My excitement about attending this year’s Games 4 Change Festival was definitely well founded. Throughout the entire day there was a palpable excitement in the air, every conversation I had was about the limitless potential of games and how we’re witnessing a unique moment in human history. It was electric.
Gamification has proven to be a powerful tool in driving change across nearly all environments—business, personal goals, even education. What is it about gamification that makes it so successful in changing behavior? It isn’t just about points or badges, or earning little gold stars. The best gamification strategies are all about engagement, driven by motivation.
Science tells us that motivation is the single most important factor when it comes to learning and changing behavior—far more important than breadth of skill, or even innate talent. Increase motivation, and you will increase learning—surpassing limits in ways you never imagined—no matter the subject, domain, or context.
Join cognition expert Andrea Kuszewski for a lively, non-technical discussion of the science of motivation, dissecting that ‘magical’ process going on in the brain that is such a critical factor in engagement and learning in this GSummit SF 2013 talk. Watch the full video below!
Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.
Mango Health Improves Adherence to Medication with Gamification Mango Health (@MangoHealth) offers a new type of game in the health field – one that aims to help users remember to take their medication. Former executives from the ngmoco, a mobile gaming company, wanted to create an application that would help people remember to take their medication. The…
Have you ever dreamed of flying?. Of course you have! Everyone does and I actually was able to fly with brainpower…albeit not very far. It would be nice to say I was as triumphant as Ariel Kaminer of the New York Times in my ability to use the raw power of my mind to levitate…
We were excited to have Bill Hanifin join us this year at GSummit. Bill is the Engagement Solutions Director at Hanifin Loyalty. Below are his bio, video and slides from GSummit SF 2014: Bill Hanifin is Managing Director of Hanifin Loyalty, focusing his work at the intersection of data-driven marketing, payment products, and marketing technology. While creativity…
GSummit’s Advance Gamification Workshop: A great introductory for newbies and refreshers for veterans GSummit 2013 is finally here and it has started out with a full house at the Advanced Gamification Certification Workshop facilitated by Gabe himself. For those who are unfamiliar about the workshop, it exposes attendees how to develop and implement a gamified…
Each week on the Gamification Revolution web show, Gabe Zichermann answers all your burning gamification questions LIVE every Monday at 1pm ET/10am PT/1800 GMT at http://gamification.co/live. This week’s show features Kevin Werbach, Professor at the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania and professor of the Coursera Gamification Course. Here’s a rundown on some of the topics they spoke about:…
We were excited to have Shawn LaVana join us this year at GSummit. Shawn is a Senior Director of Product Marketing at Virgin Pulse. Below are his bio, video and slides from GSummit SF 2014: Shawn LaVana is an accomplished start-up technology marketer with 15 years of progressive experience. At Virgin Pulse, part of Sir…
A Serious Game Helps Analyze Complex Cancer Research Data Although serious games have many uses – employee engagement, marketing and learning among them – one area that may prove as a surprise is cancer research. After all, researchers don’t need games, and cancer research cannot be done by just anyone, right? Play to Cure: Genes in Space…
The notion that games are more than trivial toys that waste time is a radical one and has been confronted with a lot of controversy. The efforts of teams of talented individuals are being recognized. These innovative approaches to game playing are now being followed by the actions of powerful companies in the game industry.
Gamification opponents are often quick to point out the flaws in gamification, calling poorly designed experiences as “pointsification” with uninspired and non-additive game design elements in place. These are fair criticisms when the gamified experiences in question are indeed uninspired and non-additive. Such is the case when I noticed a sponsored Facebook ad by Target…
How does an enterprise keep a far-flung sales force continually up-to-date regarding new products? Scott Thomas, the director of product enablement for ExactTarget, faced this very challenge. ExactTarget (@ExactTarget) is a leading cloud-based marketing platform that is used by major brands like Nike and Coca-Cola. It is comprehensive in its approach that it focuses on…
Starcraft II teaches game theory and multivariable calculus. World of Warcraft gives insight to instructors on how they should structure the classroom environment. Minecraft has even become mandatory in a Swedish school’s curriculum as it teaches urban engineering concepts. To add to this growing list of games for education, Emory PhD Student Samantha Allen has incorporated Halo into her lesson plans for teaching intersectional theories of oppression for her Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) introductory course. This is what I would call an interesting juxtaposition as it bridges the gap between the macho Halo protagonist, Master Chief with sensitive global issues of rights and accessibility to all.
This week on the Gamification Roundup, we got gamification expansion. In the news provided today, see how gamification is expanding in the industry in innovation and industry: Badgeville nets $25 in funding. Sensum gamifies the sweat on your skin. Zurmo releases its open-source and gamified CRM platform in beta. Pug Pharm aims to create a unified gamification/analytics…
Most kids aren’t too excited about doing their chores, but really, who can blame them for their lack of enthusiasm? It’s only natural that they’d rather play video games than fold the laundry. So it’s no wonder many parents are looking for ways to incorporate gamification into daily routines.
