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Have you or someone you know, like a child for example, ever spent hours in front of the computer, cell phone or console playing? Have you ever forgotten to eat or entered the early hours of the morning involved in a game?
Well, know that there are very clear and defined techniques that are used in the creation of games and that produce this behavior in players and that for some time have also been used in other situations outside of games, to produce similar results.
We are talking about gamification and it is about this topic and how it has been used by companies for appreciable gains in several areas, which we will address in this post.
What is gamification?
Gamification is the use of different elements and concepts present in games, both computer and analog, to achieve behaviors similar to those presented by players, but in other situations of daily life.
Although the correspondence with digital games is more common, given the richness of these and the intense digital transformation that has made practically anyone have and make use of computers and smartphones.
Gamification – or gamification in English, as it is sometimes referred to – is not exactly something new, but as a systematic and applicable tool in pedagogy, in various situations in companies and even in other areas, such as psychology, it has gained wide prominence and become more efficient in recent years.
It has been observed that established game titles exert influence and engage players at levels that are rarely achieved by anything else, to the point that this is one of the most profitable industries today, in which the most successful achieve annual revenues in the order of billions of dollars.
How about then applying this formula, already well known by developers, in other real-life situations?
In studies about it, it was identified that a gamer while playing certain types of games, in addition to a high level of engagement to be victorious, also makes use of skills and aptitudes, acquires knowledge of various details of the game, has stimulated reasoning logical and analytical, it expands the capacity to develop strategies, improves the sense of cooperation and also of competition, all this under the fulfillment of rigid rules and the search for precise objectives.
All are conditions that are desirable and even essential in various areas of a company and, therefore, achieving them through a scenario similar to that found in a game seems quite logical, doesn’t it?
Know that to achieve all this, there is a method…
The role of octalysis in gamification
As much as there are many apparent and clear differences in the immense universe of games, what all the most popular ones tend to have in common are based on what is called octalisis and which consists of 8 elements on which different aspects of a game must support each other to produce the desired involvement.
More than beautiful graphics, action and exciting effects, the game’s dynamics and its evolution must be based on main units (core drives) and that explain why every detail is present:
- Meaning (Meaning) – is when you manage to instill in a player the belief that he is doing something important or that he has a special mission. For example, in a game like Candy Crush, the meaning is to help the strange creatures solve the problems that are presented at each stage;
- Accomplishment – the player feels accomplished with each challenge overcome, with each achievement obtained, such as in the change of phase, in the receipt of a trophy, a special prize and that in the same game above comes with a “sweet” or a “delicious”, in addition to other moments and achievements;
- Empowerment – usually involves the process of creativity and player learning about the game mechanics and activities in which he has to discover things, unravel riddles, secrets and tricks and make attempts that allow him to evolve and achieve higher scores, but also when he surpasses his limits and improves his marks, scores and records;
- Ownership – many games provide elements that constitute permanent achievements, such as the customization of the avatar, or the amount of collectibles he can accumulate and that sometimes work as accelerators (boosters) or produce better performance in games. other game areas/events;
- Scarcity – Rarer items make the player dedicate themselves more and are more coveted, amplifying the previous element (possession). Limited time to enjoy or get the item is another factor that highlights the scarcity aspect and gives a sense of urgency to carry out the corresponding activity;
- Social Influence – the clearest example are rankings and records. The players who get the highest score in an event and in the general scoreboard of the game, gain status and recognition before the others, intensifying the competitiveness. Leveling up means progression, higher rank and importance in front of others;
- Unpredictability – eventual and non-predictable factors are also essential for involvement, as they affect linearity and even a possible monotony or ease in meeting objectives. Faced with the unexpected, skills need to be used again, as well as knowledge and the adoption of new strategies are put to the test;
- Avoidance (also called loss aversion) is the element by which regularity in involvement is achieved. The biggest example is the daily prizes (loot box) that require the gamer to access the game daily, sometimes at very specific times. If he does not access and/or does not fulfill the event that entitles him to the loot box, he may even have the progress or reset to the starting point.
It is important to note that the dynamics created do not necessarily need to contain all the elements, but when yes and the more of them are combined and dependent on each other, the more involvement is produced, as in the hypothetical situation that we mentioned the fourth element, when explaining the fifth.
Thus, gamification in an area or routine of the company means using these elements to obtain the same behaviors from employees.
Examples of gamification
As we mentioned earlier, gamification is present in a number of situations, some of which we already use daily and maybe we haven’t even realized it yet.
Mobile applications have already been used and with very consistent results.
The first example is the widely used “Waze”, which gives points to the user both for the time of use, for the length of the routes traveled and certain actions in the application, such as, for example, signaling an accident on a route.
Another champion of use is “Strava”, a mix of physical activity tracking, social network and that uses many gamification elements to engage users.
If the user is a cyclist, for example, the app indicates which activities are the longest, the “Local Legend” and who is the cyclist who has passed through a place the most in the last 90 days, receiving a crown and integrating a ranking, the KOM (King Of Mountain) and QOM (Queen Of Mountain) and who are respectively the cyclist and cyclist with the shortest times in a certain section, as well as the ranking of the 10 fastest, among a series of other trophies, seals and badges for completing monthly and weekly challenges.
The last example is from the “Tim + Vantagens” application, which gives loot boxes every Wednesday and which are usually discounts at partner companies, receiving tokens that serve as “currency” for some resources, such as exchanging for stars that allow you to play a kind of roulette wheel, which generates lucky numbers to participate in prize draws for cash, motorcycles and even cars.
When to apply gamification in the company?
Gamification is usually applied when it is intended to engage people, produce higher levels of motivation, transform behaviors and optimize cognition.
But also when traditional people management methodologies are no longer efficient and/or when there are generations that lack work environments that break with the old paradigms of how a company should be.
The classic and traditional employment in many areas is the opposite of games. There is a lot of routine and predictability, there is a lack of challenges, there is little use of specific skills, whether hard or soft skills, the goals are not very realistic and sometimes even seem unattainable and there are few factors that produce motivation.
In the case of young people, this is reflected in the constant change of jobs (turnover). Research shows that in some activities they change jobs up to 3 times in a year.
Occasionally, it is recommended to apply gamification when you want a more pleasant environment and a better quality of life at work.
But you also need to be careful and observe some aspects:
- It is necessary to identify which of the elements are most appropriate for what we want to awaken in the participants. So, if the team has a problem with deadlines, the loss aversion element carries more weight than the others;
- Although there is no “contraindication” to its use, it should not be seen as a “medicine” for all ills either. It is sensible to start with a less sensitive area and gradually implement it, because as paradoxical as it may seem, at the same time that people complain about monotony and routines, the new and breaking with paradigms is something difficult to promote;
- There is no need to invest in technology, programming, applications or anything else you think about when you talk about computer games. Bearing in mind the above caution, including game routines and elements requires more creativity and adaptability to standard operating processes and procedures;
- The gamification project needs to consider all the elements that are instituted and the rules, under penalty of producing the opposite effect, at least on part of the team, as in the case of “players” who occupy the last positions of a ranking, who may feel if unable or unmotivated. In order to address this type of problem, there are often different scoring systems so that there are no major imbalances;
- Another “side effect” is when an employee is no longer able to work in conventional models, that is, non-gamified models;
- The challenge versus reward dynamic must be possible and clear to everyone;
- Like everything that is new, it requires training for those involved and must have a period of implementation, with monitoring by the manager responsible for the implementation.
Conclusion
Gamification is a practice that has grown in companies, with appreciable and consistent results and that is related to the universe of computer games.
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