ENTERING INTO A GAMIFIED WORLD

By Sidra Kamal

The conceptualization of gamification involves incorporating gaming elements into various projects to enhance their appeal, making the process more engaging. Coined by Nick Pelling, a game designer, this term gained prominence during his work on developing a game-like interface for vending machines and ATMs.

As per Bartle’s classification of video game players, there are four types of players.

• Explorers, the ones who love to inspect all the boundaries and dimensions of the game they are interacting with.
• Socializers, who prefer collaboration and interaction with fellow players.
• Achievers, who are driven by earning points and increasing their rank.
• Killers, characterized by high competitiveness, a love for challenges, and a desire to win over others.

Gamified Technology in Various Business Sectors:

Within the realm of technology, leading companies have embraced gamification not only for their employees but also in their products, ensuring sustained consumer engagement. The ensuing data presents how major tech corporations have transitioned into the gamified era.

Google

Gamification success is evident in the example of Google through its incorporation of the concept into its logo—a symbol that most brands are hesitant to alter to preserve their identity. Google routinely modifies its logo to commemorate global events. That is not just educational gamification, but once people click on it, most of the time, it turns into a playable interactive logo.

Microsoft

The integration of multiple gamification features within Microsoft has found widespread adoption among numerous companies. For instance, Microsoft Teams boasts an active leaderboard, enabling players to track their progress and compare it with their colleagues. This helps boost employees’ productivity and creates a sense of healthy competition among them.

Salesforce

Salesforce Trailhead, an online learning platform of Salesforce, is used within the company to enhance employee motivation and productivity. The employees, also known as Trailblazers, earn badges and points to increase their Trailhead rank. While being competitive and earning points, they are also gaining knowledge and getting skilled in becoming Salesforce Dot Com experts.

Siemens

Siemens introduced the game Plantville, where players assume the role of a plant manager facing operational challenges. This immersive experience imparts insights into sustainability, productivity, time management, and efficiency to employees.

Cisco

Initially investing in social media training programs, Cisco encountered unsatisfactory outcomes. Subsequently, the company gamified these training programs, introducing ranking positions such as Specialist, Strategist, and Master. The result was a significant uptake, with nearly 13,000 courses completed and 650 employees obtaining certification.

Samsung

Samsung implemented gamification, known as Samsung Nation, to attract customers and turn them into loyal customers. Customers get rewards and badges whenever they review a product, help other customers by answering their product queries, or just by engaging within the Samsung community. As a result, they can win various Samsung products. Since the launch of Samsung Nation, the website has gained a 66% increase in traffic, 500% growth in product reviews, and a 30% increase in comments.

Fitbit

Gamification in Fitbit is focused on consumers. When it comes to health, sometimes people can get lazy, and it is the company’s motive to ensure that consumers remain firm in their decision to live a healthy life. Fitbit sends interesting challenges to their consumers, such as completing at least 10000 steps in a day or competing with another friend. Users of Fitbit can also compare their stats with other users, bringing in a sense of competition among them.

The implementation of gamification in the tech sector serves diverse purposes. Some companies employ it to boost employee productivity and motivation, while others focus on cultivating customer loyalty. Irrespective of the objective, the aforementioned case studies underscore the efficacy of gamification in achieving corporate goals.