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Workplace Innovation: Understanding Gamification

Game-based strategies to captivate users have gained recent prominence within the technology sector, often referred to as 'Gamification'. However, the fundamental idea of leveraging games and game principles is far from novel.

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Workplace Innovation: Defining Gamification
Workplace Innovation: Defining Gamification

Workplace Innovation: Understanding Gamification

In the digital age, businesses and platforms are constantly seeking innovative ways to captivate users and boost engagement. One such strategy that has proven effective is gamification, a method that incorporates elements of games and gaming strategies to make everyday tasks more enjoyable and engaging.

The success of gamification is evident in various domains, from marketing and promotional campaigns to employee training and app engagement. A case in point is DevHub, which reported a significant increase in completed tasks by users from 10% to 80% following the addition of gamification elements, demonstrating the strategy's potential for boosting user engagement.

LinkedIn, a prominent professional networking platform, employs gamification strategies in various areas, such as profile views leaderboards, 'who has viewed my profile', number of likes on articles, and article reach, to encourage users to improve their profiles and purchase a membership.

In the realm of marketing, gamification has been instrumental in driving engagement, improving customer loyalty, and enhancing user retention. For instance, Hyundai partnered with AMC's "The Walking Dead" to create an app that allowed users to customize Hyundai cars with zombie-killing modifications. Users earned points by engaging daily and answering trivia questions, which they could use to unlock new items, leading to a 150% increase in traffic over three months.

Nike also leveraged gamification in its customer loyalty program by offering rewards for active behaviour, such as unlocking special features, exclusive designs, and VIP treatment. This approach incentivized purchases and created a deeper connection with customers, enhancing brand loyalty.

KFC Japan launched a game where users defend a castle from shrimp attacks, and the Colonel's Club loyalty program rewards customers with points for purchases, redeemable for discounts and freebies. These campaigns increased customer engagement and made the dining experience more rewarding.

Magnum's Pleasure Hunt campaign created an engaging story-based experience, attracting users and increasing brand interaction. Verizon Wireless implemented a points and rewards system for user engagement on their website, which saw around 50% of users engaging with the game environment, and social login users spending 30% more time on the site.

Gamification is also being utilised in employee training, with Domino's introducing a gamified training course for staff, using interactive scenarios to teach pizza preparation and operational procedures. This approach improved work efficiency and employee satisfaction, enhancing pizza preparation skills. KFC also employed a gamified VR experience to train employees in a virtual KFC kitchen environment, making learning more engaging and interactive, enhancing employee skills and retention.

In the world of apps, Navexa Fintech rewarded free trial users with extra trial days for completing onboarding steps, successfully identifying and retaining engaged users early in the onboarding process. Peloton's integration of social features allowing users to sync workouts with friends and challenge each other on leaderboards increased user engagement and subscriptions, with a 12% rise in paying users.

Gamification is not a new concept in the tech industry, with airline frequent flyer programs, which began in the early 1970s, being one of the oldest examples of gamification in a product strategy. In the future, it is predicted that approximately 3/4 of all Learning Management System (LMS) platforms will engage with their users in some form of gamification strategy.

Gamification is also being introduced in the area of crowd sourcing, where users are compelled to work together to solve complex virtual and real-world challenges. In some cases, gamification in crowd sourcing involves monetary donations for actionable benefits.

Joe Rork, UX Engineer at Ford Motors, stated that gamification allows consumers to have fun, get useful information, and encourages them to share it with their friends. This approach could play a significant role in general product-customer retention and might be as important as social media strategy in the future.

In conclusion, gamification is a powerful tool in various marketing and promotional strategies, employee training, app engagement, and now crowd sourcing. By making mundane tasks more engaging, gamification is transforming the way we interact with products, services, and each other, and its importance is set to grow in the future.

[1] Source: [Gamification.co](http://Gamification.co) [2] Source: [Gamasutra](http://Gamasutra.com) [3] Source: [Forbes](http://Forbes.com) [4] Source: [VentureBeat](http://VentureBeat.com)

  1. UI design can greatly benefit from gamification, as seen in the Navexa Fintech app that rewarded free trial users with extra trial days for completing onboarding steps, making the user experience more engaging and helping identify and retain engaged users.
  2. In the finance sector, platforms like KFC Japan's game where users defend a castle from shrimp attacks or KFC's VR training experience for employees demonstrate how gamification can be used to increase customer engagement and improve employee skills and retention.

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