What is Gamification?

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Gamification design, as loosely defined by Wikipedia, is the use of game thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context in order to engage users and solve problems. In a nutshell, it is the application of game design methodology in disciplines outside of entertainment software. The Entertainment Software Industry has become a dominating force in Media and Entertainment. As an industry, it is now pulling in Hollywood-style revenue in the billions of dollars. While this all sounds like great news, some still consider Interactive Design (Game Design) a niche discipline, one that only caters to a very specific industry. However, this is no longer the case due to “Gamification of Business”.

Why Use Gamification?

Foldit Gamification ExampleThe applications for gamification are tremendous. One of the best examples of gamification to date is the experimental research project “Foldit”. Foldit was developed by University of Washington as a joint project between the folks at UW’s Center for Game Science and Department of Biochemistry. Although Foldit is a game, many consider it one of the gamification examples due to the fact that it is actually a tool that is being used for Biochemistry research rather than just entertainment purposes. The game has users fold proteins into the most efficient shape possible. They are given a score based on how efficient their protein is folded. The goal is to encourage the several hundred thousand players of Foldit to break grounds and discover new proteins. One protein that was linked to a strain of HIV that had eluded scientists for several decades was discovered by the users of Foldit. This ended up making front page news in many publications and it was proof that the digital Game Design methodology could go beyond Entertainment software.

Companies That Use Gamification

Business Gamification Example Green GiantAnother good example can be found by looking at the Vegetable Distributor, Green Giant. They conducted a marketing campaign where if somebody bought Green Giant vegetables, they would be given a code that could be used in the popular Facebook game FarmVille to cash in on in-game points. The points could be used to purchase certain items in FarmVille. This marketing campaign ended up being very beneficial for Green Giant. They ended up selling more products and raising their brand awareness. This can be considered gamefication because Green Giant utilized an in-game currency for a 3rd party game to encourage people to buy their product. This is not a traditional marketing tactic. However, in game design, everybody knows that to keep players hooked, you need to have incentives to work towards. By giving away FarmVille points to customers, Green Giant essentially utilized Gamification mechanics in their marketing by giving consumers an incentive to purchase their product and be rewarded for it beyond the basic necessity of having to eat food.

Gamification for Business

Yet another place that gamification is making a splash is in the CAD industry. Surprisingly enough, gamification in CAD is becoming rather widespread. I’ve seen more and more firms utilizing the Unity 3D Game Engine to create interactive walkthroughs of their CAD models. Engines like Unity 3D allow users to add first-person controllers into a 3D Scene, which allows for user input. One of the best examples I’ve seen of gamified CAD is from the Toda Group. You can check out their interactive walkthrough. As you can see, Unity 3D has given the firm much more versatility for their architectural walkthroughs. Software like Autodesk’s Revit have built-in walkthrough features, but they can only go so far. Unity allows you to actually add functionality to your walkthrough rather than just a simple camera motion. In the Toda Group gameification article example I listed above, you are able to select different materials for certain items in the model, such as pillow cases, outdoor and indoor walls, etc. Toda Group was able to script this functionality into their interactive walkthrough using Unity. This gives architects a huge level of control over their walkthroughs. So much so that they could theoretically give a client an interactive walkthrough and the client could customize the entire building as much as they want. This is an excellent use of business gamification elements and in the last several years, we have seen more and more firms, as well as educational institutions, adopt software like Unity 3D for their CAD needs.

I have only scratched the surface of gamification game mechanics. Realistically, gamification design can have a very positive and far-reaching influence on numerous industries across multiple sectors. With the development of low-cost, easy to use game engines like Unity 3D, and the ever-increasing number of institutions that are offering interactive design education, game designers have never been in a better position to have a major impact on the world. 

Author: Mark Philipp

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