I just wanted to preface this blog post by saying that this isn’t my actual stance on gamification. I thought it’d be interesting to play devil’s advocate and wrote this purely to stimulate discussion.
Does gamification exist in your life? What is gamification you ask? Gamification refers to the use of game-design elements in non-gaming contexts to help motivate people. This includes examples such as Duolingo and Snapchat, as well as Fitbit and MytFitnessPal. At a glance, applications and devices that employ gamification seem appealing, but can cause more harm than good. Why is this you ask? This is because the organisations behind these applications and devices often exploit users.
Before you enter a whirlwind of anger, let me explain what I mean by that. Yes, gamification can be helpful for some. It can help motivate users to achieve their goals. However, in the long-term organisations often make users feel like they need these gamified applications and devices to make their way through life. Now this is where I take issue with gamification. These organisations demand loyalty from users and yet they reward loyalty with counterfeit incentives that don’t provide value nor require investment. This is far less fulfilling than setting your own goals and establishing a routine around achieving those goals.
If you want to achieve long term goals, you need discipline, not motivation. Don’t get me wrong, motivation is important. Motivation directs our behaviour and given the right motive, makes us want to repeat certain behaviours. However, motivation is fickle. Motivation comes and goes. Discipline ensures that you do what must be done even when you don’t want to do it. Which leads me to my next point.
If for whatever reason, you don’t have access to the gamified application or device that you’ve become so reliant on, what happens then? Are you still going to follow your usual routine? It is unlikely that you will, because you’ve become too dependent on these gamified applications and devices for motivation, rather than having self-discipline.
Despite my raging tangent above, I’m not saying that gamification is all bad. It can provide added motivation, especially for those who might not have any to begin with. However, what I am saying is that you should be wary of gamified applications and devices. You shouldn’t become too reliant on them and should learn to value discipline over motivation.
Ultimately, you’re not always going to be motivated. But you’re always going to have discipline.
Thanks everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed my contrasting and rather polarising stance on gamification.
References
Guard Mounting Buckingham Palace (https://www.flickr.com/photos/hernanpc/14511233727/in/photolist-o7iSdX-Z6GCJ-5KeLV6-oapkG6-27sSwmJ-8nnv7V-4Yae1o-2EQCE-4Y5XKZ-mtgUr-6MJcZm-9HtPzg-7rkhZd-ok3kkW-zgV5rf-9YSJMN-zweeF3-zxsqz1-zwedPJ-adoNaD-4YChHT-jPnd8H-8CQuHf-qKEjuE-AGhHu3-5KWLqZ-dQji5S-8gLyR8-mPrEpP-bFzLXn-UyzZWb-S8ZEe2-jZwT52-jhaDZ3-RQMoEh-fyhmXV-qKLQ1t-2dAL3mL-a8vdZ2-2egwEHY-yBDY8K-dMNNVi-PqC3fG-Q7nUoJ-BU2CB-r2SKP3-9qbhjY-2enqQDJ-cwoJAm-3fFsvc) by Hernán Piñera (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Kim, T.W & Werbach, K 2016, ‘More than just a game: ethical issues in gamification’, Ethics and Information Technology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 157–173, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-016-9401-5
A bit of this, a bit of that 