Gamification capitalizes on people's inherent motivations for competitiveness, accomplishment, teamwork, and charitable giving. The tools used in game design, such as rewarding users for accomplishments, "leveling up," and earning badges, are transferred over into the real world to assist individuals in achieving their goals or improving performance. There are numerous examples of gamification, the most well-known of which may be airline frequent flyer incentive schemes. Important gamification success criteria include engagement, influence, brand loyalty, time spent on an activity, and the game's viral potential.

When and how to apply Gamification:

Gamification is the process of incorporating game mechanics into non-game environments in order to encourage participation, engagement, and loyalty.

Non-gaming environments may include a website, social media channels, online community, learning management system, and daily operations.

The objective of gamification is to motivate us to collaborate, share, and interact with consumers, employees, or partners by leveraging our human desires for status, achievement, competition, and inclusion.

There are numerous mechanics and dynamics that can be utilized to gamify everyday activities and work environments. Built In, a tech recruitment firm, highlighted five elements that you could incorporate into your gamification program:

1. Purpose

Purpose instills the belief that one has been hand-picked for a mission and is contributing to the greater good.

Waze, a GPS application, encourages users to share real-time information about traffic and road conditions in order to assist other drivers.

2. Progress

With points, levels, or a progress bar, progress indicates that you are overcoming obstacles and achieving your objective.

For example, LinkedIn encourages users to complete their profiles by displaying a progress bar.

3. Pressure

With countdown timers, streaks, or scarce collectibles, pressure encourages immediate action and the perception that one cannot turn back.

Duolingo, a language-learning app, encourages users to practice daily in order to maintain their streak. Their virtual flame (streak counter) is extinguished if they fail.

4. Position

Position allows you to showcase your achievements and compete with or compare yourself to other peers or players using trophies, badges, or leaderboards.

For instance, sales teams could use software such as Spinify's leaderboard to display top performers.

5. Play

Play adds additional enjoyment and fun to gamification.

For instance, Starbucks offers Double-Star Days, Bonus Stars, and other games that allow users to collect more stars. A few years ago, on April 1st, Google Maps allowed users to play Pac-Man using GPS roads.

Well-known companies that use this pattern are Peloton and TikTok.