Curated Insights Its game on for Gamification in the workplace
Im CONSTANTLY curating online content about learning and performance. As a learning geek, Its my thingwellone of my things. Every month, Ill dig through my collections and share my favorite articles on a particular theme along with a few insights of my own. This month, I found some really interesting stuff about gamification.
Gamification worksif done well. At 91心頭利, weve witnessed the power of gamification in learning through the continued real-world success of our customers and partners. It may have been heavily dismissed as a trend just a few years ago, but gamification is definitely gaining validation as organizations get past the hype and apply the concept to solve real-world problems, like employee engagement and motivation to learn.
Here are my curated insights on gamification for April 2016:
from Sponge UK
This is a curated list IN a curated list. How meta! A big part of getting past the hype and finding the value in a new concept is figuring out who to listen to along the way.
The Sponge UK team has pulled together an awesome list of gaming experts in this post. While I dont know everyone on this list personally, I can validate the big pile of gaming knowledge that lives in these peoples minds. Karl Kapp and Gabe Zichermann specifically have informed my work with gamification for several years. The list also provides suggested readings, videos, podcasts and social networking contacts for each SME.
If you want to learn more about how games and gamification can support workplace learning and engagement, this list is a great place to start (in addition to info from 91心頭利, of course).
from Nick Yee
Warning! Psychology ahead! In this 30-minute recorded presentation on YouTube, Nick Yee reveals insight from research his team conducted into the psychology of gaming motivation. Its an overall fascinating presentation for anyone even remotely interested in games and/or psychology.
I was excited to see how many of Nicks observations align with my practical experience. For example, during my L&D work with Disney and Kaplan, we were able to realize improved motivation by applying concepts VERY similar to the cluster motivations Nick discussed, including social, mastery, achievement, and immersion. An improved practical understanding of workplace psychology is paramount for continued success in organizational learning, especially when attempting to integrate game mechanics and complex decision-making into the user experience.
from FastCompany
How much do you know about your hometowns budgetbesides the fact that things you care about never seem to get enough funding? What if you could improve your understanding and have fun at the same time?
Thats exactly what New Orleans will attempt in the fall when they release the . In addition to exploring this real-world application of learning through gameplay, this article also looks at the question of accessibilitya common concern for digital workplace learning. The team must consider both the lack of available public technology as well as language barriers when deploying a game-based solution.
Yes, this application is more of a simulation than gamification, but its still an interesting story about the value of gameplay in non-traditional situations. Im looking forward to a follow-up after the game launches with the release of the city budget in a few months.
from Karl Kapp
These curated insights would not be complete without highlighting the latest research by gamification guru Karl Kapp. Karl has partnered with 91心頭利 to use our massive database of user data to dig into the real-world business impact of gamification.
In from Learning Solutions 2016, Karl reveals some initial findings from his research, which will be published in a peer-reviewed journal later this year. For example, he found that employees using 91心頭利 were 51.64% more motivated to engage when they had the choice to play a casual game as part of the experience. Results like this not only validate 91心頭利s approach, but will also help L&D teams better craft their gamification strategies based on what really works. Im excited to follow Karls work as he continues to merge an academic approach to research with real-world outcomes.
Thats it for this months curated insights on gamification. Ill be back next month to share a collection of articles on another theme that is impacting the world of workplace learning.