Gamification — a game-changer!
2019 constitutes an unprecedented era abundant in both challenges and opportunities. We have made more technological progress in the last fifty years than we did in the two centuries preceding it. The number of people living in extreme poverty has reduced to half over the last thirty years. The child mortality rate declined by more than half in the same period. The worst life expectancy today is better than the best life expectancy in the 1800s. Renewable energy is set to be cheaper than fossil fuels by next year.
At the same time, our planet is suffering and the environment is rapidly deteriorating. There’s a whopping 7.5 billion of us, and we’re consuming way more than nature can produce. We would need 1.7 Earths to offset our use of natural resources. Humanity is driving extinction 1000 times faster. There are more microplastics in the oceans than there are stars in the Milky Way. And we’re now face-to-face with climate change. Since 2008, 21.5 million people on average annually have been forcibly displaced as a result of climate change, and this is only the beginning.
The world isn’t at its most peaceful state either. Global conflict is on the rise. Forced displacement as a result of conflict-hit a record 68.5 million in 2017. There is a refugee crisis on one side, and a populist wave on the other — especially in Europe. Populist leaders are thriving on resentments of the masses, and we’re gradually witnessing repercussions in the form of plummeting trust in systems. The on-going trade war between the USA and China is creating ripples of protectionism across the globe. Extremist groups are ruthlessly terrorizing destitute parts of the world. Now, more than ever, we need every single man and woman to stand up for the society and for the planet — not just governments, businesses or charitable organizations.
If only there were a way to get people around the world to connect, share knowledge, collaborate and take action. A way in which we could engage people, instill ownership of prevailing issues, and join forces with individuals to the best of their abilities.
The Internet
Speaking of the power of the internet and the state of content, musician David Bowie articulated succinctly in 1999, before the internet manifested itself “..where the interplay between the user and the provider will be so in sympatico, it’s going to crush our ideas about what mediums are all about.” He said “I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg”, and rightly so.
1999 was a long time ago. It was when the euro came into existence, mighty Twin Towers stood tall at 417 meters, the world was almost a decade away from its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and social media (as we know today) did not exist. To say that a lot has happened since 1999 would be an understatement. Sure, some visualized dramatic versions of the future in the early days, like Hollywood blockbusters The Matrix, The Terminator, among others. But it’s unlikely anybody in the 90s would have anticipated the power it would give people. To think that thousands of 90s infants would go on to become teenage millionaires by blogging, or that a young man would raise $55,000 from 7,000 strangers to make a bowl of potato salad must not have been how people in the 90s envisioned the future.
Bowie’s words hold true to this day. Perhaps, we’re allowed to claim to have seen the tip of the iceberg since more than half the world’s population is already online. However, possibilities are truly infinite in the digital age. We’re living in times when anyone and everyone can become changemakers without having to go 21 days without food like Gandhi or spending 27 years in prison-like Mandela. Henceforth, I speak in this article to people who aim to be the change they wish to see in the world — the changemakers.
The power of Human Capital
On 16 October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted asking victims of sexual assault to tweet back a ‘me too’, hoping to shed light on the pervasiveness of sexual harassment. By the end of the day, the phrase had been used over 200,000 times, which further shot up to 500,000 the next day. Tens of thousands of people including celebrities shared candid, painful stories of sexual misconduct and assault. The trend caught on and how. In less than one year, a nonprofit called Times Up Legal Defense Fund was formed and went on to raise over $22 million and gather over 800 volunteer lawyers. The movement sent ripples creating impact beyond measure. Globally, it opened up the floor for a conversation on a topic that was previously stigmatized, created a safe space for victims who until now suffered in silence, building a sense of accountability among leaders and peers, and most importantly, demonstrated the power of voice. Voices of common people that, until then, were noises amongst crowds. The movement is especially noteworthy because it empowered individuals beyond race, gender, and creed. Every story mattered. There was something extraordinarily powerful about the potency of expression, resonating with millions across the globe. I may be stretching it by comparing #MeToo with the French Revolution, but the spirit of freedom, equality, and diffusion of power are the common threads across both these major events. As changemakers, we cannot ignore the power of the collective.
Knowledge has been historically limited to a few, and thereby the concentration of wealth and power. Technocrats made decisions for the masses not because they knew better, but simply because they knew. With the internet, knowledge is democratized. Information is no longer esoteric. In the words of GI Joe, knowing is half the battle. People are more aware of their surroundings and now have a platform to raise their voices. We can tell people have opinions and they care (to what extent is a discussion for another day), but terms like impact investing, responsible tourism, sustainable fashion, etc. are becoming commonplace in everyday conversations and social media content.
So how can we get these millions of netizens to engage with real-world problems?
Gamification
Ever observed 12-year-old Ricky on his gaming console playing World of Warcraft? It’s easier to get a horse to drink water than to get the get that kid to quit mid-game and join the dinner table. How about aunt Elma playing Candy Crush? And your 70-year old Chinese neighbor with his daily Sudoku? Attention, in this goldfish age, is still at its peak when we play games. Age no bar. Nobody needs to be pushed to play games. People seldom face a problem finding the zeal to play games, but often have trouble disengaging. They’re self-motivated, optimistic and prepared to put in as many hours as it takes to win. In an ideal world, people would approach alleviating real-world issues with the same zealousness. But that’s seldom the case, so perhaps, it’s worth looking into what makes games so enticing and take this outside the gaming world. Gamification (n) refers to using constructs of gaming such as competition, goal setting, performance rewards, etc. to engage people and change behavior. Here’s my take on how changemakers can gamify engagement to solve real-world problems.
Soon after I started working in the developmental space, I was diagnosed with clinical depression. In my first few months of volunteering on the ground, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of problems facing the world — and my (barely)* developing country in particular. The end goal seemed unachievable in my immediate sight. The optimism felt irrational. This, I believe, is one major difference between the real world and the gaming world. Real-world issues are complex and outcomes uncertain. Gaming problems, on the other hand, are designed to be solved. We’re hopeful of winning in games because we know it’s possible to win. Thus, changemakers must highlight achievability in social engagement strategies, set tangible objectives and celebratory milestones, very much like in games. Let audiences enjoy dopamine highs from time to time using small wins to ensure continuous engagement. Crowdfunding platforms Razoo and Crowdrise make excellent use of these techniques in the form of points, badges, leaderboards, and deadlines.
Another key reason why people are apprehensive of engaging with social causes is that many believe their individual contributions are infinitesimal in the greater scheme of things. It is crucial that individuals feel like they matter and their actions make a difference because they really do. Take Global Citizen (GC), a nonprofit based out of New York City, that tactfully uses this in their gamification strategy. On the platform, GC offers various incentives to people who take a set of actions like signing petitions on change.org or tweeting to government authorities, etc. At every step of the process, GC reaffirms to every user their significance in the movement via personalized dashboards. I have to agree it feels great to be reminded of my power to make a difference. Since 2012, GC users have taken over 5 million actions resulting in over 129 financial and policy commitments. In India alone, more than half a million people took actions that led to commitments of $5.6 billion, set to affect 500 million lives.
Humans are social animals by nature, and we thrive in collaborative as well as competitive environments. Interestingly, almost one-third of Earth’s humans are now on Facebook. That’s an absurdly massive scale of penetration, growing with each passing day. It’s also interesting to note how people are 200 times more likely to donate to a cause if their friends ask them to. Changemakers can scale their efforts by using gaming elements like challenges and engagement curves to ignite chain reactions on social media. It’s more fun to be purposeful with friends. For instance, the #ALSIceBucketChallenge was aimed at raising awareness about the ALS disease. The challenge was simple — posting a video of oneself dumping over their head a bucket of cold water, and nominating three friends to do the same. More than 17 million people participated in the challenge and uploaded videos that were viewed over 10 billion times, collectively raising a sum of $115 million from over 2.5 million donors. Everyone loves a good challenge.
Gamification is not is a cookie-cutter solution. There is plenty of scope for changemakers to play around, build on game-design principles and try out creative ways to optimize engagement. There are three noteworthy benefits of gamification for changemakers:
1) Crowdsourcing ideas: Digital gamification logistically enables greater involvement of individuals. Users can contribute to the brainstorming process to the best of their abilities, and that truly has the potential to create magic. Take the case of FoldIt, a game that leads to a breakthrough in AIDS research. In a matter of 10 days, gamers were able to do what researchers had been trying to do for over a decade — decipher the structure of a key protein enzyme. Interestingly, most of FoldIt’s volunteer gamers have little or no background in biochemistry, but as FoldIt’s Lead Designer says, “..a majority of people have spatial skills and games provide a framework to bring together strengths of computers and humans.”
2) Gaining stakeholders: Gamification allows for deeper immersion, thus building a sense of ownership over time. The goal is to engage with stakeholders, not mere spectators. OPower, a mobile app by Oracle, compels people to cut down power consumption by comparing their energy usages with that of their neighbors. Not only did this lead to savings of over $120 million, but also led to a behavioral change whereby residents consumed less energy even outside of their homes.
3) Generating precious data: Gamification enables to not only gather data but continuously analyze and improve based on real-time activity. Data on demographics, behavioral patterns, and response rates can provide valuable insights, which can be further used to devise comprehensive strategies.
We must acknowledge that gamification is part of the solution, not the solution itself. Changemakers need to bridge the gap between garnering eyeballs, building momentum, gathering resources, and evaluating impact. I believe all changemakers can successfully mold the concept of gamification to engage with the masses. PepsiCo could gamify customer engagement to crowdsource new product ideas. The Rockefeller Foundation could use gamification to better educate people about vaccination in high illiteracy regions. BBC could use gamification to conduct polls and encourage citizen journalism. Governments around the world could gamify household waste segregation.
Gamification is the future of engagement. Anyone and everyone can gamify processes to harness the power of human capital. The question is, who will?
