Gamification – Introduction

For this Yellow Day, I decided on the theme of dressing up as gaming character because my topic was gamification.

Games have been an integral part of Homo sapiens since the early civilizations. Games were invented as recreational and entertainment activity by us. There’s a tale about how gaming helped people to cope- up with famine.

The ancient civilization- Lydia, overcame a great famine by immersing themselves in games. They created a Dice game and a country-wide policy to alternate their days. People would engage in games for a whole day and eat the next in oscillation. It seems trivial but this strategy of the Lydians enabled them to survive for 18 years.

An impressive feat but it still pales in comparison to players who sacrifice their sleep and hunger while playing WoW- World of Warcraft. It’s been discovered that players have collectively spent about 5.9 million years within the game.

Gamification technique leverages person’s natural desires for socializing, learning, mastery, competition, achievement, status, self-expression, altruism, or closure. Earlier gamification revolved around reward points, badges, or an entry to the next level. Gamification has reached to the advanced level with digitisation and advancement in the technology of virtual reality

I decided to harness this power of games and gamification while working on projects. We discussed the merits of gamification and how it could be implemented, the social cost attached to it along with the ethics related to it such as tapping into the psyche of people.

The day was an Epic Win driven by team games and loads of fun. For further read into gamification, I suggested the team that they should read this article.

-Anmol Bahl, UX Designer

FAQs For Gamification in User Experience

Why Gamification is important in UX?

Gamification is a powerful tool that can be used to improve the user experience (UX) of any product or service. In UX it can be used to reward users for completing certain tasks, such as signing up for a service or making a purchase. It can also be used to encourage users to keep using a product or service by giving them points, badges, or other rewards for continued engagement. Additionally, it can be used to help users learn new features or concepts by incorporating them into fun and interactive games. Overall making the experience more engaging and fun for users.

How does Gamification improve User Experience?

Gamification is the process of using game mechanics and game design principles to engage users and motivate them to achieve their goals. Gamification can improve user experience by providing users with a sense of achievement, competition, and social interaction. When used effectively, gamification can increase user retention and engagement.

What are Gamification Principles?

Gamification principles are a set of guidelines that can be used to make games more engaging and fun. There are a number of key principles that underpin the concept of gamification: Story, Social elements, Rewards, Enhanced visuals and interactivity, and Feedback.