Hackers aren’t just breaching firewalls—they’re breaching minds. As cyber threats increasingly target human behavior, companies must rethink their defenses through the lens of behavioral science, cognitive biases, and gamification. That’s why we’re convening the top minds in cognitive security for a new webinar series—because solving these challenges takes more than tech. It takes collaboration.
Incorporating game mechanics into education is more than just a trend—it’s a proven method for enhancing student engagement, motivation, and retention. From improving homework completion rates to boosting attention in students with ADHD, gamification has demonstrated its effectiveness across diverse learning environments. Below are ten compelling case studies showcasing the power of gamified learning: 1….
It’s not just the US dollar that’s feeling the pinch of inflation – loyalty programs too have been increasingly caught in a spiral of “less for more”. Though it’s a lot more frustrating to see your cash balance erode at the gas pump or supermarket, it’s also problematic when something you’ve been saving up for…
This year I got a pretty amazing birthday present: a public example of highly effective health gamification. Namely, Ohio’s Vax a Million campaign, which is giving away $1M per week to residents that get vaccinated. Vaccinations jumped 28% total, with weekly vaccinations increasing by over 50% week over week, according to the state. Maryland and New…
In the decade-ish since the second coming of social media, global democracy has been severely impaired by the spread of fake news. I believe that using gamification techniques could substantially retard this phenomenon and reset the balance. N.B. I’m using “fake news” to refer to things which are actually fake, not things that are true…
For 2 decades I’ve been deeply enmeshed in loyalty. First as a customer, then an obsessive “hardcore” loyalty junkie. Eventually my interest in loyalty helped give rise to the gamification movement and my work designing and developing engagement solutions across a wide range of industries. Although gamification encompasses much more than loyalty, I’ve continued to…
Quick takeaway: You can’t design a single-stage incentive and expect a long-term behavior change (enter: gamification). Also, designing behavioral interventions without understanding prior work in psychology is dangerous and possibly unethical. For years, I’ve been deeply fascinated by behavioral economics. I love the discipline’s emphasis on incentive and reward, and the increasing realization by the “capital-E” Economics…
Four years ago, we launched Gamification by Design as the first practically-oriented “how-to” book for building gamified apps, sites and systems. In those four years, GbD has helped tens of thousands of people around the world create engagement with customers, employees and society. If you follow such things, the book has been sold out for the better part of two years and copies have sold on Amazon for hundreds of dollars. While that sounds nice, a robust resale market doesn’t benefit the author, those interested in getting started in gamification or long-term practitioners who need a current resource. To whit, we’ve learned so much more about engagement science and how to create behavior change in the years since – there’s just a lot more to say. So, I’m pleased to announce a completely revised and updated Gamification by Design 2.
I write and lecture a lot on the subject of how to improve customer and employee loyalty and engagement through gamification. Before kicking off the major gamification discussion in 2010, my background was in games but I was a huge loyalty nerd. I think this confluence of experiences helped inform my views on the power…
Jet.com is a new competitor to Amazon that is getting a lot of attention lately. It’s founded by the former creator of diapers.com who sold his company to Amazon and now is planning to turn around and eat their lunch. The startup will apparently meld the concept of Costco (membership club) with the concept of Amazon (fast…
One of the most amazing transformations using gamification has come from the medical field. Concepts using game mechanics are making their way into a myriad of medical interactions – and probably shouldn’t be super surprising by this point. However I was pleased as punch during my most recent allergist visit to find that the old-school…
Since the beginning of the gamification movement, we’ve had our fair share of naysayers. Some have been academics, others simply impassioned folks with strong opinions. At their most charitable, these critics have stated – as fact – that basic gamification mechanics simply won’t (can’t) work. At their worst, they’ve accused us of being manipulative, under-informed…
Priya Haji, CEO and founder of gamified financial startup SaveUp suddenly passed away last week at the age of 44. Over the last couple of years, I’ve had a chance to get to know Priya, and to see the amazing work she’s done on behalf of financial literacy and security for folks all over the…
In mid 2013 we embarked on an unusual, exhausting and time consuming project: GSummit Global. Our goal was to bring live gamification workshops, networking meetups and the best, new online lectures to key cities around the world. During the year, I traveled well over 100,000 miles, visiting over a dozen cities from Bangalore to Buenos Aires and everywhere in between.
