We all know how games can become instantly addictive and can be used as a way of escaping reality. Games provide us with rewards and teach and inspire us in a way that reality cannot. This brings us to our point that gamification can also be really helpful in designing better products. Integrating gamification to products has become a trend that a lot of UX & UI developers are putting to use.
Game developers know exactly how to inspire effort and reward hard work. They constantly innovate new ways in order to motivate players to stick to challenges. After you remove all the technicality of a game, you are left with these basic parts:
- Goals. This is the desired outcome that the players are working towards and which gives them a sense of purpose.
- Rules. These are limitations to achieving the goal which will, in turn, open up creative ways to fix a problem.
- Feedback System. This system tells the players how close they are to their goal in the form of points achieved and levels cleared.
- Voluntary Participation. Everybody playing the game is required to acknowledge the goal.
Gamification is not about the points you score but about the effort you show in the game. Points and badges are a part of the feedback system that shows us that we’ve made an effort.
The Basics
Games are a form of hard work that we choose ourselves. Playing a game is an opportunity to direct all our energy in a certain direction. Games are often addictive as they boost our positive thinking and makes us capable of achieving a goal. Optimistic engagement makes our brain work in a way that will biologically produce more positive thoughts. It makes us believe that we are capable of doing something and achieving something in life. If only that kind of hard work had the same effect in real life.
Rewards in games
In order to stick to a gamification model for your app, you must provide good intrinsic rewards. The more rewards you provide, the happier people will be. Some examples of intrinsic rewards are as follows:
- We as humans crave satisfying work on a daily basis. We want to do something that will allow us to see the impact of our efforts.
- Humans also have the tendency to need to be powerful and show what we are good at. It is also important for us to see signs that something is contributing to making us better.
- Human beings are social animals and like to build relationships and bonds with other humans. Humans also like to get together with their tribe for a meaningful job.
- Humans also crave for contributing towards something bigger and long-term. Something that is beyond the basics like food, house etc.
World of Warcraft
One of the biggest and best examples of gamification is World of Warcraft which is focused on self-improvement. Self-improvement is something we all love to do. In the game, you receive an avatar and your job is to make it better and stronger by the way of gaining experience, armor, along with the abilities and skills. It doesn’t really matter if the rewards are real or not. Games are more about emotional rewards. In order to make your product or app, you must know how to add gamification to it in the right manner.
Author Bio:
Roma Kapadiya SEO Consultant & Blogger at Nimblechapps, one of the leading mobile app development companies in India that holds the best team of skilled and expert app developers. I love to write on new and upcoming technology, startups, programming tools, and business and web design. When I am not writing, I read, so I can write more. You follow her on @twitter.