Vladislav Kraynov, CBDO at MSOFT, with 17+ years’ experience in IT business. Create processes, manage finances, launch products.
Gamification is the application of gaming mechanics in a non-gaming context. These can be applied to different areas of life, with each requiring different approaches. Businesses can use gaming tactics not for the sake of playing games, but to engage customers’ motivation to reach their business goals.
Yu-ka Chou, a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur, created a universal classification of motivation types: The Octalysis Framework for Gamification & Behavioral Design. This framework consists of eight core drivers of our daily actions, from brushing our teeth to going to the movies. Here is my summary of these drivers.
Eight Core Drivers
1. Epic meaning and calling. Wikipedia authors, for example, are not paid to write articles for the site, but thousands of users still contribute. One of the major drivers of this is a special chart, which shows users with the most community approved articles. These authors are fulfilling the need to leave their mark in history.
2. Empowerment of creativity and feedback. Creativity is a very powerful motivator. Apps for learning foreign languages like Babbel and Duolingo promise users that they can improve their mastery of a language or learn a new one just by practicing 10 to 15 minutes a day in a game format.
3. Social influence and relatedness. Seeing successful individuals on social media motivates people to follow their example or do even better.
4. Unpredictabilityand curiosity. Most people love surprises. They like to guess what they’re going to get while opening a present. Knowing what it is in advance can significantly dampen the emotional response. For example, Kinder Surprise or a McDonald’s Happy Meal are frequently purchased for the toy inside rather than for the mealt. If you know in advance what you will get inside, the perspective will be less exciting and motivating.
5. Loss and avoidance. Caring for a pet to prevent it from getting sick or dying prematurely is an example of this driver. Another similar example is the previously viral Tamagotchi virtual pet toy.
6. Scarcity and impatience. People are inclined to fight harder for a scarce resource. This is partly what drives concert tickets for popular bands selling out in minutes.
7. Ownership and possession. People revel in the feeling of ownership, and usually, once they own something they are reluctant to give it up. This driver is often used by apps that offer free trial periods of premium versions of their products.
8. Development and accomplishment. Using language learning apps as an example again, they often use leaderboards where users compete against one another to move up to a higher league. This mechanic is also frequently used by airlines when they arrange passengers by travel class.
Over several years of working on technical development of game mechanics, I have observed that combining all the mechanics together usually doesn’t yield the best result. Most successful implementations have been those that conduct a thorough case study of their industry and adapt those mechanics to their needs.
Below we’ll look at several successfully implemented examples of gamification with a brief review of the motivational mechanics used. I believe this can help you better understand and implement the Octalysis framework in your own businesses.
Successfully Implemented Gamifcation
Learning Foreign Languages
The Duolingo app has been the most popular language learning app for the past several years in a row. The number of subscribers, as well as company profits, continue to grow, adding over 13 million new active users every year.
Duolingo successfully employs several motivational techniques. The app has multiple leagues, each with its own leaderboard. The first 20 users that earn the most points get promoted to a higher league. Every higher league reduces the number of players, which pushes the users to complete more lessons or buy booster packs in the app store. Striving for leadership is an example of the eighth mechanic, development and accomplishment.
Airlines
One of the most successful tactics used by airlines has been frequent flyer programs. Customers are motivated to fly as much as possible with an airline to improve their status and earn additional perks. Many airlines zero-out accumulated points after a set period, prompting the customers to stay active with the airline to maintain their status. Miles programs apply the first mechanic by fulfilling the desire to belong to a privileged society.
Hospitality imilar to frequent flyer programs are popular hotel loyalty programs. They all differ, but customers tend to begin at a basic level and eventually move up to elite levels depending on the number of nights spent. The percentage of reward points per transaction increases with every level as well as access to more exclusive benefits.
Again, this loyalty program corresponds to the first mechanic of motivation, with privilege and improved conditions driving customer returnability. These are highly successful, and programs like Hilton Honors have more the 118 million members.
Food Retail
Gamification in food retail has shown great results. When my company recently helped develop game techniques for a restaurant, we focused on increasing average check values, improving loyalty and popularizing coupon usage.
In this instance, we developed a chain of quests where every step was aimed at meeting one of the established goals. The final step was a lottery with prizes from the sponsor. The points system and the tournament board motivate customers to accumulate points and complete tasks.
As a result, a third of the customer base participated in the first stage of the promotion, the average check grew by 15% and returnability increased by 20%. This is a great example of the sixth and eighth mechanics: scarcity of prize earning spots and the leaderboard competition.
Industry Specific
To successfully implement your campaign, you don’t need to select a specific gamification technique, but rather you should consider what motivations can be applied and which strategies fit your business. Every industry has its own nuances. Understanding your customers and what motivates them can help you come up with interesting ways to gamify your offerings and reach your business goals.
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