game.

The idea of utilizing game mechanics and game designs in non-game situations to accomplish various goals while boosting user engagement and motivation gave rise to gamification, which began to take off in late 2010. The gamification field has experienced exponential growth and improved organizational recognition, particularly in talent acquisition and retention strategy. Gamification has an exciting future ahead of it.

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Top Gamification Software

According to a 2022 report by Technavio, the global gamification market will grow by $22.77 by 2026. This is primarily driven by e-learning gamification software, as well as enterprise gamification tools. Some of the top tools available today include:

1. Gametize

Businesses utilize Gametize for customer advocacy, consumer campaigns, content marketing, staff engagement activities like learning and development (L&D), transformation initiatives, and community building. Gametize is simple and offers a wide variety of challenges that are all white branded and are created especially for customers to swiftly launch their game on social media platforms on the web and mobile devices.

Gametize’s user-generated narrative plot, automatic feedback, and prizes provide users the ability to reimagine the educational experience. Its robust analytics platform can help you gain a comprehensive insight into your audience, and foster increased user interaction.

2. Mambo.IO

For an open-source, on-premise gamification platform, Mambo.IO is a preferred option. Mambo.IO enables custom and off-the-shelf development for your gamification initiatives with gamified solutions for employee engagement, customer loyalty, and e-learning. Mambo.IO promotes custom and off-the-shelf development for your gamification initiatives with gamified solutions for employee engagement, customer loyalty, and e-learning.

The Mambo.IO platform helps enhance employee performance, knowledge, and satisfaction. Gamification may help your organization grow by encouraging users to use all of your enterprise applications. For businesses that don’t want to handle infrastructure or don’t have particular data handling needs, Mambo.IO also provides a hosted solution.

3. Growth Engineering

Growth Engineering offers interesting online training programs that have significant commercial effects. Growth engineering strategies foster learning communities, ignite curiosity, and reward proper behaviors. The app features calendar management capabilities, attendance logs, and real-time evaluations as part of a standard LMS package.

A gamified module in these tools enables users to track their progress and fosters competition inside a closed group. Businesses can employ the connected solutions collectively or each product separately. Gamification, social learning, and personalization are all used in Growth Engineering products to help learners and employees modify their behavior over the long term.

4. Hoopla by Raydiant

Hoopla is an automatic, real-time recognition and motivation tool created to inspire teams. Hoopla uses data automatically pulled from Salesforce to create streaming channels with leaderboards, dashboards, progress bars, and other features that let users celebrate victories. Companies can use Hoopla to give real-time data to teams in charge of sales, customer care, support, marketing, and other areas.

Gamification and friendly competition are used by Hoopla to boost teamwork and engagement. Through visible broadcasts where employees work on digital signs for offices, the web, and mobile apps for remote team members, it enhances performance for firms of all sizes.

5. Upshot.ai

Digital product owners and marketers may increase their product uptake and conversions by using the complete customer engagement and gamification platform, Upshot.ai. Fortune 1000 firms employing Upshot.ai include GE, UHG, Puma, Sony, ITC, and Tenet Healthcare.

These companies have seen up to a 400% increase in product uptake and a 300% YoY revenue rise. One may find the largest selection of engagement and gamification solutions on Upshot.ai, which also incorporates advanced analytics and segmentation. Dynamic in-app advice developed using graphics, videos, screen tips, and splash screens to methodically and continually onboard users boost product and feature adoption.

6. Gamify the World Engine (GWEN)

A cloud-based application programming interface (API) engine called Gamify the World Engine promotes long-term behavior transformation. The use of behavioral scientific viewpoints in gamification has repeatedly shown to be successful, but this frequently necessitates expensive and time-consuming projects with access to the necessary knowledge. Once implemented, it is difficult to maintain over time.

It is now easy to implement science-based best practice gamification in days rather than years because GWEN has already done the tricky bits for you. GWEN enables you to gather insights into your users’ behavior and maximize user engagement by providing the tools and power to employ gamification.

7. Funifier

The gamification platform Funifier Studio is used for community engagement and advocacy and is safe, adaptable, and simple to use. Data security is a top priority for Funifier, which lets users manage access to their gamification not only by geolocation but also by time zones, other apps, IP addresses, and a variety of other factors.

To design the optimal Gamification Strategy for your business, you may mix over 90 more game mechanics in Funifier Studio in addition to PBLs (Points, Badges, and Leaderboards). For various reasons, including employee training and performance management, clients use Funifier to inspire goal behaviors.

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Examples of Gamification

While e-learning and customer engagement are the leading examples of gamification, enterprises can use the technique in various ways. Examples of gamification in an enterprise setting include:

1. The gamification of continuous testing in DevOps

It incorporates game concepts and gimmicks like badges, leaderboards, and point systems into the DevOps cycle. DevOps is an all-encompassing culture that is based on lean and agile ideas. When carefully used, continuous testing enables excellent delivery cycle continuity. Implementing a successful Continuous Delivery process is the best way to incorporate gamification.

This helps everyone, from developers to testers to managers, to stay engaged, go up the learning curve quickly, and produce reliable products in a shorter amount of time. Although you might not get the intended results right away, if you prepare your setting and get everyone involved in testing various solutions, the game will produce the desired results. If you deal with the test concerns, you can make them pass or fail, but if you engage people in problem-solving activities and inspire them, you always succeed and have fun.

2. The gamification of user experience

Gamification has the power to affect, boost, and encourage specific behaviors in people. Gamification strives to assist and inspire consumers to do tasks prompted by services offered by the company. Gamification is one of the most intriguing developments in recent years in user experience design. No matter how serious the duties we complete using applications are, we still favor those mobile activities that make us smile and have fun. For many apps, gamification can be a great option.

It allows us to make even the most tedious tasks and routine activities enjoyable for consumers. User experience designers use different game mechanics to spice up mobile and web experiences. It boosts user interaction, cultivates brand loyalty for the app’s creator, and keeps user loyalty. Additionally, because gamification is not a monolithic approach, one may use it at many levels according to the user and product requirements.

3. Gamification to learn coding skills

Gamification in education refers to using game-based components, such as point scoring, peer competition, teamwork, and score tables, to increase student engagement, aid in the assimilation of new knowledge, and assess their level of understanding. Programming cultivates a systematic and original approach to problem-solving. If you know how to code in languages like Python, Cobol, etc., you also understand how to divide an issue into manageable tasks with clear actions and quantifiable outcomes.

Your thought process becomes more structured and reasonable. Because coding expands your imagination, you begin to view issues in the context of potential solutions. Naturally, it also teaches us to be patient. Gamified online learning has been popular recently. Gamification enables you to play while you learn, which may be the best approach to learning programming from scratch since it requires a lot of motivation to learn it the traditional way. It can be entertaining and instructive to learn coding through games.

4. Gamification to build an agile culture

Agile is an approach that helps project teams offer more value. Companies may use Agile gamification to change and reinforce behaviors simply and enjoyably, assisting the business or organization in achieving agility. Agile gamification uses game mechanics and rewards to increase team engagement and instill the required behaviors in team members, especially in an agile development setting.

Keep in mind that the ideals and manifesto of agile approaches are primarily centered on human factors and behaviors, which are typically challenging to alter. Giving players who complete worthwhile tasks points and badges as a reward is one of the fundamental gamification tactics. This strategy is enjoyable and helps agile teams get ready to be flexible to changes. Playing together strengthens team dynamics and aids in applying some of the fundamental concepts of agile.

5. Gamification of the software development life cycle (SDLC)

Software engineers should collaborate, promote positive workgroup settings, participate in debates, and be driven to complete software development successfully. Gamification is a well-liked strategy for enticing people in various fields and, in this case, software development. A crucial element in the software development process is people’s motivation.

In the context of software development, the primary goal of gamification is to encourage programmers to adopt or enhance the best coding practices when working on software projects. Project managers know the value of highly motivated development teams dedicated to their work and implementing best practices.

These teams are more likely to succeed and have greater client and project satisfaction. In contrast, unmotivated development teams suffer severe consequences. The complexity and creativity of the activities involved in software development make intrinsic incentives more valuable than extrinsic ones.

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Best Practices of Gamification for 2022

Companies need to follow a few best practices to make the most of gamification. This includes:

Best Practices of Gamification

Best Practices of Gamification

1. Gamify employee onboarding to improve retention rates

Nobody truly loves the tedious process of onboarding new employees. Although it is a crucial one given that new workers have a 58 percent higher likelihood of remaining with the company for three years. Furthermore, 54% of recently hired workers’ high productivity directly resulted from the onboarding process.

Innovative businesses use gamification to make onboarding easier. Organizations can improve employee retention rates by gamifying the process. More companies are expected to investigate the usage of gamification in the onboarding process now that benefits have been established.

2. Improve sales outcomes through gamified targets

Even though this is a hotly contested topic, research (for instance, the 2018 academic study titled “Narrative Gamification as a Method of Increasing Sales Performance: A Field Experimental Study”) does indicate that gamification can enhance sales success. This often entails your sales force recording their actions and outcomes in a system that has been gamified in exchange for rewards.

To get the most out of your sales process gamification, reward habits rather than results. The goal of the points system is to reward positive conduct rather than to achieve the highest score possible. Only allocate value to the tasks you believe will improve the performance of your salespeople.

3. Drive adoption of immersive technologies

The ultimate fusion of video game technology and real life, both digital and non-digital, is the metaverse, which merges a virtual world and the physical world. Thanks to the metaverse, users may mingle, work, learn, and play all in one location. Because of its immersive nature, the distinction between real life and virtual reality is muddled.

Some lifestyle companies, like Nike and Adidas, have joined the metaverse with clothes for digital customers and exciting deals. They use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as the primary medium of exchange to provide enduring digital value.

4. Increase user engagement in mobile apps

For small firms, the arrival of millennials and Gen Z into the labor force has created new difficulties. As a result, the majority of enterprise platforms are launching mobile apps. This is due to the convenience and accessibility that mobile apps provide for mobile workers. Furthermore, BYOD policies are being reinstated by small firms. Therefore, it is ideal for incorporating leaderboards and gamification strategies into mobile apps.

5. Personalize the gamification experience for user cohorts

Today, gamification is dominated by personalization. Industry participants have pulled up their sleeves to produce individualized gamified designs. The race to develop adaptable algorithms that can choose the ideal gamification design for any given circumstance is in high gear. Personalization is already included in some gamification platforms and is planned for inclusion in others. Personalization is crucial for corporate success; thus, gamified solutions must value it. This pattern will keep enhancing gamification’s attraction to contemporary learners.

See More: DevOps vs. Agile Methodology: Key Differences and Similarities 

Takeaways

Gamification is much more than merely a technique to engage your employees, users, or customers. It is a mindset that ensures even the most routine-based task becomes challenging and rewarding through a healthy sense of competition and urgency. Enterprise teams can imbibe gamification principles into nearly every facet of their work, from team collaboration to product design and software delivery. It can accelerate outcomes and ensure more significant satisfaction levels for every stakeholder involved. 

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Chiradeep BasuMallick
Chiradeep is a content marketing professional, a startup incubator, and a tech journalism specialist. He has over 11 years of experience in mainline advertising, marketing communications, corporate communications, and content marketing. He has worked with a number of global majors and Indian MNCs, and currently manages his content marketing startup based out of Kolkata, India. He writes extensively on areas such as IT, BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, and financial analysis & stock markets. He studied literature, has a degree in public relations and is an independent contributor for several leading publications.
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