(Reading pdf from course dropbox is recommended)
The
aim of this work is to show how the phenomena of gamification influences our
performance at work and in sports. The reason for writing about it is a notion
that in the next few years “Playbor (play plus labor) and weisure (work and
pleasure) will be ubiquitous” (Rey in Andreson, 2012). Therefore, I will
demystify the idea of gamification itself and give a few examples of how it is
used now in the field of sports and on the professional level at work. Before
that however, I will place gamification in the broader context of new media
theory to show its origins in the digital age.
New media context
At
first we have to specify what media we call ‘new’. Lev Manovich (2001) presents
five principles of new media which distinguish them from traditional ones.
The
first principle is numerical coding that uses algorithms to manipulate the
content which therefore, becomes programmable.
The
second principle is modularity of media elements (such as images, sounds or
text), which are represented as collections of samples (such as pixels,
characters or polygons), that are placed into a large-scale objects but still
remaining as separate identities.
The
third principle of new media is automation enabled by the first two principles
that allow automation to happen in media creation, manipulation and access.
The
fourth principle is variability as new media objects are far from being fixed
pieces once and for all and may exist in many different versions. The third
principle is possible due to:
·
The media elements storage in
databases where “a variety of end-user objects, which vary in resolution and in
form and content, can be generated, either beforehand or on demand from this
database” (Manovich, 2001:37).
·
The same data may generate a number of
different interfaces.
·
Personal information about user might
be used by the computer to create customized media composition or media
element.
·
Branch tree structure is a base for
programmes where all the possible objects a user can visit via menu-based
interactivity.
·
Hypermedia where “the multimedia
elements making a document are connected through hyperlinks, thus, the elements
and the structure are independent of each other rather than hard-wired
together, as in traditional media” (Manovich, 2001:38).
·
Periodic updates (patches).
·
Scalability where the same media
object can have different versions due to various sizes, levels of detail.
The
fourth principle is argued to denote the correlation between changed in media
technology and in society, “If the logic of old media corresponds to the logic
of industrial mass society, the logic of new media fits the logic of
post-industrial society, which values individuality over conformity” (Manovich,
2001:41).
The
fifth principle is transcoding which is a digital data conversion from one
encoding to the other that the same data could be store and used on different
devices.
The place of gamification in new media
context
The
abovementioned principles fully fit to the construction and idea of gamified
applications: as fully digitalized forms they depend on algorithms, modularity,
automation, variability and transcoding. Gamification itself is a concept
presented by many professionals and scholars however the one made by Anderson
and Rainie describes its complexity and applicability in a clear and
comprehensive way:
“The
word “gamification” has emerged in recent years as a way to describe
interactive online design that plays on people’s competitive instincts and
often incorporates the use of rewards to drive action – these include virtual
rewards such as points, payments, badges, discounts, and “free” gifts; and
status indicators such as friend counts. Retweets, leader boards, achievement
data, progress bars, and the ability to ‘level up’”.
(Anderson
and Rainie, 2012)
What
in other words means, that the system of game play and reward is applied to
non-gaming content, as in the topic of this work: sports and work, to amplify
the intrinsic motivations of the users.
But
what is equally important, is the ‘spirit’ of new media objects that “assure
users that their choices – and therefore, their underlying thoughts and desires
– are unique, rather than preprogrammed and shared with others” (Manovich,
2001:42). And this is one of the strongest advantages of gamified applications:
they help you to progress in your speed, they let you make decisions and set
your own goals that can be later on shared with others. The path you have taken
using gamified application is an illustration of your individual journey, your
unique set of experiences and results.
Gamified applications at work
A
report called “Demystifying Enterprise Gamification for Business” was a base
for Liyakasa (2012) to share her thoughts about gamification in her article which
outlines six key elements that drive engagement of individuals, groups and
communities, these are: intrigue, reward, fun, challenge, community and status.
The question however is why people need to be entertained by gamified
applications during work while performing their duties? Why does the phenomena
of gamification arise now? And finally, why serious companies, big corporations
spend their money on gamified applications? David Carr (2011) argues that “One
reason all this is important is that young people entering the workforce have
been raised with computerizes games as a primary form of entertainment. They
expect fast-paced action and continuous incremental reinforcement”. Thus, the
changes in the working sphere were caused by the changes in society that shares
the new media logic.
The
other important factor for gamified applications at work is the fact that they
serve as a safety net for the workers to learn and try out new possibilities
without harming the company budget and image with unsuccessful decisions. Bajor
(2011) examined risk management companies and admits that “Risk management
today is a very popular concept and
virtually every company employing a number of people trying to create a
sustainable security system for its employees and the nature of its
activities”.
The
idea of a safety net is not the only one behind the gamified applications. There
are also several tools for sales representatives and one of them is called
Nitro made by Bunchball which operates on salesforce.com. The way it works in
different fields of sales for different teams is the fact that the challenges and
contests are customized by the employer and at the end of the day when employees
close sales they earn rewards. The score board shows how many rewards you
gained, how many others have and how well is your team doing. Swan (2012) argues
that “The rewards, challenges and competition create real-time engagement to
work toward short- and long-term goals”, which however, will be debated later
on.
Another
piece of argument for gamified applications at work was given by Anderson and
Raine (2012) who said that “Technology consultancy Gartner has projected 50% of
corporate innovation will be “gamified” by 2015”. Another example sustaining
this idea is Pakra Games application used in call centers on the earliest stage
of employment. Pakra programme is used to interview future employees and its
aim is to simulate
interactions with clients and check the future worker’s ability in customer
service field. The company was forced to find an effective way of employing
people due to huge workers’ rotation and the difficult character of work. The
other possibility they used for already prepared programme was also training
for already employed workers to improve their decision making and interpersonal
skills.
Gamified application in sports
The
funniest gamified application for runners I have seen is called ZombiesRun and resembles The Walking
Dead series aesthetics. If you have problems with motivating yourself to keep
fit this application may help you achieve your goal as it is an iPhone app that
provides you with sounds of chasing zombies, flying helicopters and radio
podcasts urging you to get to the destination point to survive. It simply makes
you run for your life. Why zombies would help you achieve you goal of being
fit? Because “when well done, gamification helps align our interest with the intrinsic
motivations of our players, amplified with the mechanics and rewards that make
them come in, bring friends, and keep coming back” (Zichermann and Cunningham,
2011:x). After a run with zombies you can upload your score to the official
zombierun board and see how good you are in running away from zombies, getting
to the destination point and surviving invasion of zombies.
More
advanced tool which helps you to keep fit is Wii Fit with its balance board. This
games takes your measurements and asks you to specify your goal (e.g. 3 kg less
in 2 months). The programme calculates for you the route of how to achieve it:
intensification of exercises, type (there is yoga, aerobics, strength training,
etc.) and frequency. The main technique Wii Fit uses are four most common
mechanisms of gamification specified by Zichermann: points, badges, levels and
challenges (Zichermann in Bajdor, 2011). You can create your own account and
observe your development, goals for the next game, levels passed and your place
on board among your friends that also exercise. This games tries to make
exercising funnier, more rewarding and engaging.
Critique of gamification
There
are lots of doubts shared by professionals and scholars whether gamification
process is just a temporal fad or a direction where most of our professional
and private activity will go. Anderson and Raine’s (2012) research quotes many
different arguments of why people will not let the gamification evolve to an
omnipresent social phenomena. First of all, some interviewees noted that people
become irritated with being played when they recognize it and there are many
who do not like this kind of game system at all. It is also argued to be deskilling in social
psychological skills and people become easy to be manipulated via
neuromarketing tools. The more pragmatic argument is the fact that engaging and
effective games are expensive and difficult to produce which ultimately will
limit its broad applicability (Lebowsky in Anderson and Rainie, 2012). Judd
Autin suggests that “offering one-size-fit-all rewards may motivate certain
people while putting others off” and the fact that “Game dynamics, on the other
hand, offer rewards that can be comparatively superficial and short-term”
(Antin, 2011).
So
far no one is able to estimate if gamification will be used more often in the
future and if it is a right direction to go. Most definitely gamification in sports
and as a working tool passes the usability test as more and more applications
and games are created for these two fields. As long as people find it funny and
entertaining to use applications will improve our scores at work and in sports
however the spread of these to other spheres of life might get annoying for
some losing the potential of being an effective tool.
References:
- ·
Anderson, J. and Raine, L. (2012) Pew Research Center’s Interest and American Life Project. Gamification:
Experts expect ‘games layers’ to expand in the future with positive and
negative results.
- Bajdor, P. (2011) Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica. The Gamification as a tool to improve risk management in the enterprise.13(2).
- ·
Carr, D. (2011) Gamification: 75% Psychology, 25% Technology. United Business Media
LLC.
- ·
Judd, A. (2012) Technology Review. Toy Psychology, Vol. 114 Issue 5, p11.
- ·
Liyakasa, K. (2012) CRM Magazine. Turning Business into
Pleasure, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p14.
- ·
Manovich, L. (2001) The Language of New Media.
- ·
Swan, Ch. (2012) Communication World. Gamification: A new way to shape behavior.
Vol. 29 Issue 3, p13-14.
- ·
Zichermann, G. and Cunningham, Ch.
(2011) Gamification by Design: Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile
Apps. Preface. 1st ed. O’Reilly Books.
