Category: Article

What is Gamification anyway?

Did you know that this whole concept was born in the 1970s? That’s right!

In that decade Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle developed MUD1, called the “embryo of online games” and, years later, the potential of online games began to be recognised, taking into account their role in intrinsic motivation based on challenge, fantasy and curiosity!

Then, already in the 90’s, Fun takes hold and is noted as a fundamental requirement of any software project and here, in the XXI century, namely in 2002, the word Gamification is born.

How was Gamification Defined?

It was considered that gamification “is to apply a game-like accelerated user interface design to make electronic transactions enjoyable and fast“.

And after that?

Then, in 2005 the first Gamification platform was born, designed to increase user engagement on websites (Bunchball) by adding a layer of game mechanics. After the first bestseller on Gamification was published, “Gamification by Design”, entirely dedicated to how game elements and mechanisms can be used to increase motivation and performance in other activities, totally distinct from the activity of playing, the word gamification becomes really popular!

Subsequently, an intense growth of scientific publications on Gamification occurs all over the world, mainly due also to the creation of the “Gamification Research Network”, as a consequence of the development of the whole concept.

In 2015, the interest of Human Resources departments in Gamification begins, due to the fact that they want to solve the problem that only 31% of employees are committed to their work, with millennials , the holders of the worst results.

Nowadays, most applications are gamified, gamification being present not only for language learning and exercise issues, but also in meditation applications, to-do lists, job applications, rubbish collection, etc.

And today?

Today, it can be said that gamification, “the application of lessons learned in the game domain to non-game activities, with the intention of making them more engaging”, is present everywhere!

Contact us and find out how you can use gamification to your advantage!

In this article Mindflow in partnership with the University of Leeds will answer 2 questions:

1. When the purpose of Gamification intersects with the fun of the game, how does this affect the motivation profile of the users of the gamified system?

2. Gamification elements do not influence everyone in the same way. But are there any that increase engagement in the game the most?

To answer to the first question, the University of Leeds and Mindflow have developed a research partnership.

This team, led by Joana Pereira, published in 2018 the results of their research with students from the University of Leeds Business School.

The result of the study revealed 3 types of profiles:

LEARNERS: Represent those players who show more intrinsic motivation for learning, focusing mainly on reaching the next level to unlock a new set of questions in order to continue learning. They were observed to often ignore the other gamification elements.

“I play the game to learn, I don’t care about the medals, I just want to play. I know people play just to get the achievements, but I’m not like that (…) I didn’t challenge my classmates; I just wanted to play by myself.”

GAMERS: The main motivation for installing and using the App was that they liked the ‘fun’ of the games and the challenge of the competition. Very motivated by rankings, points and medals, they like to challenge players and even wake up early to win certain time-based medals. Overall, they are the ones who promote the game the most. Gamers can also lose motivation if the distance with the players on the “podium” gets too big and the competition becomes less realistic.

“The medals motivated me a lot. They changed when I used it and the way I used it. I would play at night to achieve the Night Owl medal, for example (…) And I was really determined to get the ‘Sprinter’, I really tried hard, and it made me frustrated.”

HYBRIDS: Motivated by both learning and competitive goals. Although their intrinsic motivation was learning, throughout the game they appreciated the gamification elements (calling them fun and “enjoyable”), which raised their levels of engagement throughout the game. They adhere to both visual and verbal elements.

“I played to review the course content because you can answer the questions and know right away if it’s right or not, but I used to stop playing during the day and resume at 7pm, just to get Night Owl medal.”

Curiously, in our research, the person who came in first place had a Hybrid profile and particularly valued the recognition, which gamified learning allowed him to achieve.

“I felt very motivated with the prize, thank you for the chocolates! (…) I always need to be motivated, no matter what the motivation is, even a ‘thank you’ is fine. On the bag they gave me, where it was written ‘FIRST’, I wrote the date, the name of the course unit and your name (teacher’s name) and I stapled it to the bag and will keep it.”

From this feedback, the teachers involved were inspired by the importance given to the experience. Because of this, the following year they created an event with students from Leeds University, where ‘diplomas’ were awarded to all those who had distinguished themselves in the gamified activity.

2. Gamification elements do not influence everyone in the same way. But are there any that increase engagement in the game the most?

To answer this question, Mariana Gonçalves used data from hundreds of students at the Mindflow Academy of IPAM (European University Institute of Management and Marketing) course was used to analyse the amount of time people played immediately after a gamification element occurred.

The results showed that “Power ups” were the gamification element with the greatest engagement power.

What characteristics of this gamification element might have contributed to an increased desire to continue playing?

• They appear randomly (ensuring the surprise factor)
• They support learning (they help you to answer, give you more time to think about your answer or give you an extra bonus when you are sure of your answer)
• They guarantee autonomy (the person is free to use the special power at different times or not use it if they don’t want to)

These results underline the difference between motivation in a game context and motivation in gamified learning. When there is a purpose beyond fun, the elements directly related to that purpose may have a stronger power than elements that only promote fun.

Are Points, Medals and Trophies useful for Motivation in Gamification or Not?

The neurobiology of motivation can help us clarify and explore this question in more detail, in particular by analysing how dopamine explains motivation.

Dopamine: The Powerful Motivator

Dopamine is a neurochemical, much referenced in studies on gamification, and is considered to be the neurotransmitter of motivation. The pleasure of winning is due to the release of dopamine in the brain. When we win, our brain releases this neurochemical, which causes a feeling of pleasure and motivates us to repeat the action in search of more pleasure. (Additive behaviours are explained through this vicious cycle).

We are tempted to conclude that it is enough to create reward systems with points, medals and trophies to ensure that people feel pleasure in playing, continuing to be involved and motivated in gamified activities. And it is this hastiness that has led to the failure of many gamified systems.

Although it is seen as a “reward neurochemical”, it is necessary to understand that dopamine can have different consequences on motivation. We now know that dopamine acts to drive the feeling of “desire” associated with reward.

How can I use rewards in gamification in order to produce dopamine release?

• By creating unpredictable rewards: when you are surprised by a reward that you did not expect;
• By creating repeated reward opportunities, so that the brain “learns” to anticipate the reward, because the probability of getting it is high;
• Ensuring clear and immediate feedback, so that the brain has no doubts about the behaviour that generated the reward or why it did not get it.

And when a reward is “promised”, is it more motivating?

It may not be, because when the reward is expected there is a certain area of the brain that is activated and that will decide whether the reward is valuable enough to justify the effort.

So points, medals and trophies can be motivating and reinforce certain behaviours if:

• Allow positive feedback, so that people learn and perceive the outcome as dependent on themselves;
• They occur spontaneously, surprising people;
• Are valuable enough to justify the effort.

Considering that what makes a reward “valuable” is not the same for everyone, you need to diversify the nature of rewards, according to each person’s profile.

If fun and the meaning of the task are associated with intrinsic motivation, and rewards and punishments with extrinsic motivation, the use of points, medals and trophies should be used in conjunction with other gamification elements, so that they result in intrinsic motivation or autonomous extrinsic motivation.

Overcoming obstacles, competing with friends, earning points and medals. You must have already gone through these phases while playing your favourite game and remember how excited you got by changing levels? 🥳

The truth is that games attract and motivate people for a thousand years and have started to be used in different contexts and have been bringing a lot of benefits to organizations and educational institutions. We call this gamification!

➡️ Gamification is a concept that has become quite popular in recent years. It is related to the concept of Game, from which other concepts such as “Game-based learning” and “Serious Games” also emerged. In essence, gamification is learning through games. By understanding the power that games have in increasing motivation, productivity and the power to capture attention, we can use some of these techniques in a non-game reality.

So What is Gamification?

Gamification is the use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts. In this definition, we find 3 determining aspects:

• Game Elements;
• Game Design Techniques;
• The context in which It is used is other than the game itself.

Gamification has a growing presence and is proven by experts to bring with it many benefits. At Mindflow we are experts in transforming traditional training content into highly engaging mobile games through scientifically proven gamification principles. 💡

• Learning is more FUN 🤩
• Better knowledge retention 🧠
• Learning rate is achieved at scale 📈
• Optimize training costs 💰
• Increase employee productivity 🙌