GSummit SF 2014 - Hands-on Lab: Designing Impactful Gamification Programs by Steve Sims @stevebadge

Copyright © 2014 Badgeville. All rights reserved

G-Summit WorkshopJune 16, 2014

STEVE SIMS

Chief Design Officer & Founder of The Behavior Lab


REQUIREMENTS DESIGN VERIFICATIONIMPLEMENTATION OPTIMIZATION

Developing a Gamification Program:The Gamification Lifecycle

• Requirements - Gather Business Requirements

• Design - Design the Program

• Implement - Build the Program (Code and Art)

• Verification - Test the Program

• Optimize – Make it the Best it Can Be

The main focus of this workshop is to understand the concepts behind Gamification/Behavior Management as well as how to optimize your programs over time


PART I:

Psychology of

Gamification (in 45 min)


Rewards and Threats:

People are Always Running Towards Pleasure or Away From Pain

Gamification is mostly about the pleasure part So lets have a little fun…


Gamification DerbyHorses Take Your Mark….


Things You Have Just Seen/Experienced

• Rewards and Threats (Positive and Negative)

• 1’s and 2’s

• Power of Narrative

• Self Representation

• 4 S’s

(High Level Discussion of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Behavior)

• 4 Billy Goats of Behavior


PART II:

You’ve Launched Your

Program. Now What?


Your Program is Live

Congratulations!!!

Using all your new found understanding of

psychology and incredible design prowess,

you have unleashed the greatest

gamified/behavior management experience ever

upon the world.

So…


Now What?

• How do you know your program is working?

• Who is it working for?

• How do you strengthen the pieces that are working?

• How do you fix the pieces that are not ?

• How do you make sure the program is

not dead in 3 months?

One Answer: Use the Wave Methodology


Wave Methodology


The Problem with Gamification

TYPICAL

IMPLEMENTATION

TYPICAL

‘SUCCESSFUL’ IMPLEMENTATION

Wave Implementation

ACTIVE USERS OVER TIME

SUSTAINED

ENGAGEMENT

‘novelty’ spike


Why ‘Typical’ FailsWhat do most gamification programs leave out?

Most gamification programs fail to take into account user psychology.

Employees and customers

are people:

Their behavior is both complex

and predictable


Case StudyThe Elliptical

• A few years ago,

my wife had to have an elliptical.

• Upon arrival

the elliptical was a huge success.

• NOW IT JUST TAKES UP SPACE.


Novelty Doesn’t SustainWhy do users lose interest?

Engagement, Motivation and

Interest are complex topics.

Novelty can satisfy all three, but doesn’t last.

For long term results, you need to:

• Understand your users

• Grow the program as they grow


Understanding Users……means understanding situations

You need to understand the company, users and the systems they

operate (as they are all interrelated)

• User Community - Communities are constantly in flux

• Companies - Companies evolve due to seasonal

cycles, priorities, business goals and process change

• Individuals - Employees and customers want to grow both

personally and professionally.


ProgramNot a project

Building a program with user motivation in mind is a strong

foundation, but it’s only the beginning.

A gamified program is like

a garden:

• It needs lots of water

and sunlight

• It takes ongoing

attention to flourish


GOOD GARDENINGThe things you need

To maintain a garden, you need:

• A window (to be able to see your results)

• A gardener (someone to fertilize and

plant flowers)

To maintain a gamification program, you

need:

• Analytics (to be able to see your results)

• A program manager (someone to create

content and expand the program)


Wave Method

WAVE

IMPLEMENTATION

Active users over time

Sustained engagement

The wave method involves a ‘gardener’ monitoring the program and making

changes at key moments, to reinvigorate the user base

KEY MOMENTS

But what kind of changes?


ANALYZE

ITERATE

EXPAND

COMPONENTS OF WAVE


What Do I Analyze?

• What do I use to Analyze my program ?• What Areas Do I Analyze ? (There are 3 areas.. )• What Can the Analysis tell me ? (bonus points here).

Write Your Answers Down Now…..


AnalyzeProgram Analysis looks at the data created by users’ interaction with

the environment and draws conclusions where possible

AREAS FOR ANALYSIS INCLUDE:

USER BASE

• Health (growing or shrinking)

• Active Users

• Visit Frequency ? Daily, Weekly, Monthly

ENGAGEMENT

• How much activity are users doing ?

• What activities are the doing the most/least ?

• How are they progressing ?

RETENTION

• How are new users retained in the experience?

• Sophisticated toolset to recognize users and elevate their status


What Can I Iterate (Fix/Tune)?

Find Up to 5 things



IterateIterating on a program involves tuning and tweaking the values of

existing content, with the goal of smooth ‘success curves’

THIS INCLUDES:

• Achievement milestones

• Level thresholds

• Messaging and Interface

• Relative points amounts

• Reward quality (effort to payout ratios)


How Can I Expand My Program?

Find Up to 3 things



Expand: ExtensionThe first phase of expansion is program extension. Extending a

program means to add additional content to the existing features

THIS INCLUDES:

• Extending the highest ranks of levels or status systems

• Refresh of tasks in repeating task systems

• Additional content to collections, sets or challenges


Expand: PromotionTime sensitive content with an expected expiration. Typically highly promoted

THIS INCLUDES:

• Contests

• Challenges

• Themed content

• Sponsored tie-ins


Expand: New Features/FunctionalityIntroduction of new features or new venues across the enterprise.

THIS INCLUDES:

• Status systems

• Affinity systems

• Karma systems

• Contests

• Social mechanics

• Change management

• Performance management

• Quantified Self

• Loyalty rewards

• Team challenges

• Learning management


Questions?


Thank You

GSummit SF 2014 - Hands-on Lab: Designing Impactful Gamification Programs by Steve Sims @stevebadge

Presentations & Public Speaking

Transcript of GSummit SF 2014 - Hands-on Lab: Designing Impactful Gamification Programs by Steve Sims @stevebadge