Alyea Sandovar, The Art and Science of Gamification in Business — InnovaBuzz 409
Alyea Sandovar, Tint Hue
In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Alyea Sandovar, a gamification and play consultant at Tint Hue. She helps established business owners create deeper engagement for their online programs and turn clients into raving fans through gamification. She is also the co-founder of the Playful Creative Summit. A free summit dedicated to adding more play and creativity to the world which launches every year in April.
In our discussion, Alyea talked to me about:
- How gamification is more than just leaderboards, points and badges
- Gamification brings together behavioural science, art and design
- Proper way to do leaderboards
David Chislett in episode 377 introduced us to Alyea.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
Show Notes from this episode with Alyea Sandovar of Tint Hue
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- Games can give direct feedback. Every action in a game has a reward.
- There are things that technology can afford us right now that reality can’t because you are not bounded by laws and rules like gravity or anything like that.
- Games are developed using procedurally generated content. You can use Ai to create levels within a game just by creating a code.
- Games enable people to meet and make connections but nothing can replace direct human-to-human connection.
- Leaderboards and badges are nothing more than game mechanics. They’re not enough to create a gamified experience.
- Gamification is a combination of behavioural science and art. In order to create a gamified experience, you have to really understand the behaviour of people — how they behave in the customer journey, how game design works, and the mechanics that could fit that design.
- The first step is to decide which part of your business do you want to gamify.
- Gamification should be specific to the business. It has to be specific to the product or program that you are trying to create it for, as well as to your clients or employees that are part of that sequence.
- Your play personality is important in gamification. Your play personality holds the vision for how you will go about the gamified experience.
- Define the goals of your product or service clearly and specifically within your play personality.
- If the goal of your program is to ensure that 80% of the people who bought it will complete it, you have to create a system that is not just about quick rewards but rewards that are long-lasting and that people can accumulate over time.
- Understand who is going to be at the other end of the gamified experience. Clearly understand who they are and what type of player they are.
- The Four Types of Players:
- Killers — are people who want to be on top all the time. They like competition and interacting with other players.
- Achievers — are people who are internally driven and motivated to achieve something. They are not so focused on competing with others. They are more about seeing the world.
- Socializers — are people who like interacting with other players.
- Explorers — are people who also like interacting but are more about exploring the world.
- You don’t need a new system to create a gamified experience. You can use any system that you already have.
- The way you name and develop things around your program gives the flavour for the types of rewards you give.
- Use your course to create a playful experience with your players. Be in that playful space and bring your play personality into it.
- One of the reasons why people don’t finish courses aside from it’s boring and dry, and they are super busy, is having them beat the boss right at the beginning.
- If you have socializers, make sure that there is a way for them to share what they think as they are completing the course.
- Rather than showing who’s on top of your entire leaderboard, only show to people who’s right above and below them. It helps their motivation be more of trying to achieve something versus comparison.
The Buzz — Our Innovation Round
Here are Alyea’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.
- #1 thing to be more innovative — Play. Do it first thing in the morning. Setting that up at the beginning of your day opens you up to find new solutions.
- Best thing for new ideas — Be in a prayerful and thankful space. When you’re in a space of just constantly thanking for the things that you have, it clears your mind to allow ideas to come in. You are in more receptive receiving space when you are in a thankful place.
- Favourite tool for innovation — Octalysis Gamification Group by Yu-Kai Chou
- Keep project/client on track — Gamify things and meet constantly.
- Differentiate — Be YOU. You are your own unique individual with your own quirks, personality, and preferences. Bringing yourself to whatever aspect of your business is key. People are inspired by authenticity. If you show who you are, it brings the right people to you.
To Be a Leader
Be child-like. The world is already serious enough as it is. Maintaining a child-like spirit can go a long way to giving us peace of heart and peace of mind.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Alyea through their website.
Suggested Guest
Alyea suggested we have a conversation with Ai expert, Stefan Leinen, gamification pioneer and author of Actionable Gamification, Yu-Kai Chou, and Georgina Miranda of She Ventures. So Stefan, Yu-Kai, and Georgina, keep an eye on your inboxes for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz Podcast, courtesy of Alyea Sandovar.
Links
Play, Grow, Create! Discover a unique wonderland of playful and creative souls. Get your FREE pass to The Playful Creative Summit happening this April 21–25, 2021. Register here.
Cool Things About Alyea
- She holds a PhD in Game Production, an MA in Game Design Research and Clinical Psychology, and a BA in Public Relations.
- She’s a certified UX Designer.
- She speaks Dutch and Spanish.
