On-boarding: A Gamification Reflection

By Jonathan Peters, PhD

Sententia Gamification, CMO

www.SententiaGames.com

In his seminal work describing flow, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi discusses the frustration we feel when a challenge is more difficult than our abilities, or how boring a task will be if our skills surpass the challenge. Flow, he says, comes at the balance between challenge and ability. The more skilled we are, the more we enjoy challenges.

At the beginning of a training program, skills are low. Even if we are accustomed to other learning programs, and even if this program should be beneath our skill level, the fact that it is unfamiliar territory means we will revert to the level of novice.

Gamification Design and Strategic Thinking

You may hear lots of people talking about gamification, but seldom do you see anyone peeling away the layers to demonstrate how to think strategically in gamification design to achieve your business objective(s).

One of the areas that we consistently see a lack of strategic thinking in gamification design is in the planning phase. Most people just dive into a design of points, badges, and leaderboards, without thinking through their ‘plan of attack’ or why they are implementing a gamification strategy.

In great gamification strategy design, strategic thinking is focused on the overarching business objectives, not just a tactical step-by-step function.

Strategic gamification design is always monitoring the situation and adjusting in real-time to stay on track.

Recently Sententia had the opportunity to design a gamification strategy for Mafikeng University in Mafikeng, RSA. In this video, you'll see our Chief Strategy Officer, Darryn van den Berg giving a brief overview of Day 1 activities -- defining process flow, required player behaviors, and feedback loops. From there we went on to build the player journeys.

So what is thinking strategically in gamification design?

1. Start by asking why you’re being asked to do what you’re doing and identifying the broader business objective.
2. Design your core process, define necessary player behaviors, and map your player journey(s).
3. Determine how to monitor progress against the broader business objective so you get early data on what’s going well and where you need to adjust.

For more information on Sententia and Gamification Design please contact us at guru@sententiagames.com

About the Author: Monica Cornetti
Founder and CEO, Sententia www.SententiaGames.com www.monicacornetti.com

A gamification speaker and designer, Monica Cornetti is rated as a #1 Gamification Guru in the World by UK-Based Leaderboarded. She is the author of the book Totally Awesome Training Activity Guide: Put Gamification to Work for You, writes The Gamification Report blog, and hosts the weekly Gamification Talk Radio program.