11. Level XP* Grade
Level Twelve 1860 A
Level Eleven 1800 A-
Level Ten 1740 B+
Level Nine 1660 B
… … …
Level Two 1200 D-
Level One 0 F
GameMechanic Progression Dynamic
Source: Professor Lee Sheldon, Indian Univrsity
Introduction
I invite you to join me for the next 5 minutes in a quest to explore how play can affect consumer behavior.
And, how we, as champion’s of sustainable business, can use the gaming constructs to achieve our epic win, a more livable world
We are going to talk about harnessing same constructs that drive people, to spend so much time playing games.
(and compel them to spend thousands of dollars to buy a Virtual products.)
Using games to influence behavior is noting new
Ancient historian Herodotus tells us that the Lydian King Atus used games to distract his people from an 18 year famine around 600 BC
Games have been used to affect consumer behavior for over 100 years
More than a distraction…games are engaging,
Employing a broad menu of drivers that tap into humans primal response patterns,
Add a social context to the individual appeal of games and the games become even more powerful
allowing people to compare, compete and cooperate
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Basic mechanics like achievements, unlocking, and leveling up have proven to be strong drivers of engagement.
“Game mechanics are rule based systems that facilitate and encourage a user to explore and learn the properties of their possibility space through the use of feedback mechanisms.”
(goes beyond permission…engages…calls for action…)
Laymans Definition: Creating a game that grows your business.
There are many game mechanics… Scvngr, a co that… has a deck of 50 that employees must memorize
If the last several stronger larger networks of connections have been built
The next decade will be about using those connections to influence behavior.
Already, it may surprise you, there are more people playing Farmville than people with a twitter account.
Let’s take a look at a few game mechanics ad how they are used in the real world to
to attract/retain customers,
Encourage buying decisions
One company, SCVNGR, has identified 50 that they make their employees learn.
A progression dynamic charts a player’s success as she completes achievements.
People progress through a games collecting points, badges, moving up levels reaching higher levels of status
As one’s status grows, new benefits are unlocked.
The belt system in karate is an example
Buy 9 get one free cards from coffee shops are another example.
Another example in the real world it frequent flier programs. Players, earn points through various actions
By reaching certain points totals, players level up to different status levels ranging from premier to premier executive,
It is not just the status, it is the perks that the status opens up. Lounges…
Frequent buyer cards, ie. Starbucks, do the same thing. Coffee shops regularly use this dynamic with their "buy nine cups of coffee and your 10th is free" cards.
Next time you log into LinkedIn, check out how complete your profile is.
The DoE’s Race to the Top is a good example of applying GM to education system
States perform tasks that earn them points
The statesa at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the year get additional funding
What would it be like if grade for this class were determined by the experience points that you earn.?
Lee Sheldon, a professor at Indiana University has applied leveling to grades.
Oh, by the way, you guys are doing great, you’ve
The Appointment Dynamic
A dynamic in which to succeed, one must return at a predefined time to take some action.
It's simple and immensely powerful.
I know that if I show up to my favorite bar during happy hour, I win a discount off of the beer that I order.
Farmville
Carrotmob
adherence rate to often less-than-pleasant medicinal regimens, or the government
creating a large scale game (with financial incentives as rewards) to alter traffic patterns to decrease highway congestion in the mornings.
On of my favorite uses of this mechanic is the recent phenomena to play hide-and-seek at IKEA? Come on, the maze of the store makes it a natural place to play hide and seek on purpose.
a person in Australia set up a Facebook event announcing a “massive” game at their local store. Over 4,000 people signed up and the news has gone viral.
Smart Company Australia quoted the local IKEA spokesperson as saying that they weren’t behind anything that might endanger shoppers, but they weren’t going to go so far as to ban the game.
And why should they? This is the kind of thing PR companies get paid big money to arrange and IKEA is getting it for free. But short of waiting for a public epiphany to happen related to your product, Smart Company says there’s a way to create this kind of event for yourself.
Game Mechanics also tell us that there is a tendency of players to keep doing what they have been doing.
Example:
The success of these games is no accident – these experiences are designed to influence behavior and drive very strong engagement.
However, if people are sitting around using up electricity, earning points so that they can go consume more stuff - that doesn’t achieve our goal.
How do we harness the mechanics of games for sustainable good?
Companies are already doing it.
Ford Fusion’s SmartGauge animates a growing vine when the driver drives conservatively and saves gas.
What if we also added a social context…allowing drivers to compare their … with their friends.
Maybe those on the leader board could get fuel or insurance discounts.
We could add points for choosing to walk…
Bonus points for taking public transit, reduce tax bill
Similarly, cities with resource constraints can promote recycling and conservation of electricity, water, and garbage with a fun, well-thought out points and status system independent of financial incentives.
RecycleBank and Greenopolis are examples of businesses rewarding points for positive green actions.
Points redeemable for coupons for restaurants, theaters and retail shops. It's a slightly more interesting way than taking the same bags of cans to parking lot containers and getting cash in return.
The viral videos of The Fun Theory is a terrific example. I particularly like the musical staircase they insatalled which resulting in a 66% increase in the number of people taking the steps.
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(a Volkswagen initiative) are a terrific example of how appealing to key emotions (in this case, joy and surprise) can be used to create positive change in behavior. In the videos, a staircase is turned into a huge piano keyboard to encourage people to take the stairs, the "world's deepest bin" encourages people to use a trash can instead of littering. In the video below, the simple act of recycling is turned into a fun arcade game. In each case, people were enticed to change their behavior not because it was the right thing to do, but because it was a more fun and engaging experience.
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Opportunity Green showcased several fine companies who understand the power of emotion and who know that empowering people is the first ingredient in finding a better, more sustainable way. Still, it's clear that we are at the beginning of this paradigm shift. And it is equally clear that to make a shift of this magnitude we will all have to work together to find new ways for companies to continue making money while making a difference.
The company has extended the idea of earning rewards for recycling to a new game launched on Facebook. But will people sitting around playing online games translate to tangible real-world benefits?
The game is called Oceanopolis. The premise is that you're on a beautiful island near the Pacific Garbage Patch and you have to keep your island beautiful by recycling the junk that washes ashore. Supposedly, players will learn the benefits of recycling while earning real life rewards. The game is a way for Greenopolis to extend its reach into social media, with the hopes of boosting awareness about the real-world interactive recycling kiosks by getting people hooked on building a sustainable island community with their friends. During game play, points are earned that can be added to what players earn through recycling at Greenopolis kiosks.
"We have a goal to triple the amount of items we recycle by 2020," said Carl Rush, Vice President of Organic Growth, Waste Management. "Oceanopolis will help us reach this goal by integrating new technologies with our established network of recycling facilities."
But does sitting around fake-cycling honestly help people recycle more in real life? The possibility is there -- maybe we can consider it computer training for real world behaviors. It also familiarizes players with how to use Greenopolis kiosks (though effective sorting recyclables a home is a much more important habit to learn than spotting kiosks that aren't mainstream yet).
Plus, if people are going to play online games, they might as well play one that teaches the benefits of sustainable living, such as battling litter and putting waste in its proper place.
Changing the Culture of Stuff… to virtual stuff
Players of Farmville and Mafia Wars, for instance, gave over $1.5 million for Haitian earthquake victims in exchange for virtual rewards.
“What if my local power company were a social gaming company? What would my energy bill look like?” A few thoughts:
My bill wouldn’t be a monthly piece of paper, it would be a rich interface where I could receive up to the minute information about my energy usage and performance
Every day, I would see my energy usage relative to those of my friends. By framing energy efficiency as a competition between my friends, I would be motivated to try to beat my friends every day.
I might see how my city block ranked against others in my neighborhood. If my block was lagging, my neighbors would pester me to be more efficient so our block could win and get our efficiency bonus.
Even if I couldn’t manage to change my lifestyle enough, I might have a way to trump my friends by spending more to buy wind or solar power.
There would be a clear path to improvement, incentives to level up, and rewards along the way – from day one, I could see how to be an energy rockstar, and the competition would engage me to invest in this.
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Western culture celebrates consumerism, connecting status with conspicuous wealth. Imagine the impact on sustainability of changing that dynamic. At the Greener Mind Summit, leaders in the local sustainability movement discussed the use of virtual stuff as a replacement for physical goods in designating status. Studies show a flattening of happiness above a certain income level as money loses its utility and becomes just a way of keeping score.
Games rely on intrinsic human needs in order to engage players for hours on end and keeps that engagement fresh for years.
Evoke
Teaches: collaboration, creativity, sustainability, courage, entreprunuership, knowledge networks, vision
An EpicWin is a gamer’s belief that a great acheivement, winning the game is attainable.
Our epicwin is that game mechanics have the ability to encourage better habits, foster education, regenerate our planet and inspire its people
Best of all, we can do all of this while having fun
Follow a guide
These are some of the most prolific game gurus on the subject of Games and Culture. I would start with the TED talks of Jane McGonigal and Seth Priebatsch.
You can learn more about how to make your app fun by coming to the Gamification Workshops in San Francisco and New York City. Registration is open now!