white paper on gamification and it's role in acceptance and adoption of new technologies in a organisation.

1. measure, reward, and enhance: leverage adoption of IBM
Connections by applying gamification with Kudos Badges
More and more organizations use IBM Connections as a social software platform to facilitate
the 'corporate brain'. Organizations aim to make better use of the knowledge and skills of
their employees with Connections. Thus, employees will have to effectively share knowledge
and collaborate. Collaborating in a social platform is different than collaborating with other
tools: in a more open manner, more transparent and interactive.
The implementation of a social platform itself does not change the routines and attitude /
behaviour of employees. Implementation is often assumed to only contribute 10% to the
success of developing into an organization where knowledge is shared openly and
collaboration is efficient and effective. The other 90% of the success lies in its people,
employees, and their adoption of the new platform.
How do you get people willing to change their behaviour and attitudes? How do you ensure
that all employees understand the importance of the change? How will they learn how to
collaborate? Attention to user adoption provides 90% of success!
Kudos Badges uses game mechanics to leverage the adoption of IBM
Connections. With Kudos Badges game elements, employees are being
stimulated to take part in, and learn how to effectively use the social
tools of Connections. Kudos Badges is an excellent add-on for your user
adoption strategy.
Kudos + YELLOW & BLUE e-office's YELLOW & BLUE vision
states that the existing (20th century) structures of organizations are insufficient to survive in
the current economic climate (21st century). The multitude of processes is disastrous for
creativity and innovation. Some form of structure is however necessary to make innovation
possible.
Only the right mix of inventiveness (YELLOW) and structure (BLUE) ensures the innovative
capacity of an organization. By using this mix the main asset of the organization,
the corporate brain, can be fully utilized. This is necessary in the rapidly changing market to
continue to offer the right products and services and hence secure the position of the
organization.
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 1

2. Blue systems are process-driven (BLUE). You must go through the steps to achieve the
desired result. Think for example of a product order process or sending an invoice. This
involves clearer and easily described steps.
IBM Connections mainly supports the creative character of work (YELLOW). The employee
and / or organization is often not instantly able to use the existing tools to really collaborate in
a social manner. Usual objectives for implementing IBM Connections are things such as:
finding expertise, sharing knowledge and collaborating more effectively. An employee then
may stop to wonder: how do I do that? Unlike Blue systems the steps to follow something like
sharing knowledge are not so clear and also require a considerable change in behaviour and
existing work routines.
Besides the deployment of new technology, there will be new and different workflows to be
defined, together with the behaviour and routines of employees. Employees simply do not
just change their ways. Changing behaviour is a gradual and often difficult process. Most
employees do not instantly start blogging, do not take the time to fill in their profile, do not
see the advantage of building and monitoring a network, and may want to work together, but
preferably in a closed community.
Kudos Badges gradually pulls employees into a new way of working with Connections. And
helps them to collaborate efficiently and transparent in order to improve the business
objectives. Kudos makes employees more engaged.
Adoption of Connections is also about engagement. Users should be guided and seduced to
do their daily work routine differently, using the various tools that Connections provides under
one umbrella. For adoption e-office takes a scenario-based approach. Based on interviews,
groups of users are guided to change the way they do their daily collaboration activities so
that they can be more efficient and effective. Connections is used to perform these daily
activities, so it is not a tool that is used in addition to the work, but it ís the work itself. And
that work leverages the corporate brain.
how does Kudos Badges work? Kudos Badges works with points, badges, levels and
leaderboards. Points are awarded for various actions and Badges can be
obtained. Leaderboards give users feedback on their activities compared to other
colleagues. The Leaderboard shows the top 10 employees of the organization, within their
network or within a community.
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 2

3. How do you climb up in rank? Kudos Badges uses metrics to measure the activities of a user
in IBM Connections.
For example, when an employee places a
status update, he receives a Kudos
Point. When he posts a Blog entry, the
employee gets 5 Kudos Points. When
someone recommends the blog entry, he
gets 10 points! Because shared knowledge
naturally becomes more valuable when it is
appreciated by colleagues. When enough
points for a given activity are achieved, then
the employee receives a badge. There are
an abundance of actions within your
Connections platform, which could earn
Kudos points. The employee is shown the
following steps to earn more points and
badges. This way, the employee explores
the capabilities of the platform step-by-step
and creates as he goes along.
The Kudos Leaderboard Widget is displayed
on the Homepage. Moreover, the Kudos
Leaderboard is visible within a community,
where it displays the largest "contributor"
within it. This will help to recognize the
ambassadors for Communities.
objectives in line with business goals social collaboration isn't a goal in itself. It is a
way to achieve business goals and results such as improved customer service, better
cooperation between departments, or finding the right knowledge and expertise. And you
want these results in measurable KPIs.
Here, too, Kudos can help. With Badges and Ranks you define your values in
collaboration. Employees are shown step by step instructions on how they can collaborate in
a social manner. These are the KPIs. Kudos thus shows what behaviour and practices the
organization considers to be important to achieve the business objectives. It encourages
social collaboration and measures if the platform meets the desired objectives.
In addition to a standard set of metrics, the metrics can be integral to your business
goals. You not only reward behaviour, but also encourage employees to properly use the
Connections platform. It is possible to include other (internal) systems in Kudos badges
measurement besides the standard set of metrics. Kudos can measure the behaviour of
employees in other (non-Connections) software and reward it with its own Kudos Badge.
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 3

4. not a game Although we are speaking of gamification, Kudos Badges is not a game! It is
about meaning, not flair. The goal is not to pursue Leaderboard points, but to achieve the
business goals.
At the word gamification one
might think of Gameboys,
World of Warcraft, Wordfeud
or Draw Something. But
many of us have long been
familiar with serious
applications of
gamification. A good
example is LinkedIn. When
you're on LinkedIn, you are
seduced to expand your
profile. The value of the
platform increases when
people actively participate. A
well-filled profile is of more
value to other members then
a profile without a photo,
without experience or
recommendations.
why gamification? By adding game mechanics to non-gaming environments such as IBM
Connections, users are encouraged to embrace the new tool or users can be influenced how
it should be used (adoption). Gamification makes connections more interesting because it
encourages users to apply desired behaviour. Kudos encourages users by showing them the
way to 'mastery' and 'autonomy'. The game uses mechanics that elaborate on the
psychological predisposition of people to participate in playful activities.
With gamification, users can be seduced into performing 'boring' actions, actions which they
have difficulty with, or they are unknown with. Think of filling out the profile in IBM
Connections. It is important that you properly fill out your profile. But at the same time it is
often omitted because there is no time for it, not appreciated, or no immediate reward in
return (what's in it for me?).
Gamification is based on stimulation. Many people think winning or being the best is the main
incentive for participating in games. But according to Jane McGonigal, gaming is mainly
about doing hard work, going forward, being better, being part of something bigger or
working towards a common goal. During the game we overcome obstacles and work towards
a successful outcome through hard work. Doing so we are engaged, and experience all kinds
of positive emotions and experiences. Working and learning becomes a positive experience,
which we want to experience more. Kudos for IBM Connections can leverage active
participation (engagement), resulting in higher ROI, information of higher quality and
discovery learning (through serendipity colleagues learn more from each other).
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 4

5. When gamification is applied in a proper way, you can seduce users to discover new
features, to try out features, and let them discover the value of their work in IBM
Connections. Users who are not yet accustomed to the social platform, and for example do
not see how a Blog could be of value will not be inclined to do this without some stimulation.
What games do very well is encourage hard work. Kudos Badges provides step-by-step
guidance and stimulation for someone to become more involved and actively participate in
the platform. One of the key concepts in games, and therefore gamification is having the right
challenge which can be attained by working hard. By taking small steps, starting with filling
out your profile and expanding your network, it can help employees overcome cold feet. Or
prevent an employee from being overwhelmed by the wide range of possibilities in
Connections. Kudos Badges shows what small steps you may take at any time. And it also
shows what the value of these steps is: of both the work in Connections itself as in
measurable points. Kudos gives you the visual reward when you have finished the actions
required (you receive a Badge, you get a notification in your newsfeed, it shows your position
in the Leaderboard).
A user is constantly taken to a higher level, to
continue, to do more. There is no failure. You can
always try to get the points again. Failure is therefore
just an incentive to work even harder!
measure, reward, stimulate People love progress! Badges are an indication of
achievement. Employees see what they have achieved and also how many points are
needed for achieving the next badge level or how to climb-up in the Leaderboard. The
reward system increases the employees' involvement. When an employee 'earns' a badge
he is not just rewarded for the good work delivered, but is also shown how their work
contributes to the business objectives.
key principles of gamification:
measure: set goals, levels, points and measure whether someone has achieved this
reward: give points and badges
send: indicate at what level a person is, what to do to get ahead, show the best
improve: specify what to do to get ahead, seduce to start using advanced features or
show desired behaviour
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 5

6. With game elements such as Points, Badges,
Leaderboards - and don't forget fun - employees
are motivated to work together towards a
common goal and a desired result. While they
work, employees are given visible rewards, get
appreciation from colleagues and superiors, feel
that they matter, feel to be part of bigger
purpose, and other psycho-social rewards that
can lead to the apex of Maslow's hierarchy (see
below).
what motivates us? about stimulation and rewards by using incentives and
disincentives with Kudos badges individuals and groups are guided to a specific set of
behaviour, which in turn positively influences a desired outcome (desired results / business
objectives). When Kudos Badges is done seriously and is well deployed, it becomes
an engagement mechanism for cooperative
behaviour which can overcome the natural
inability of people and companies to
collaborate effectively towards a common
goal.
Kudos Badges reasons from the human
need for status and rewards. It responds to
extrinsic rewards, such as winning and
challenging, but also sharing knowledge,
helping colleagues and being part of a
bigger picture.
This is also clear in Maslow's pyramid (1943) which can be extended with Daniel Pink's
vision from his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (2009). The top of
Maslow's pyramid refers to 'self-actualization'. Dan Pink argues that modern society has
arrived to this particular segment, in which we are primarily motivated by intrinsic
motivation. These intrinsic motivators are also apparent in gamification and specifically
Kudos Badges for IBM Connections.
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 6

7. By 'doing work', employees will experience the value of the social platform. The need for
extrinsic rewards will become less and subsequently turn into an intrinsic reward, such as
gain knowledge, be good at your work, appreciation of your colleagues, beign part of a
bigger purpose and have fun. Once the first steps in Connections are taken, employees are
working and collaborating towards a common goal and they experience a sense of meaning
and connectedness.
Points and Badges are extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards work very well in the short term
and are therefore ideally suited to support early adoption of IBM Connections.
The effect of extrinsic rewards is not
perpetual. The rewards that Kudos Game techniques
Badges offers are therefore intended
to seduce an engaged employee: a
committed and active participant in
Connections. By doing the activity
intrinsic long
that is initially encouraged and
term reward
rewarded, the employee creates
something of real and long-term
value: a real contribution in the
platform that leverages the corporate
brain!
extrinsic reward
When the employee begins to realize these values, the extrinsic rewards become less
important. The entire reward system becomes secondary and serves to reinforce the value
that the employee creates, which then becomes the main motivator.
The long-term value created will (together with the secondary extrinsic reward) enhance the
game activity. This creates a positive feedback loop that eventually transforms the gamified
activity into something that is intrinsically motivating.
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 7

8. Sources:
Michael Wu, Ph.D., 'The Magic Potion of Game Dynamics'
http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Magic-Potion-of-
Game-Dynamics/ba-p/19260
Michael Wu, Ph.D , 'Gamification 101: The Psychology of Motivation'
http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/Gamification-101-The-
Psychology-of-Motivation/ba-p/21864
Michael Wu, Ph.D , 'The Gamification Backlash + Two Long Term Business Strategies'
http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Gamification-
Backlash-Two-Long-Term-Business-Strategies/ba-p/30891
Roland Hameeteman, 'Yellow & blue - De juiste mix van inventiviteit en structuur'
http://www.managementboek.nl/boek/9789047004486/yellow-blue-roland-hameeteman
Jane McGonigall, 'Reality Is Broken' (2011)
http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html
Tim Royle - Guest Blogger, Executive Director ISW, 'Gamification: Unlocking hidden
collaboration potential'
https://www-
304.ibm.com/connections/blogs/socialbusiness/entry/gamification_unlocking_hidden_collabo
ration_potential2?lang=nl
TED talk Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/nl/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html
Oscar Berg - Social Collaboration vs The Existing Communication Culture (14 December 2011)
http://www.thecontenteconomy.com/2011/12/social-collaboration-vs-existing.html
Sasja Beerendonk
social business strategist and
user adoption consultant
e sbe@e-office.com
t @sbeerendonk
W thoughtsoncollaboration.com
e-office
www.e-office.com
Sasja Beerendonk www.e-office.com 8