Gamification in business — take your company to the next level!

The term gamification was first used by British game programmer Nick Pelling in 2002. It gained popularity only 8 years later, along with the development of technology and access to the Internet. Gamification is a phenomenon that we use, not only in the field of education, but also in recruitment, marketing, and sales, and its popularity is constantly growing.

WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

Gamification uses mechanisms known from game design to build participants’ engagement, change or reward behavior, and solve problems.

It is not only a game that serves entertainment or training but has a well-defined goal and targeted actions of participants, as well as mobilizes them to undertake tasks known as boring or routine.

In order to illustrate the practical use of gamification, I will present the original pro-ecological campaign of the Volkswagen brand — Piano Stairs. The campaign encouraged the use of traditional stairs, instead of the constantly crowded escalators. The classic steps have elements that look and feel like piano keys. After a passerby entered the modified step, the sound of one of the keys was heard. As a result, as many as 66% of people chose traditional stairs instead of escalators.

GAMIFICATION IN BUSINESS

Gamification has become a new trend also in business, allowing the use of game mechanisms to motivate employees, customers, suppliers, and other partners important from the point of view of the company. The elements drawn from the games are used to solve real business problems, at the same time making the whole enterprise more engaging and perceived as attractive. The tools that provide data on what motivates employees to achieve goals that are important from a business point of view include:

• web and mobile applications
• systems integrated with company applications or dedicated
• social media
• tables
• basic components of the system — points, badges, rankings, bonuses.

The success of gamification projects in enterprises is based on the use of the strongest motivators in the work environment: recognition, rewards and the possibility of competition. Among the mechanisms taken from games that are used in such projects, the following can be distinguished:

• feedback — the ability to check the results and assess your own effectiveness on an ongoing basis
• rewards — with a value adjusted to the effort invested
• introducing an element of competition and the possibility of interaction
• clearly defined goal
• engagement levels that help you learn new skills.

An example of the practical application of gamification in business is the Magic Oranges project made for Tianyi. For Tianyi needs, a mobile application with points mall was created. It allows you to have the complete closed loop of the points system. The mall contains customized games, classified points exchange, perfect user portrait, Precise advertising push, get new points, and operate mini-games. It helped the company to get more active users who kept coming back for points, fun, and recommended it to more people.

Gamification is a phenomenon that is often used in the areas of education, recruitment, marketing, and sales, and its popularity continues to grow.

Gamification has become one of the training and development solutions, and its popularity is constantly growing.