GAMIFICATION IS ABOUT ENGAGEMENT

This is the fourth in a series of articles about gamification written by Karl Kapp exclusively for Learnnovators. The first post in the series, GAMIFICATION FOR CORPORATE LEARNING, provided a definition of gamification, and further explained its two types. The second post, AVOID THESE GAMIFICATION PITFALLS, discussed the common pitfalls of gamification and how an organization can avoid them. The third post, THE LEARNING IN GAMIFICATION, covered the elements of gamification that can make learning effective. This post talks about the the engagement aspects of gamification. The series then closes by discussing the big miss and the big opportunity in gamification.

One concept often missed (or misunderstood) in the discussion of gamification is the idea that the goal behind gamification is “fun.” Many times someone has said to me “why can’t corporate training be fun” as a justification for gamification. Of course corporate training can be fun, but gamification is more about engagement than fun. If you really want employees to have fun, give them the day off. They’ll have lots of fun but they won’t be engaged with the content and training you desire, and they may not even be thinking about the behaviors your organization needs of them during their vacation day. Corporate gamification needs to be about engaging learners in activities that lead to the behaviors you need them to exhibit on a daily basis for the organization, and the employees being successful. This is true whether you are implementing structural or content gamification.

So instead of thinking about all the “fun” that can be had with gamification, think of how you can use game elements to engage and motivate learners. Gamification is using game elements to engage learners, therefore: the first step is to think about what makes a game engaging. Then use those elements in your gamification efforts.

CHALLENGE

The first element of almost any game is some sort of challenge. Games are engaging because they test the ability of the player to be successful. In fact, games that are too easy are boring. So the first step is to ensure that the gamified training you are producing challenges the learner. Too often corporate training is watered down so it’s not too hard. Don’t water down training, make it challenging. You need to craft the gamified experience to straddle a fine line between being too difficult and too easy. It’s a tricky design process but it is possible. Get rid of training that doesn’t challenge the employee. Start designing a gamified solution with the element of challenge.

FEEDBACK LOOPS

Next, games are engaging because they constantly provide feedback unlike most training programs. But the feedback is not always positive. Games have positive feedback loops and negative feedback loops. Positive feedback loops reinforce a relationship. The player initiates an activity, something good happens, like earning points or a badge, and the player then continues that activity. The reason for the continued activity is that game feedback loops are relatively quick. In real-life, feedback is not as quick. For example, you work hard at the beginning of the year and get noticed by the boss for doing good work, but you might not get a bonus until the end of the year.

In a negative feedback loop, a player does something they should not do and they are punished for it in the form of removal of points or losing health points in the game. In gamification this can happen quickly, but in real life feedback loops are often elongated. For example, an employee may be giving poor customer service to many different customers and they all ignore the employee until one day someone finally speaks up. Meanwhile, the negative feelings caused by the employee are never realized by the company simply because the customers treated poorly not only do not give feedback, but also fail to return. And, eventually, a long time afterward, the company has a visible decline in the number of customers. Take a look at the gamified solution you are developing and make sure that both positive and negative feedback loops exist. The existence of both types of loops will help shape the employees’ behavior, reinforcing what you want them to be doing and making obvious what is not appropriate or rewarded behavior.

Create a gamified solution that includes both negative and positive feedback loops with a high degree of transparency so the employee knows how to be successful in the gamified environment and then be clear about how success in that gamified learning environment needs to translate into behaviors on the job.

UNCERTAINTY

Games are engaging because the players are often uncertain about what is going to happen. Will I win this time or will someone else win? Will I be able to answer the next question? Is it possible for me to remain in the top five on the leaderboard? Create a gamified experience that rewards learning and the right behaviors, but that also has a high degree of uncertainty. Humans are made to tune-out things that are predictable or certain. It’s actually a requirement because there is no way the average person can pay 100% attention to the millions of things going on around them, so familiar and certain events, activities or routines receive little attention. So if you are taking an e-learning module that has one page of text after another with one or two multiple choice questions sprinkled in every fifth screen, the learners are not going to be paying attention. So make sure your gamified solution includes a certain degree of uncertainty to engage and motivate the learner.

CONCLUSION

Gamification can be fun but it’s not about fun. It’s about engagement. So when you think about gamifying learning within your organization, carefully consider what game elements you will use to encourage gamification. Don’t worry about employees having fun, worry about their level of engagement. Use the concepts of challenge, feedback loops and uncertainty to drive that engagement.Here are links to all five posts from this series:

1. Gamification For Corporate Learning

2. Avoid These Gamification Pitfalls

3. The Learning In Gamification

4. Gamification Is About Engagement

5. The Big Miss And The Big Opportunity In Gamification

Written by Karl Kapp

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Published on 22-Sep-2016