We’ve heard quite a lot about ‘gamification’ recently – especially in the context of online learning.
I read the term many times before I sought to understand it … so I thought some of you might be in the same boat and would appreciate an executive summary’.
If I’m right (after several minutes of research), gamification refers to taking processes (such as learning) and applying games-related functions like repetition, competition, rewards and recognition to make them more engaging to the participants.
Many industries have had some of these elements for a number of years, but gamification seems to mean taking these things to a new levels and integrating them more thoroughly. Organisations like TripAdvisor which give you credit for reviews you write (and regularly remind you of the number of readers, especially those who ‘liked’ one of your reviews) are ‘gamifying’ their websites.
In productivity terms, it ties up nicely with a number of the tenets of the lean philosophy. For example, visual management can provide information as the basis of competition between work groups, departments and so on – and as the basis for rewards and recognition programmes. So, whether you are ready ot go full steam ahead with gamification, it might be worth considering how you can use the functions referred to above to better engage your customers or your employees