With the first month of 2013 nearly over, it’s time to set our sights on accomplishing all the goals we set for the BigDoor platform and the gamification industry in 2013. The industry has changed drastically from when I first became aware of it; in the early days, everyone was talking about games. At the root of the ugly, often disliked word “gamification” was the idea that platforms like BigDoor could draw inspiration from game designers, successful games and game mechanics to create something that engaged internet users, employees and people around the world. While that is still true, we do still talk about game mechanics (perhaps incorrectly according to Andrzej Marczewski) I think the gamification industry does itself a disservice by misusing terms and classifying “gamification” examples to include things that really just belong in the “games” bin.

I’m guilty of it too. I’m sure if someone dug through my posts about gamification long enough they could find plenty of times I have praised a well-designed mini-game and tagged it with gamification. This doesn’t help our industry. Gamification has picked up steam in everything from consumer facing gamified loyalty programs, to gamified training, and employee motivation. It is less and less about creating a game and more and more about using what we understand about psychology (often from game designers) to motivate people in various tasks, goals and directions. Gamification has plenty of great examples to demonstrate its powerful abilities, but conflating games and gamification negatively impacts the industry as a whole.

That isn’t to say that lines between gamification and games are black and white. They clearly aren’t and many examples will engage in the grey area between the two. But recently I have seen quite a few gamification industry professionals complimenting or discussing mobile games, mini games and other blatant “game” examples, as representative of the industry. This confuses people who don’t fully understand gamification and detracts from successful gamification examples that are a much better representation of the industry and the direction that it is heading.

When the NRA released “NRA: Practice Range” the #gamification stream on Twitter saw tweets flying by about what a poor example of gamification the game was and gamification industry experts were writing about the release. Undoubtedly, this game is a horrible example of gamification, but not because of its political or controversial implications, it’s a horrible example, because it isn’t gamification. It’s a game. Sure, it has some facts about gun safety tossed in, but it is a mistake to classify every game that has any educational value as “gamification”.

As an emerging industry still defining itself we are bound to make some missteps. Games with clear social purposes sometimes seem to fall somewhere in-between. But gamification industry professionals, experts and fans, let’s make an effort in 2013 to try to separate games, games with social purposes and gamification into separate categories to make things a bit easier.

Posted in: Blog, Game Mechanics, Gamification, Gaming

We’ve been seeing a lot of talk over the last month or so about Foursquare’s decision to reduce game mechanics in the new version of its app. Since Foursquare is such a prominent and successful company, many are taking this decision to back up claims that gamification doesn’t work. Even though many of us at BigDoor are huge Foursquare lovers (we even have a Foursquare special at our office), even we have to admit that Foursquare’s gamification fell short. Yesterday, our friends over at Gamification.co asked the question “What happened to the game mechanics of Foursquare?” and we thought we would take a closer look. Gamification is an evolving concept and it’s successes and failures can all teach us something about what works, and what doesn’t. Here’s our take on what makes gamification a success and how it fails.

Foursquare seemed to have a huge leg up in gamification. They have a huge user base and people clearly want to engage and use their app. So why didn’t the game mechanics catch on? The answer can be found with the very people who often claim to detest gamification; game designers.  While good content, users and a service that people want are all important aspects to implementing gamification, they don’t matter as much as the need for gamification to have…you guessed it…game mechanics.

We don’t mean that Foursquare should have felt the same as playing a late night game of Call of Duty with your friends or that it should have shared the same addictive property as slinging tiny round birds at pigs in castles ala Angry Birds, but for those of us designing gamification solutions, we can’t forget basic principles of game design.

So before marking all gamification as a failure, we think its important to ask if a gamification solution has these key elements:

Play must be meaningful – No one plays a game just to play a game. Whether users are seeking simple entertainment, educational value, or attempting to win something (be it status or tangible rewards), participation in a game or gamification system will not be sustained unless users feel as though their interaction provides them some value. While Foursquare offered the reward of mayorship (status) and some small perks that came with that status it appears users didn’t see the value or meaning in that status, and the perks were too sporadic to make them worth the effort.

Clear feedback – In addition to defining the meaning and value of a game, it also must have clear rules and defined actions needed to succeed. Feedback provided by the game to influence the behavior of the user must be consistent and clear. While the act of checking in was clear enough thanks to points, I often found myself confused as to what the best way to earn maximum points was, as well as angered over the seemingly inconsistent algorithm defining mayorships held, stolen and lost. Users want to know that action X creates reaction Y. When even an advanced user doesn’t understand what actions create positive reactions, frustration will brew.

Increasing difficulty/variance in tasks – As I write this, I keep trying to think of a game that doesn’t become increasingly challenging as a user becomes more familiar with the rules and systems. Even a game like Tetris with its repetition challenges advanced users as the bricks fall more quickly. The fun of a game comes from the increased level of challenge. The simple task of checking in more often doesn’t seem to hold enough interest to sustain a user’s attention span. It’s too repetitive and simple. Tasks need to be increasingly difficult or levels and rewards need to become increasingly difficult to earn.

While we are sad to see Foursquare’s game mechanics reduced, we also hope that their decision doesn’t result in a widespread “gamification fails” argument. Gamification requires well thought out design, challenge and focus on what specific users of the “game” want when they interact. Badges and a leaderboard can’t sustain the level of engagement that users want to keep coming back for more. However, careful thought out design can greatly increase the likelihood of a successful gamification implementation.

We’d love to hear what you think makes gamification succeed or fail? What other principles of game design should gamification creators be thinking about?

Posted in: Badges, Blog, Game Mechanics, Gamification, Gamification Tips, Gaming

Happy Monday! Busy week? Catch up on gamification news in the recap below.

Gamification: What Investors Are Looking For DailyDealMedia 6/1/2012 Interested in real world examples of gamification? This is a great look at places gamification already exists successfully and how we can learn from it when taking gamification online.

Game on! Sun Star 6/2/2012 Kids and teens make up a huge portion of game players. By taking a look at how teens interact with games including what motivates them we can learn a lot about game mechanics and gamification. The article also takes a look at how gamification has influenced parenting styles to include challenges and rewards.

3 Benefits of Gamification in Microsite Design Business2Community 5/30/2012 Using microsites as a way to attract visitors with relevant and interesting content is not a new idea. However applying gamification to these microsites is becoming more and more common. Highlighted are three huge benefits of adding gamification to your microsites, as well as a few stellar examples of what that can look like.

Gamify your sweat and make films more exciting New Scientist 5/28/2012 New technology is coming out that measures sweat and heart rate and uses those numbers to influence content users are seeing on their screens. This reaction loop was used at SXSW by Filmtrip to create an interactive short horror film. The more fans got nervous, the more intense the movie became. This is some pretty cool stuff that could really change the way we understand content in the future.

Posted in: Blog, Game Mechanics, Gamification, Gamification Tips, Gaming, Technology

Happy Tuesday! We hope everyone had a chance to enjoy Memorial Day in some way. With all the events happening over the weekend, be sure to catch up on gamification news below.

Catalysts for Change: How to Gamify a Path Out of Poverty Core 77 5/22/2012 There have been more and more examples of games for social change popping up lately, but Catalysts for Change did an excellent job focusing on the issue of poverty. Using the Foresight Engine, a game platform designed by Jane McGonigal, they created a virtual card game to raise awareness and promote change for poverty. The game focused on harnessing the power of social networks across the internet and set a new record for participants in a Foresight Engine game.

15 Ways to Integrate Gamification Features into Your SEO Strategy SEOGadget 5/21/2012 We highlighted Jeff Coughlan’s talk at SAScon last week in the gamification news. Richard Baxter of SEOGadget was also a speaker and discussed how gamification and SEO can work together. Here, he presents 15 ways that gamification can be integrated into SEO strategies including; integrating a leaderboard, allowing users status, incentivizing completeness, and motivating users to link and share content.

Don’t Love Games? Step Away From the Gamification Business2Community 5/21/2012 While this might seem a bit obvious, we couldn’t agree more. A love and knowledge of games is really important in developing gamification solutions that are fun and engaging. Knowing what keeps users coming back for more is the core of gamification and being a gamer yourself is the best way to understand that feeling.

How to Get Customers Using Your Online Rewards Entrepreneur 5/24/2012 Gamification expert Gabe Zichermann talks about the keys to rewarding users. Relevant rewards that give users status, access, power and stuff are key to encouraging users to participate in your loyalty program. If you are interested in how these rewards motivate users, you can check out our post on the topic here.

Posted in: Blog, Game Mechanics, Gamification, Gaming, Loyalty

Last week the Nieman Journalism Lab reported that MTV Networks will use gamification as part of the 2012 election coverage. MTV’s VP of public affairs, Jason Rzepka talked about the program, “Millennials are increasingly viewing life through a game lens, even just [using] #winning or #fail…Game vernacular has become a part of youth vernacular. By putting that competitive layer on top of it — a lot of people are inherently competitive, so if the path to winning is being informed, there could be a really great civic benefit.”

The beta version will be out this summer and the formal launch will happen on September 1st, 2012. The official name of the program is Fantasy Election ’12 and will encourage players and their friends to sign up, build a team, compete against each other in a virtual league. The game is centered around mobile — players using smartphones can check stats from their phones and much more. The other interesting thing is the game focuses on data. MTV will be using sources like PolitiFact, Real Clear Politics and more to measure performance and data. Social media and the frequency of Twitter and Facebok activity will also be used to gauge engagement.

What a smart use of gamification – we’re excited to see this program when it launches!

Posted in: Blog, Gamification, Gaming

Happy Monday and belated St. Patty’s Day! If you are still recovering from a very lucky weekend and fell behind on your news, you can catch up on some gamification highlights below.

You’re hired, now let’s kill Onyxia The Verge 3/12/2012 We mentioned Bing Gordon’s talk on gamification at SXSW last week, but this article focuses in depth on his talk and his theory about gamification as cooperation over competition. Using MMO games, including WoW, Gordon says, “that the most powerful part of gaming isn’t the competition, it’s cooperation. So you develop a structure where cooperation is rewarding. In MMO parties, it turns out with a party of five, even if it’s strangers in what’s called a ‘pick-up group,’ what you come to expect is that each individual is around 20 percent more productive, using overlapping skills.”

McCain’s looks to gamification with ‘Lucky Spuds’ competition The Drum  3/16/2012 McCain’s Foods known for producing nearly 1/3 of the French fried potatoes in the world, is launching a gamification campaign March 19^th in the UK. The campaign will use online game concepts, social media and on-pack promotions to engage potato fans to win a potential grand prize of £ 100,000 as well as daily prizes of £1,000.

Concur’s Steve Singh, DocuSign, Founder’s Co-op Among WTIA Winners Xconomy 3/16/2012 We posted about this last week, but had to include it again. We are very thankful and excited to have won the WTIA’s IAA “Best Early Stage Company” 2012. Other winners included DocuSign, Founder’s Co-op, Zipline Games and Concur CEO Steve Singh. We are really excited that the work we are doing with gamification was recognized by such an influential organization in the tech community!

FanCake Gamify’s Sports Co-Viewing with iPhone App PC Mag 3/14/2012 FanCake is launching an app that will hopefully change the ways users watch sports. The app allows users to chat about games with others as well as compete against other fans during live games. Linking social aspects with game mechanics for TV viewers has been a trend lately, and it’s great to see it swing over to sports as well.

Posted in: BigDoor news, Blog, Game Mechanics, Gamification, Gaming, Loyalty

Happy Monday! Here is some gamification news from the past week.

Is gamification the key to education? TECHi 3/5/2012 This infographic has been popping up all over the web for the last couple weeks, but if you haven’t seen it, check it out. Knewton, a technology company focused on education did a great job visually exploring how gamification could change the way we teach kids in school.

SXSW: What Gaming Should Teach IT Leaders Information Week 3/10/2012Bing Gordon spoke on gaming and gamification at SXSW. He focused on the idea of cooperation through games, rather than competition. Using World of Warcraft as an example, “in a party of five (a cooperative group), even where some folks in the group don’t know each other, one can expect that the individual is 20% more productive than if the individual was playing alone.”

MyCoupons.com Launches Gamification The Sacramento Bee 3/12/2012 MyCoupons.com has added gamification to their site to encourage users to share, save and engage on the web together. The site will now set coupon goals for users to encourage them to save even more.

USA Network’s Redniss: Our Showrunners Are Leading US Forward in Social TV Adage 3/9/2012 USA Network’s senior VP-Digital Jesse Redniss discussed the importance of user engagement and additional online content for TV shows success. Redniss clearly understands the power of social sharing says of the 2012 year, “the big focus is on pushing the digital storytelling aspect of how we’re creating these big campaigns, so that the story isn’t just about the linear experience. It’s multiplatform, its transmedia.”

Apparently Gamification Can Help You Quit Smoking Now… Kotaku 3/7/2012A new app has been designed to help people stop smoking. The app, QuitNow!, tracks days without smoking, money saved, and other milestones, to encourage users to stop smoking. It would be interesting to see this app evolve for other situations as well!

Posted in: Blog, Game Mechanics, Gamification, Gaming, Loyalty, Social Media

The Super Bowl is a yearly must! Between the highly anticipated commercials, the array of foods available and the game itself, there is something for everyone this coming Sunday. One thing is for sure, everyone brings their A game with commercials and promotions around the big game.

Last year, we pointed out a few ways that gamification was making its way into the Super Bowl experience with the Mercedes “Tweet Race” and more. Recently, ZDNet looked at the pre-Super-Bowl simulation (on EA’s Madden Football) which continues the involvement of games and game mechanics in predicting and hyping the Super Bowl. We love that virtual games are now predicting sports games!

Two of our employees were lucky enough to be attending this Sunday so we can say there will be a little bit of gamification present in the massive crowd. We wish both teams the best of luck!

Posted in: Blog, Gamification, Gaming, Loyalty

My daughter is currently in love with puzzles. The solid 45 minutes of her sitting still, working quietly is a welcome respite from her normally loud, “spirited,” three year old personality. It’s fascinating to watch her work. She’s very methodical in her process: laying out all the pieces (she’s up to 70+ now); turning over all the images; she typically findshe largest image and works out from there. For my daughter, playing a puzzle is a social activity, she talks to me, asks for help when she needs it and when she’s finished she wants to share her work with everyone.

Yesterday Zynga released their latest game, Hidden Chronicles. Described as Zynga’s “first social hidden object game” the game incorporates many of the things that make solving puzzles so much fun: critical thinking, memory, skill, sharing and a social aspect. It will be interesting to see if Hidden Chronicles can replicate the huge success the company had with Cityville but for now they have a few fans playing again along here at BigDoor!

–Carrie

Posted in: Blog, Game Mechanics, Gaming, UI, User engagement, UX

Can you change peoples behavior by making different behaviors more fun? We think so, and so does The Fun Theory. In the video below, they attempted to get more people to choose stairs over an escalator. With a simple transformation, the stairs turned into piano keys, and increased the number of people choosing to use them by 66%. Just like The Fun Theory, we believe that making things more enjoyable can be simple and very effective in motivating certain behaviors.

So, what things can you make more fun?

Posted in: Blog, Gamification, Gaming