Gamification... what's at play

Gartner Group defines gamification as the concept of employing game mechanics to non-game activities such as recruitment, training and health and wellness. Platforms like Foursquare or Gowalla have introduced game mechanics in the form of badges. The more you check, the more badges you gather. The Leaderboard shows the weekly rankings and your score - the higher your score, the higher you are on the leaderboard, obviously.

The rewards that are part of gamification encourage users to stay engaged and interact with each other, building relationships that will draw them back. The mechanics of gamification improve creativity, learning, participation and motivation.

Industry and Internet experts already see significant advances in the usage and adoption of gamification in the workplace by 2020 - with uses ranging from education, to wellness, marketing and communications. On the flipside, enterprise software and technology is bound to be influenced by this trend. I haven't got the figures at hand though definitely add Forrester.com, Gartner.com or cio.com to your bookmarks or reading list. In fact, by 2014, more than 70 percent of global 2,000 organizations are expected to have at least one “gamified” application.

Below you find a nice infographic on this topic - and if you want some more brain candy, just go to our pinterest board... Our collection now includes over 500 infographics on all things digital.


Courtesy of: Engine Yard