Recreating companies

through games
Ysmar Vianna
Maurcio Vianna
Bruno Medina
Samara Tanaka
G
A
M
I
F
I
C
A
T
I
O
N
,

I
N
C
.
Gamication, Inc.
Recreating companies
through games
Ysmar Vianna
Maurcio Vianna
Bruno Medina
Samara Tanaka
2
nd
edition
Rio de Janeiro - 2014
Copyright 2013 MJV Tecnologia Ltda.
All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction of this publication, in whole or in
part, constitutes copyright violation.
Contribution
Fagner Lima
Paulo Sergio Guimares
Review
Clarisse Cintra
Virgnia Cavalcante
Visual Design
Thiago Lacaz
Visual thinking
Joo Rocha
Cataloging in Publication (CIP)
Gamication, Inc : recreating companies through games / Ysmar
Vianna ... [et al.] ; traduo: Glaucia Machado. 1. Ed. Rio de
Janeiro : MJV Press, 2013.
116p. ; e-book.
Traduo de: Gamication, Inc: como reinventar empresas
a partir de jogos.
ISBN 978-85-65424-10-3 (e-book.)
1. Jogos para computador Aspectos sociais.
I. Vianna, Ysmar. II. Machado, Glaucia.
CDD 306.4
mjv Press
Av Marechal Cmara 160, grupo 206, Centro
20020-080 Rio de Janeiro rj
Phone: +55 21 2532 6423
mjvpress@mjv.com.br
Translation
Glucia Machado
Proofreading - Grammar Review
Glaucia Holzmann
Introduction 9
1. After all, what's gamication? 13
2. One or two things you should know about games 25
3. Gamication, Inc. 41
4. Gamication & Companies: made for each other 55
5. Lets get down to work! 77
6. What about the future? 107
Referrals 111
I'm very pleased to write about this MJVs Press release, dedi-
cated to the use of game mechanics in the business context. This
book is written by an IT Consulting team who apply games to their
customers work processes in a pioneering way. In 2011, Gartner
predicted that by 2015 more than 50% of innovation managing or-
ganizations will insert game methods to their processes, and more
than 70% of the 2,000 largest companies in the world will be using,
at least, one gaming application in their business. "Gamication
is the term in English which denes the tendency to apply this
mechanic to situations that are not pure entertainment, such as:
innovation, marketing, training, employee performance, health and
social changes - says Brian Burke, one of our collaborators.
The objective of game application into business context is: to
obtain high level of employees commitment, to facilitate the intro-
duction of changes in the organization and stimulate innovation.
According to Gartner analysts, games help achieving higher
employee engagement through:
Speeding up performance assessment cycles, causing employe-
es faster adaptation to changes needed in the organization;
Inherent clarication to the objectives and rules of games, remo-
ving ambiguity and uncertainties on working processes;
Submitting a more persuasive narrative to performed tasks
generating more engagement;
Breaking down large tasks into shorter ones that can be achieved
in short term, keeping employees engaged throughout the
project.
In this book, you will nd many examples on applying these prin-
ciples to Brazilian cases, and a practical methodology for immediate
application to business context. Gartner has been following the
process of implementing games in companies worldwide, and sees
with very good eyes the emergence of a professional community
dedicated to this purpose also in Brazil.
Enjoy your reading!
Mrcio Krug
Gartner Brazil - President
9
Introduction
Gamication is an English word which means the use of games in
activities other than pure entertainment. The elements of this ap-
proach and its cases are the subject of this book. We aim to portray
a contemporary vision of this new use of technology in companies
environment, regardless of its size, in order to support the objectives
of their development. From this point of view, the use of games as
part of the work inserts a social component to the corporations
operations, consistent with the current use of technology out of the
professional context.
Games are a modern model of people self-organization to achie-
ve a goal. Companies operational structure and models are the
same since the 19th Century, based on hierarchy, bureaucracy and
specialization of labor in order to achieve efciency on results. This
model requires clearly dened roles and responsibilities, accurate
processes and management based on leadership and control, like in
military organizations. However, in the modern world, these models
restrain individual capability, the way tasks are demanded and the
commitment with professional goals. Information Technology has
created the possibility to organize work in a different way - through
social aspects - and games are the platform that best ts as a tool
for this new trend.
The common social platforms in the modern world allow people
to interact, but theyre not enough to achieve the purpose of
organizing work. When using games, social platforms are amplied,
allowing specialized content to be shared, powered by the context
of use and by the communities around it. It's possible to change
companies tasks by introducing the social dimension of the work
from games that bring motivation, engagement, and personal satis-
faction. Gradually, work platforms, such as softwares and websites,
besides their own business models, have been changed by the
introduction of games mechanisms, creating a new science, which
we will hear a lot about in the next years.
10
MJV is pleased to participate in this transformation as a pioneer
on viewing the corporate use of games. This book has been prepared
by a team that includes experts from different areas, as a result
of years of experience with practical application on this new work
platform. We sincerely hope to contribute to the rapid development of
this sector.
Ysmar Vianna
Maurcio Vianna
* * *
Regardless of the size or geographic location in today's world,
organizations are invariably ruled by the symbiotic relationship
between the constant market variation and the consequent attempt
to overcome them through structured processes along the way. The
most visible side of this inglorious battle is known as organizational
culture. Roughly speaking, we can say that the culture of a company
merges with its historic peculiarities, as well as the people who hel-
ped writing it; therefore, being possible to face eventual resistance
as the winds determine in what direction it will take your boat.
Actually, to keep themselves protable and overcome daily pro-
blems, companies usually need to challenge essential paradigms
to its good working ow which can determine not only the rhythm
of the daily operations but also the directions for the coming years.
Considering an extremely volatile scenario, as a result from erce
competition on conquering consumers who are even more aware of
their needs, it is quite impossible to maintain a corporate strategy
that is not aligned with the constant search for innovation. Its in this
context that Gamication is inserted.
At the end of the sentence, the more experienced reader asks
himself: Did I understand this correctly? So, the suggestion here is
to use games to solve my business issues? The answer is "yes". For
those who didnt consider this answer absurd and decided to give
the authors a vote of condence, we can see that we are not alone.
In a report published in 2012, the Gartner Group announced that
by 2015 about 50% of all global innovation process will be "gamied".
In 2016, according to the study, the Gamication market will be
around $2.8 billion. Need more numbers? In an approach delivered
by the American MTV with the Generation Y (people born from 1980
to 2000), 50% of respondents state that they recognize aspects
from applied games to many different areas of their daily life. This
group now represents 25% of the economically active population
11
worldwide. This means that a quarter of the wealth of the planet is
generated by people who grew up jumping on mushrooms, ghting
monsters to save princesses, taking bolides in surrealistic circuits
and exchanging coins for extra lives. More than just being familiar to
the language of games, these former children, that today occupies
prominent positions in large companies, certainly do not see the
deadlocks imposed to their careers with the same eyes of those who
designed the processes to which they need to undergo to overcome
professional obstacles. From this apparent inconsistency comes the
certainty of an invisible gap between beliefs and expectations, regar-
ding organizations and a considerable portion of their employees.
So, the challenge this book intends to face is set: considering
the mechanisms originated by games, in contrast with current
organizational processes, as well as the way they inuence the daily
routine of the people involved, gamication can be used by com-
panies to engage, socialize, motivate, teach and retain their
contributors and customers in an efcient way. In addition to
this purpose, we should consider a second question, equally or more
relevant than the rst one: what aspects from the world of games
could be translated into the reality of organizations, in order to bring
them closer to this new way of thinking, which assimilation seems
essential to understand the world today?
Bruno Medina
Samara Tanaka
13
1
After all, what's Gamication?
Gamication is the use of games mechanisms oriented to solve
practical issues or to engage a specic public. With increasing
frequency, this set of techniques have been applied by several
companies and entities from many segments as alternatives to
traditional approaches, especially to encourage people to adopt
certain behaviors, to get to know new technologies, speed their le-
arning or training processes, and turning some tedious or repetitive
tasks into pleasant ones. Mainly in recent years, game designers
worldwide have dedicated their efforts to apply games principles on
different areas such as health, education, public policies, and sports
or to increase productivity.
The term Gamification was first used in 2002 by Nick Pelling,
British computer programmer and researcher. The term only be-
came popular 8 years later, in a TED presentation done by Jane
McGonigal, an American world-renowned game designer and
author of Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How
They Can Change the World, considered a kind of Gamification
Bible. Janes argument that grabbed the world's attention was
the perception that if all the hours, played only by World of War-
craft (traditional online game that has been running since 2001)
players, are summed, 5.93 billion years could have been spent on
solving problems in a virtual world. Indeed, the number seems
absurd, but it is correct: the entire history of planet Earth, from
the first manifestation of life up to now, has developed in a period
of time shorter than the one that, up to 2010, totalized the dedica-
tion to the fantastic world of Azeroth by its faithful admirers.
Its worth thinking about what results could be obtained, for
example, if the same effort was applied to solve real world issues
such as, the eradication of extreme poverty, global warming,
mobility in big cities or research for healing a severe disease.
Mentioning a real example, in 2011 Washington Universitys
researchers were in the front pages because of the game Foldit,
14
a crowdsourcing [1] instructed to gather group efforts from
thousands of anonymous participants, motivated by the challenge
to try to understand how could a specific protein be used against
Aids. The activity attracted 46,000 participants - the vast majority
without any connection with the medical area - which in just 10
days solved a puzzle that scientists took 15 years trying without
any success. This kind of initiative is referred to as Serious Games.
The gamication development comes from a somewhat obvious
nding: human beings are strongly attracted to games. Over the
centuries, mainly all known civilizations have been associated to an
important competition to the social structuring of the community
which they belonged to. Besides the most predictable examples,
such as Greeks (Ancient Olympic Games), Romans (gladiator duels,
chariot races) and Aztecs (Mesoamerican Ball Game), there is still a
surprising evidence [2] of this fact that occurred about 3,000 years
ago in Lydia, a region located in the ancient Minor Asia. In times of
climatic adversities, Atys, king at the time, established an unusual
practice of food rationing: to intercalate game days when eating
wasnt allowed and no game days - when eating was allowed.
This policy lasted 18 years and it started by chance, from the
perception that: when involved long hours in competitions group
members simply lost their interest in food.
Still on the theme, renowned game designer Chris Crawford
[3] described an interesting theory about the evolution of the act
of playing inserted on the evolution of the species context. By
observing, for example, the way crocodiles or other reptiles hunt,
one can notice that in these animals this action is made by an
extremely simple mechanism consisting of three well-dened
milestones: rst of all they choose a place to hide, then they wait
for a prey of their interest and only then they attack. The procedure
is considered a locomotor learning, since there is almost no brain
activity involved. Mammals, on the other hand, have developed a
more sophisticated method, sequenced in ve steps: they prowl
searching for a prey and, once they nd it, they keep lurking,
trying to get as close as possible. When they get close enough to
ponce, they attack, which invariably involves the prey chase and
subsequent capture. Note that this way of hunting demands more
brain than the one used by reptiles because it involves some sort of
strategy, the same required by these animals to prevail upon their
prey, even one bigger than themselves.
And how did mammals learn this? They learnt it through the
exercise of playing. On herbivores, the relationship between playing
and surviving occur in a more visible way: because running is the
15
best defense against predators, when they are not ghting for their
lives, they are having fun jumping, kicking that can even scare
wolves, for example running off through the eld. For ancestral
humans, one of the main ways of getting food was basically con-
sisted of throwing objects towards their targets. Maybe thats why
we still love throwing objects: stones to water, spears, hammers,
basketballs, volleyballs, golf, etc.
Due to this, its natural that not just games but the act of playing
has been, for a long time, topic for many academic discussions.
During the 30s, the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, in his book
Homo Ludens, [4] brought a signicant contribution to related re-
searches when stated the need of understanding the game beyond
the entertainment aspect. By his theory, Huizinga shows how the
act of playing is inserted in several social relationships, such as
politics, work, poetry, and even nature. From the authors concept,
games are considered artifacts that build dialogical and dialectical
relationships with the subjects through its singular and distinct
ways of interaction. Therefore, the act of playing has a meaning
beyond entertainment. It presents its importance as a cultural
element when the game is more than a physiologic phenomenon or
a psychological reection. [5] It goes beyond physical or biological
activity. Its a signicant function. There is something in the game
which transcends the immediate needs of life and gives meaning to
the action. Every game means something.
But how exactly can games help the understanding or even the
adaptation to changes in daily life? What should be, for instance,
the signicant contribution to the business world since, as a
legitimate cultural component, games contribute to the cognitive,
emotional and social development?
[1] Crowdsourcing:
Model of collaborative
production that put
many people together,
personally or virtually,
to mitigate impasses,
create content or
develop solutions.
[2] mcgonigal, 2012
[3] Lecture conducted in
Cologne Game
Lab, 2011. Source:
youtube.com/
watch?v=5LoMmcJA2JY
[4] huizinga, 2001
[5] mastrocola, 2012
16
morality,
creativity,
spontaneity,
ability to solve
problems, absence
of prejudice, facts
acceptance
self-esteem, self-condence, sense
of achievement, respect to others, be
respected by others
friendship, family, sexual intimacy
security towards the body, job, subsistence, morality,
family nucleus, health, prosperity
breathing, feeding, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion
Perhaps a first step towards understanding the phenomenon
that games represent may be related to the famous Theory of Hie-
rarchy of Needs, developed in 1943 by the American psychologist
Abraham Maslow.
According to the study, human needs can be grouped in pyra-
mid levels suggesting that the journey to self-fulfillment of any in-
dividual is only successful when the achievement of their desires
occurs in ascending order, starting from the most basic desires
to the most complex ones. At the baseline of the pyramid are the
physiological demands, such as eating, breathing or drinking
water; followed by demands related to security, love, esteem and,
finally, personal fulfillment, having a sense of morality, be creative
and achieve spontaneity in relationships.
According to the suggested logic, the act of playing would be
obviously related to the top of the pyramid, since it is considered
as a desirable activity but not essential to survival. The point here
is: the more individuals, societies and life itself become complex,
more complicated are the required mechanisms to experience
the feeling of satisfaction in daily life. In our work or in personal
relationships, the rules are often hazy; undefined goals, and the
way to achieve them - unknown. Actions do not receive feedback,
and rewards, if any, may take time. Therefore, it is comprehensive
that we have created games, as they satiate in a simpler, faster,
Self-realization
Esteem
Love/belonging
Physiological
Security
17
clearer and efficient way this constant search to conquer or
achieve objectives.
At the end of 70s, Bernard Suits, in his acclaimed book The
Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia, dened the matter properly:
A game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.
Like in the game of life, winning and losing are quite subjective
concepts; unnecessary obstacles assume the role of providing us
some certainty among many assumptions. The relation and asso-
ciation between the games mechanisms with human behavior will
be deeper explored when the players proles and the motivations
that sensitize them are presented.
Although games are an inevitable starting point to understand
gamication as a methodology, it is worth saying something that will
be fundamental to absorb this books content in a more protable
and assertive way: although it is one of the most celebrated
themes of the moment gamication , as a concept it has been
systematically misinterpreted. It is wrong to think that it is a science
that focuses on the act of creating games, but yet a methodology
through which game mechanisms are applied to solve problems or
impasses in other contexts. Wikipedia denition:
gamification: use of game mechanics to several contexts with
the objective to improve the participation and generate engage-
ment and commitment from potential users. [6]
In general, gamification application indicates situations that
involve creation or adaptation of users experience to a particular
product, service or process; the intention to awake positive emo-
tions, explore personal skills or engage virtual or physical rewards
to complete tasks. Other than Serious Games, and according to
its more acclaimed definition, to submit to a gamification process
doesnt mean to participate in a game, but yet take over its most
efficient aspects (aesthetic, mechanics and dynamics) to emulate
benefits that are usually reached by it.
According to Yu-kai Chou, [7] probably the most respected
gamification guru nowadays, the biggest contribution this metho-
dology can offer to society would be the opposite to traditional
Design focused in function to the Human Centered Design.
According to his theory, most of the known production systems
are oriented to facilitate tasks performance in the shortest time
possible. The simple fact that people who perform these jobs
have feelings, insecurities and opinions about what is expected of
them, or about how they should achieve their professional goals,
[6] Source: pt.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Ludicao
[7] Source: yukaichou.co
18
already represents a shortcut to activate their self-motivations.
This way of thinking about the organizational model can, for
instance, lead to a cultural change in a department, or a voluntary
acceptance of a new corporate process.
Also according to Chou, this is the reason for choosing the
term "gamification", since, over the past four decades, the most
notable brains in the gaming industry have been busy understan-
ding how to motivate and engage people from the perspective
of human behavior analysis. However, its wrong to think that
gamifying a process is just like reproducing a recipe. People ge-
nerally do not behave as lab mice, who submit themselves without
questioning for a piece of cheese.
Applying a well-succeeded gamification strategy is directly
related to the understanding of the context where the user is
inserted, and what are their extrinsic (incited by the external
environment) and intrinsic (self-motivated) expectations and
constraints.
It is also noteworthy that we only get engaged in long term with
games that make sense, emphasizing the importance of creating
arguments and weave feasible narratives, i.e., related to the reality
of the target audience. But, what about Candy Crush? That story
of a candy factory could not be more foolish and unrealistic, and
yet its played by millions of people every day, the reader may
think. We need to note in this case that games like Candy Crush,
Draw Something or SongPop, to mention just a few that became
extremely popular in a very short period of time, dont intend
nothing more than entertain their users while they wait for the
subway or at the dentist. Different from games designed only
to entertain, gamification uses game mechanisms to modify or
develop new behaviors.
Nevertheless, this is not always an easy goal to achieve. De-
dicating ourselves to the exercise of investigating our routine in
search of attempts for applying gamification to the different ends,
each of us could create a list of initiatives that nobody cares
about. You just need to think that, in theory, any game has game
elements, but this doesnt turn them into really good games.
Paraphrasing Mario Herger, another gamification guru, gamifying
a bad application only causes it to become even worse. [10] As
the methodology achieves popularity, it is not difficult to predict
a scenario in which scores, leader boards and wide badges distri-
bution [11] will be omnipresent, even being little or not effective
at all, considering the real goals that were initially intended. Even
before considering gamification as a possible approach to the
71%
of American do not
feel themselves
motivated by their
work
= us$ 350 bi
injury [8]
1
BILLION
active players
nowadays
100
MILLION
hours:
time to build
Wikipedia knowledge
=
3 weeks
playing Angry Birds
=
7 days playing
Call of Duty
92%
0-2 children already
playing
60
MILLION
of Brazilian people
have at least one
video game at home
[9]
19
problem to be solved, its necessary to keep in mind three ques-
tions, the same that, if properly answered, often increases largely
the chances of projects to succeed. The questions are:[12]
1. Why will a game benefit the services users?
2. What are the business purposes behind this game?
3. How will game mechanisms enable users to reach the
business purposes?
Next, we will present some examples from various areas,
to measure the potential benefits that could be achieved by
gamification.
Education
Duolingo
Duolingo is a collaborative online platform that combines
free languages learning and a crowdsourcing-based translation
service. The system was designed so that, by studying a particu-
lar language, the student, even without being fully aware, helps
translating websites and online documents. Beginners start the
course translating simple sentences and, according to their pro-
gress, they receive more complex texts, and so on. The platform
users are then asked to rank the colleagues translations, giving
valuable feedback on understanding and learning from the work
theyve done.
While evolving their knowledge, the students receive points
by the completion of specific tasks, and some of them include
time constraints or are mandatory to get to a new phase. Wrong
answers results in losing points and lives as well as delaying
the games progress. Since the system is adaptive, each student
has a learning experience absolutely customized to their needs,
once the challenges are set according to their performance. Its
interesting to observe how the model is efficient, considering
that, despite Duolingo users are technically working without
compensation, they don't seem to care about it.
[8] Source: gallup.com/
poll/150383/majority-
-american-workers-not-
-engaged-jobs.aspx
[9] Source: Ibope (jo-
gos.uol.com.br/ultimas-
-noticias/2012/03/31/
segundo-ibope-mais-
-de-60-milhoes-de-bra-
sileiros-possuem-vi-
deogame-em-casa.htm)
[10] herger, 2013
[11] Badges: Insignias
that, in games universe,
comrm the acquisition
of conquers or specic
habilities.
[12] Source: enterprise-
-gamication.com
20
Financing Sector
Rabobank [13]
According to the prevailing logic, words like Bank and enter-
tainment are not to be used in the same sentence, at least before
Rabobank German financing institution acting in 48 countries,
with assets about 770 billion adopted gamification as a tool to
boost business. The first step of this journey was to use Serious
Games to promote business on TV shows or prospect potential
clients (actions for 8-16 y/o audience), but the project that really
stood out on the strategy chosen by the bank was related to mort-
gages requests. The way the process was structured, a proponent
needed to submit about 30 documents to the bank before getting
access to the money. The intention of the projects developers
was that the client could submit them online, without the need to
deliver the paperwork at the agency.
By introducing the practice of providing feedback for each
upload, the released amounts were more precisely defined brin-
ging less risk for the institution. The loans requesters had more
clearness about the processs milestones, reducing anxiety levels
and, consequently, the need for more interaction with banks staff.
As the process began to be seen by customers as a kind of com-
petition for efficiency and quality of the data provided, its time
length was reduced and became more assertive. The conclusion
is that currently, 80% of mortgages requests are made through
online system, reducing significantly the banks process cost.
Health / well-being
SuperBetter [14]
Developed by Jane McGonigals personal experience
(years ago, the game designer had an accident that caused a
serious concussion, which abruptly interrupted her career and
endangered her life), this is a tool created to help severe patients
to progress, improving their clinical conditions. Doctors, Psycho-
logists, Scientists and researchers were involved for almost two
years on the games design, with the main objective to strengthen
the physical and emotional condition of patients, by means of
resilience. Keep fit, change the diet or include daily doses of exer-
cises are already hard tasks for people in good health conditions.
Imagine for those somehow debilitated? Therefore, when starting
the game, users need to establish a goal and determine how to
achieve it.
21
By completing tasks and inspiring other people with their
progress, the player gain points in different areas of their proles,
such as mental, emotional, social etc. Its possible to submit
themselves to specic guides that determine tasks like: walking
around the block and dancing your favorite song or even defeat
"villains", for more than one hour, sitting on the chair or driving short
itineraries that could be completed on foot. In case of needing help,
the player can ask support from their Facebook friends, or even get
connected to other players from SuperBetter. Therefore, the battle
against severe diseases should turn into an exciting competition
where quality of life is the most valuable Prize.
Retail/e-commerce
Woot.com [15]
Woot.com is a retail website that shows a quite peculiar busi-
ness model: Only one daily offer available in limited amount. The
goods are updated at midnight sharp, meaning that: if customers
really want to buy the websites items, they need to submit to
its hard rules. Because each product has limited availability and
this availability is unknown until the moment the offer is posted,
its evident that these factors enforce the potential purchasers
impulsiveness.After all, they know that staying up late on a working
day can result in a big disappointment or in the possibility of
purchasing the item they always longed for, at an unbeatable price.
After submitting to the process for a few nights, most visitors
change their real interest for the offered product to the sensation
of finally purchasing anything. In this case, the purpose is to over
value the offer and get advantage from the customers impulsivity
to close the deal. Apparently, for some Woot.com clients, what
really matters is to win the "competition" no matter what.
Technology/social
Game with a Purpose [16]
This website uses crowdsourcing and gamification to engage
internet users to train computers to answer researches in a more
accurate manner. One of the available games is called Esp Game:
two people look at one picture on their screens and type as many
words as possible to describe the image. Once the provided
descriptions by both players match, they earn points and go to the
next level. The matched definitions turn into tags that help players
to categorize pictures to facilitate future research processes.
[13] For more
information access
enterprise-gamication.
com/index.php/de/
nanzwesen/144-
-rabobank-how-a-
-dutch-bank-wins-with-
-gamication
[14] For more
information access
superbetter.com/
about
[15] For more
information access
woot.com
[16] For more
information access
gameswithpurpose.org
From observing these cases, and the way gamification can
be applied as a structured process to achieve specific goals, we
follow to the next chapter where we will deepen in the essentials
aspects for using games mechanics properly. So, before getting
down to work, it will be necessary to go back to the beginning,
and understand what makes a game a good game.
23
25
2
One or Two things you should
know about games
The Three Faces of Games
Everyone is able to identify a game when in contact with one,
even those with minimal knowledge. However, a much more
complicated task would be elucidating the broad concept capa-
ble of translating all the diversity suggested by the term. After all,
what is common between the traditional OnePeg and the latest
shooter game released on digital platforms? When we need to
comprehend more clearly what exactly characterizes a game, its
necessary to contextualize it according to our life. This means
to reflect upon how the act of playing is a recreation and how
games represent a way to play, by the meaning of experiencing or
simulating circumstances more or less tangible.
The recreation is therefore a playful, unstructured and
spontaneous activity, and the act of playing a fundamental
condition on peoples development on their learning processes
and investigation related to the world and society. Even though
this activity oversteps boundaries of pure entertainment, as
mentioned in the previous chapter, its genesis includes the
playfulness concept. From this principle, its fundamental to
pay attention to the interaction possibilities proposed by games
and its possible application to our daily life, as they are currently
presented through multiple genres and interfaces. Among the
main existing categories, we may mention analogical, digital and
pervasive games.
analogical games
History shows that the first known game formats have emerged
around the year 3500 BC, but are still present from classic board
games (chess, backgammon, checkers, etc.) to others not less
classics as Monopoly, Game of Life, War or Detective. Other
26
examples to be considered are:
Board Games like Pick-up-Sticks, and RPG Games;
Card Games like Poker, Uno, and Trading Card Games;
Games (collectable card games) like Magic the Gathering,
Pokemon and Yu-gi-Oh;
Dice Games like Craps;
Pencil-and-paper games like Crosswords, Tic-Tac-Toe and
Stop;
Sports games like basketball and soccer;
Group Dynamics and Training Games.
digital games
In order to get the proper comprehension of this game category, a
previous contextualization is required mainly due to the importance
gained on the last three decades; from the time videogames
consoles became home appliances. In case evidences are not
sufcient, the game industry gures prove the exponential growth
of the gaming industry, which absolute billing in the United States
exceeded $ 20 billion in 2009, surpassing even the powerful movie
industry. Maybe the explanation to this phenomenon is related
to technological advent, factor that is leveraging the market
improvement nowadays representing an average of a third of total
expenditures with entertainment by offering enough platforms
diversity and formats to cover all players proles.
In addition, its closely related to internet growing and also
to social networks popularity, especially Facebook and its large
range of app games, as well as the increasing incidence of smar-
tphones, devices used by the vast majority of players.
According to Alexandre Orrico, data collected by Pricewa-
terhouseCoopers (PwC) survey, indicates that in 2011 the Brazilian
market turnover was of approximately USD $1900 million, with
the expected growth of 7.1% per year until 2016. This indicator
makes Brazil the fourth country in the world in Electronic gaming
consumerism. Besides electronic games, we must also consider
in this category an important subdivision: the simulators. Even
more faithful to its proposed aims, these devices are used when
the intention is to offer a high quality experience of graphic and
sensorial similarity reducing possible chances of accidents or
operational costs.
27
pervasive games
As electronic games evolve, so does the discussion revolving
around the creation of artifacts that can enable more realistic and
interactive interfaces, not only to meet the needs from demanding
consumers that are eager for technology, but also to transcend
the experience provided by the excessively virtualized relationship
between player and device. From this point of view, the pervasive
concept has guided launchings like Microsofts Kinect, and Oculus
Rift from Oculus vr, among other consoles designed to physically
engage the player, forcing them, for example, to abandon their
comfortable armchair in order to sweat when wielding a real racket
that controls a virtual ball in a tennis match. By denition, pervasive
games are those in which there is at least one type of interaction
that takes place in the physical universe, in this case, with another
person, with a particular object or in a specic place. When mixing
typical electronic games challenges (enigmas, missions) with
mobile tools (smartphones, wireless network) these games can
determine that, to accomplish challenges, participants will have to
take photos and send them to others or meet unknown people in a
coffee shop to hand them an object that will serve as a key to unlock
new levels; or maybe the "match" will occur from 9am to 6pm on
an outlined perimeter in a citys neighborhood where they will have
to identify players in a busy crowd and tell them a code in order to
form a team. The pervasive technology enables "games to be run
on heterogeneous devices, likely to be available seven days a week,
24 hours a day. [1] Note that this interaction must be necessarily
tied to a tenuous relationship between game and reality, however,
without acting intrusively on the player. The offshoots of pervasive
games are the ARGs (Alternate Reality Games), widely used in
promotional activities, stimulating the consumers relationship with
brands and products in a playful activity.
What characterizes a game as a game?
With more or less gender, age and specificity inclination anything
that can be considered a game has a set of indivisible elements
that most of the times are not explicitly structured. However,
when different addressed rules are put aside, "all games share
four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and volunta-
ry participation." [2] [1] vsquez; andrea,
2009, p. 26.
[2] mcgonigal, 2012
28
The goal justifies an activity performed by players and, in other
words, the element by which game participants focus on achieving
designated purposes.
The goal may be shown as victory upon a competitor, the con-
clusion of all challenges from a videogame (also known as beat
the game) or promote a characters excellence in an online game
where there is no end. Goal and objective should not be confused
because the first transcends the idea of completing a task, unlike
the second. So, we can emphasize that goal is not always reached
and may only serve as a purpose constantly pursued by the player
giving him a sense of direction during the game.
The second element to be considered is the rules. When combi-
ned, rules compose a set of dispositions that condition the games
realization in order to promote the balance between possible
challenges without being easy enough to discourage its resolution.
Rules adjust the players complexity level when facing an activity
to be developed, enabling creativity and encouraging strategic
thinking. In some games, the players themselves are responsible
for subverting the pre-set rules, which configures as a dynamic
associated to the act of playing.
Therefore, rules have the function to define the way the player
will behave or how he will arrange his actions to meet the games
challenges. The third common characteristic in games is the
feedback system. The main function is to inform players how their
relation with the various aspects that regulate their interaction to
the activity is. It is also up to this system to improve motivation,
keeping the players constantly aware of the achieved progress
related to themselves and the goal, in some explicit manner.
The fourth and, purposefully, last feature shown is voluntary par-
ticipation. In any type of game, digital or not, its necessary to have
consensus among all proposed conditions and the player. In other
words, the acceptance of the goals, rules and feedback model is
necessary in order to enable the common conditions for matching
games also with multi-players. Under this perspective, games only
exist when the player is able to engage with these elements as they
29
were proposed. Therefore, this is the sought goal when deciding to
apply certain games mechanic to a specic purpose.
Other aspects such as interactivity, graphic support, narrative,
rewards, competitiveness, virtual environments or the concept of
victory, among others, are common features to many games, but
are not defining. These artifices are oriented to build a closer rela-
tionship with the four previously listed characteristics, i.e., ways to
consolidate and strengthen the stated elements.
Motivation, the magic word
Undoubtedly, one of the main factors that justify all the interest
games have caused lately is the perception of attractiveness they
have upon us, and how this ability to generate engagement and
dedication can be applied to other purposes like, for example,
corporate context. This perception is often reinforced by
sentences that can sound quite familiar especially to those with
teenage children such as This boy is addicted to videogame or
My son is so hooked up on this game that he doesnt hear me.
More corroborative evidence of this behavior pattern is the
death of a Thai in 2012, after reportedly having spent more than 40
consecutive hours playing Diablo III, or the North American who
lost his own son's birth because he could not resist the temptation
to fall back in his saga in World of Warcraft when back home to
pick up the suitcase that he was supposed to take to the hospital.
Similar cases, unfortunately, are not rare, mainly in Asia, where
there are specialized clinics to treat people addicted to electronic
games. Facing these facts, a same question always comes to
mind: after all, why are games are so attractive to human beings?
The answer is: because they bring satisfaction.
The pleasant achievement of an activity is one of the most
important elements to activate our creativity. The players
dedication and subsequent pleasure achieved on performed
tasks during the game should be a key factor to obtain a positive
emotion. However, we observe that motivation is a neuralgic
point on discussing creative activity, and respectively, the study
of gamification. From this case, we notice that the impetus is
related to a behavioral process which leads the player to act in
favor of meeting certain demands. In this context, it is assumed
that there are two cut-outs corresponding to the definitions of
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
30
Intrinsic motivation can be defined as the one in which the
player is engaged in an activity by his own desire, i.e., "because he
perceives it as interesting, engaging, challenging and enjoyable.
[3] Therefore, "an intrinsically motivated individual looks for no-
velty, entertainment, curiosity fulfillment, opportunity to practice
new skills or gain control over something. [4]
Extrinsic motivation, in turn, suggests that the relationship
between the player and the developed activity comes from the
desire of achieving certain external reward, such as material
goods or even recognition by success.
Therefore, the concept of motivation, applied to the scope
of games mechanisms, could be defined as the one where the
persons lived experiences are articulated, and new internal and
external resignation perspectives are purposed to these proces-
ses, through creativity stimulation and free thinking, providing
well-being to the player.
Several factors coexist when taking into account the develo-
pment of a game and their motivation strategies. Broadly, these
features seek to achieve the four great motivators axis: com-
petition, learning, escaping reality and social interaction.
Some of these factors are described below, as well as the most
common types of players, in order to present how the mentioned
motivation axis are correlated.
31
age, generation and gender
These are the three most significant factors, when the objective
is to define a really engaging game strategy. This is because, in
general, the mere consideration of such aspects already provides
enough subsidies for creating and setting a narrative; with them, it
becomes possible to carry out the survey of major hypotheses, as
the probable time of dedication, level of interest in the topic or the
supposed platform domain on which the game will be available.
What attracts each genre in games [5]
Men
spatial puzzles
trial and error
competition
destruction
mastery
Women
dialog and verbal puzzles
learning by example
real world situations
nurturing
emotion
Age-related games [6]
0-3 Toy attracted
4-6 Awake of interest in games
7-9 The age of reason: become very interested in game playing
10-13 The age of obsession
13-18 Plenty of free time to play and strong gender differences
18-24 They play less than when teenagers, but have preferences
25-35 Focused to professional/familiar issues, casual game players
35-50 Family maturation, they get the game interest back
50+ Plenty of free time, games become socializing activity
Researches [7] show, for example, that male audience has more
tendencies to engage to more competitive driven games. Women
prefer casual games they can play in smartphones or from social
networks, with interaction and experience sharing with other players.
[3] fleith; alencar,
2010, p. 209-230.
[4] guimares, 2001, p.
37-57.
[5-6] Adapted from
schell, 2008
[7] Sources: blog.
urry.com/bid/57219/
Mobile-Social-Gamers-
-The-New-Mass-
-Market-Powerhouse
e en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Women_and_vi-
deo_games
32
culture and social role
When thinking about ways of motivation, cultural factor is also an
element to be considered. Social-economic aspects, preferences
for individual or collective activities, cooperative or competitive
profile, possibility of customization of game characters, among
others, are also important supporting axis to help awaken the
interest in games. Understanding the real world scenario the player
is inserted in, is, therefore, fundamental to conceive dynamics
to make them represented on the virtual world. Lets consider a
corporate game example: employees who are more communicative,
or who like to express themselves by writing, may, in the game
context, devote themselves to create discussion forums, blogs, and
manuals, not only narrowing their relationship with the activity, but
also encouraging other colleagues to also join the proposal.
skill level
Creating a difficulty system to the presented challenges during
the course of a game may be a complex task, mainly when the
intention is to adjust it to the interest of the target audience. This
happens because there can be different complexity levels in the
same game, whether from distinct difficulty challenges or even
from building a demand system that makes a common challenge
a somewhat complicated one. To be motivating, a game should
enable players to feel constantly stimulated, but this feat is only
possible when an adequate evaluation of their skills is carried out
when facing the tasks they need to comply. From levels, tutorials,
practical examples, training modes, among other strategies, a
game should enable both beginners and experts to have levels
of interaction that shows them difficulties that are compatible
with their ability to perform them. Thus, knowing and tracking a
scenario from the target audience whether through the features
already mentioned, as well as others, additional and more specific
- is fundamental to create a well tied system relation between chal-
lenge and ability. A system that combines such factors, in addition
to expanding the scope of target audience since it attracts
people with different levels of accuracy to perform tasks ena-
bles a big step on establishing an effective engaging environment,
directly motivating and, therefore, a successful game.
Mario Herger, in his book Gamification at Work Designing
Engagining Business Software, [8] proves that it is fundamental to
clearly define the players initial expertise level, as well as planning
how it will evolve when interacting with the proposed dynamic,
keeping them constantly motivated. Among game designers,
33
there is a notorious rule that defines that good games are those
with easy first steps, but hard to become an expert.
Players, the protagonists of the show
Now, that some of the main components of the game universe are
known, its time to get a little closer to the real protagonists of the
show: the players.
After all, games, gamication, or even this book, only exist from
the conviction that, within each of us, in a more or less obvious way,
there is a player, avid for facing challenges. However, this is not
enough reason to believe that putting two people around a dice or a
ball would solve it all.
Despite our natural attraction for strategy or competition
dynamics, as mentioned in the previous chapter, we get engaged
only to games that make sense from a particular point of view. This
could be a possible explanation to the fact that Dominoes, Rugby,
Mario Bros., Crosswords or Bocce Ball, despite their distinct
activities, share only one common definition. By following the
proposed thinking, the games diversity just reflects the plurality of
recognizable profiles among the players themselves.
From a study conducted in 1996 by Richard Bartle, entitled
Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs [9],
[8] herger, 2013
Beginner
Intermediary
Expert
new participant
on the game
routine and habits
construction in the game
master, creation
of challenges
and teachings to
other players
34
now it is being considered that the wide range of profiles could be
summarized into four broad groups of players, according to the
following scheme:
killers
This kind of player gets into competition motivated only to defeat
the competitors. No matter what the reward is, they just want to be
the best. During the game, they adopt an aggressive behavior, and
their interventions are noted as more incisive and focused in gran-
ting their condition as leaders. It is an extremely competitive profile
and, despite having a relationship with other players, the interaction
occurs in an intensive manner, with the imposition desire prevailing
over cooperation. They instigate other players by bragging about
their triumphs, or even jeopardize them directly if they get in the
way of their goals on a game. Tests conducted by Gamer dna [10]
show that this profile represents less than 1% of players.

achievers
These players appreciate the constant feeling of victory; even
if the objective to be achieved is not so significant. Their main
motivation is to carry out all the activities presented in the game,
by a dedicated immersion in the games universe. They dont care
about social relationships, but establish them in a competitive
friendly manner, even if they are not ahead on the scoreboard.
The achievers are better identified by standing out from oppo-
nents through their own achievements. They represent up to 10%
of total players.
Killers
people environment
environment
action
Socializers
Achievers
Explorers
35
explorers
The third group includes those players interested in discovering
all games possibilities and reasons. By being curious, they can
get engaged in studies or develop skills that help them solve
specific challenges. In their view, other players also add positively
to the experience, but are not considered essential. As a differen-
tiation factor, they value the communitys recognition by the level
of knowledge shown, presenting two parallel motivations: the
escape from reality and, mainly, the learning that results from the
activity. For this profile, the most important is the journey, not the
conquest. As the achievers, the explorers also represent about
10% of total players.
socializers
The fourth and last group of the most significant players profiles is
the socializers. As the names suggests, socializers are those who
see in games an opportunity for social interaction. More important
than achieving the proposed goals or complete assigned tasks, is
the occasion of the game itself and its potential to stimulate social
links that interest them. Socializers tend to prefer cooperative
games that require united work and collaborative personalities.
According to the survey, they represent about 80% of all existing
players. Does this make Facebook success a little easier to
understand?
Rewards (the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow)
We have mentioned many aspects that help to define players
profiles and determine their needs and motivation. The next key
element to build a good game mechanic is the right definition of
a reward system. In general, rewards represent the main reason
of players motivation to persist in a game until its completion, or
even to keep them playing, when the proposal does not include
the ending concept. To reach this goal, when creating a game, its
necessary to consider the need of developing frequent feedback
models, because they are one of the most efficient paths to assure
the engagement continuity during the activity. It is required the-
refore, to be clear on the balance that must exist between reward
accuracy and difficulty level inherent to the action, with the risk of
banalizing or making them impossible. Among several actions that
can be mentioned as reward formats commonly found in games,
[9] bartle, 1996
[10] Source: gamerdna.
com/quizzes/
bartle-test-of-gamer-
-psychology
36
five deserve special attention: status, access, influence, freebies,
and gifting.
Status is the most explicit type of reward attribution and can
be found in leaderboards ranking format, badges distribution
(kind of trophy / task achievement indicators or expertise) or by
measuring the players themselves. This last one is probably the
most significant one for those involved in a game, since it comes
from public recognition from other participants.
Acess is a strong ally in effective reward systems construc-
tion. After all, enable or not access to strategic content, insiders
information, specific skills, among others, is a very promising way
to keep players connected to their purposes. The setback is often
used as punishment for rule breaking.
Still about the feedback systems, there is influence given
through direct or indirect game interference; direct influence
is offered when its desirable that the player feels, somehow,
in control of the game. This may occur by exclusive access or
possibility of intervention in certain rule or activity, with the
purpose of validating an achieved goal, for example. This option
can be used when cooperative construction of the system is
intended or when evaluating participants interests by observing
their manifestations. Indirect influence is perceived when a player
intercedes, voluntarily or not, in other players decision or destiny,
by the influence achieved in the system.
Finally, there are freebies and gifting. Freebies means the
simplest reward method possible, like: benefits, items, tips, extra
life etc. It could be described as a kind of positive feedback on a
small scale and higher frequency. Gifting, in turn, works as a way
of increasing social interaction in a game, based on the exchange
of gifts among players and the consequent establishment of
strong and engaged communities. Also in relation to freebies,
its necessary to be aware of their availability, since the reward
unpredictability enhances its relevance within the system. This
model predicts that the same task can generate more or less
valuable assets, whereas, in specific situations, great prizes are
offered. In a broader sense, the players satisfaction would be in
the totality of the collection and even in the random character of
its acquisition.
It is worth mentioning the fact that the reward aspects compo-
sing this segment were detailed in descending order of perceived
importance, where "status" is the most relevant, and "freebies"
are the less relevant. A practical example of this statement is
the marketing actions that have become common among credit
37
card companies, especially when they want to get closer to their
targets. The notion of status assigned from exclusive shows, VIP
areas, and advanced ticket acquisition, notify the clients that they
belong to an exclusive group, and their loyalty to the brand is
reciprocated with exclusive rewards, i.e., they are not available to
others, independently of their purchasing power. Going against
this trend, companies from other industries prefer to distribute
plastic bottles, pens, key chains and mugs containing logos
or catchy phrases to their most assiduous supporters. When
rewarded this way, consumers tend to think that the quality of the
relationship established with this company is compatible with
the low value freebies produced in thousands and distributed to
anyone. Note how interesting is the fact that, the less efficient
strategy - that leads to higher costs - is the favorite by most
companies.
Monitoring and measurements:
Are we in the right path?
As it is common throughout any new dynamic or technology
implementing process, it is also considered very important in
gamification design to assess the partial results as soon as pos-
sible, in order to enable process adjustments in early stages. In
this context, monitoring the adherence to the developed dynamic
gives fundamental inputs to review the strategy when the game
is still not established to the target audience. Adjusting missions,
monitoring players motivation and measuring their results are,
therefore, the three key initiatives to an assertive evaluation of
the success level reached by the proposition.
Regarding the creation of missions, Mario Herger defines the
smart model (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and
Time Bound), which is understood that the chances of adherence
to missions depends on how specific, measurable, actionable,
realistic and time-bound they are.
Concerning motivation monitoring, its recommended to pre-
viously plan the players exhaustion regarding established goals.
It is understandable even expected that at the moment
when the dynamic is inserted, the interest and curiosity levels are
evidenced in a higher level than during the game. Therefore, the
attempt to predict possible routes and fill them with exclusive
elements likely to interfere with the course of the narrative is
worth trying. As an example, we can mention an initial tool set
38
or commands, available in the beginning of the activity and
accessible to all; and another, a special one, that can only be in-
corporated from the development of abilities that are associable
to the games main objectives. Regarding metric creation, it is
suggested to include aspects such as degrees of engagement,
time spent on the activity and ROI achieved, among others.
Now that you know the structural games elements, we can
move forward and understand how they can be employed to
maximize benefits and solve impasses in the corporate context.
41
3
Gamication, Inc.
Despite of being one of the main bases upon which all kind
of corporations are structured nowadays, history shows that
during many centuries the strategy concept was strictly linked to
military environment. It was necessary, therefore, to deal with an
extensive path of successive economic crises and patrimony irre-
parable losses, until basic long-term objectives and goals started
to take place in the mind of ancestors managers, who were
directly responsible for the paradigm change that made them, up
to then, see on their business flexibility the main component of
the success they had reached. Only on the mid19
th
Century and
the consequent conformation of the first mass markets that
required clear definitions about scale and scope business
planning started to be considered and planned.
The trend was consolidated a little later, during World War II,
when the dismantlement of economies imposed the need for bet-
ter resources dimensioning, because of the general goods scarcity.
From those days on, until the end of 20th Century, the belief in
the traditional model prevailed, contrasting the balance between
the companys strength and weakness with the opportunities
and external threats as a secure measure to reach good results
continuously. Though this definition is considered valid in the
current context, where changes seem to occur in a more and more
dynamic and less predictable manner, even the most Cartesian
managers shall agree that the statement may sound naive on what
really needs to be done to achieve a prominent position in such a
competitive scenario.
Its possible to state that most organizations leading markets
assigns the prosperity achieved to the existence of a formula that
combines processes, relationships and values, private and non-
-transferable. The success obtained by this recipe may become
the propeller on a positive cycle, suggesting the maintenance and
42
refinement of such practices as the most likely way of expanding
the achieved benefits.
Not infrequently however, what was a path of dreams reveals
itself as a dead end, mainly due to the substitution of the thinking
that enabled the initial positive results by the desire of the status
quo maintenance. According to the four big indicators of the
Active Inertia theory, developed by Donald N. Sull, [1] the success
setback in corporate environment is due mainly to four aspects:
strategic frameworks that become vision concealers, processes
that become routines, relationships that turn into shackles and
values that become dogma.
strategic frameworks vision concealers
processes routines
relationships shackles
values dogmas
Even a shallow review on the elements already mentioned
before, would show that the corporate stiffening is the most
visible part of the attempt to extend winning tactics indefinitely;
keeping the focus on the constant search for innovation. After all,
if in one hand establishing processes to frame problems corro-
borates to a more efficient diagnosis, on the other hand, it leads
to the mistake of thinking that such obstacles are the only ones.
Likewise, really well-established processes generate operational
predictability, provide comfort and safety for those involved and
time to perform more tasks. However, one has to recognize that
it intimidates the consideration of new alternatives for possible
deadlocks and crystallizes solutions that are not always the best.
Similar thinking could be applied to relationships between
employees, service providers and customers. When consolidated
in an overly rigid manner it becomes barriers, for example,
to focus on bolder strategies to conquer other markets or
developing new products. At last, when it comes to corporate
values, it is always desirable for them to be the solid landmark of
how employees see themselves and the place they spend most
of the time; it is also required to keep constant surveillance to
avoid them to be seen as unusual practices, validated only by
repetition.
Getting closer to the referred model shows that the difficulty
in establishing a management process that lasts, and that can be
43
sufficiently permeable for innovation, is far from being resolved in
a systematic way, being up to each company to find the balance
between these variables, according to their possibilities and
ambitions. Currently, there is a lot of talk about horizontalization
of organizations as a possible solution to this issue, even though
this is not an easy option for large structures. In these cases,
more than a challenge for re-designing management levels, it se-
ems that the managers mindset, which is used to closely control
their areas, is the main obstacle to the adoption of new practices
As much as the advantages of the vertical model is recognized,
every day it is more and more clearly imposed to companies the
importance of reducing stages between the decision making
and its consequent implementation. This will only produce the
desirable effects when teams and managers are truly aligned
with the objectives to be achieved.
[1] Donald N. Sull is
assistant professor of
strategic and internatio-
nal management
at London Business
School.
The strength of a (bad) habit
Many of the daily tasks performed in companies reflect habits
that, along the years, were acquired by employees, i.e., procedural
routines that started to be followed with the purpose of freezing
measures that were once regarded as the best way to proceed
under a particular practice.There is no doubt that habits are
an important way to attenuate the amount of brain processing,
making it more efficient. This mechanism constitutes as a loop,
just waiting for a cue to happen; when it occurs, the correspon-
dent routine is accessed, creating a fast reward, that may be
44
physical or emotional. A consolidated habit requires less decision
making, fact that may have positive or negative consequences.
Apparently, acquired habits never disappear, being susceptible to
activation when receiving a cue. It is clear that some routines are
necessary, and that without habits, our brain could collapse due
to a large amount of decisions that require constant processing.
What about when the habits are simply not efficient? When a
habit overlaps important decisions, actions are automatically
performed without due deliberation and questioning. Within an
organization, how can we not lose efficiency when creating a
proper environment for the appearance of innovative ideas?
In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg [2] describes
an experience occurred in Alcoa as an example of corporation
transformed by the determination of a single collective goal; in
this case, the improvement of the companys security. According
to the author, the definition of "keystone habits" corresponds to
those that, when modified, have the ability to trigger important
changes. For example, physical exercise: usually, when someone
begins to worry about their own body, the condition implies
additional behavioral changes such as adopting a healthier diet
or demonstrating greater productivity at work.
Small victories like these cause an effect on people, making
them believe that bigger victories can be conquered; putting
them into action to identify other potential victory sources in their
lives. At Alcoa, the change of habit related to Security has trig-
gered many new habits, resulting in productivity and efficiency
improvements. The goal, designated by the companys President,
ROUTINE
REWARD
DESIRE FOR
FOOD
HINT
45
was for him to be notified in 24 hours about relevant losses. To
make this possible, the communication processes and accident
prevention systems needed to be revised in order to provide
access to those not represented in the current structure due to
the hierarchical position they occupied.
Productive Entertainment
But what does this discussion have to do with the core theme of
the book? Apparently everything; just think that there are many
evidences pointing out the urgency to rethink current production
models in order to motivate and retain employees overwhelmed
by many distractions; enhancing collaboration, streamline dated
processes that are inconsistent to the speed of events, or even
promoting the information exchange in an objective, transparent
and noiseless way. As per the context presented, gamification
comes as a set of mechanisms and tools able not only to provide
tangible alternatives to deal with the issues, but somehow to
suggest a new way of viewing labor relationships.
A short time ago, if someone in a meeting suggested to gamify
the corporations processes, he would probably get dirty looks.
This is because the prevailing idea at that time was that games
were only for fun, like any other function related to the entertain-
ment concept. Today, however, there are many organizations that
have considered adopting games mechanics as feasible strategy to
engage customers or employees, mainly due to the perception that
this set of methods have been shown effective as a tool to impact
markets, boost sales, bring more assertiveness in recruiting and
help products and services development.
Lets take as an example the relationship sometimes troubled
and volatile with the client. Along with this specific audience,
gamification has been considered as an alternative to present new
products to potential consumers. Just like the free trial model, you
can allow users to test products represented in game format, and
thus sensitize them regarding a future offer, reducing their time of
market assimilation. Similarly, the methodology translates into an
efficient way to create connection to a certain brand, or even raise
their interest in a particular product.
The insurance sector is certainly a good example. [3] By using
games, organizations can educate their customers about the risks,
how to better manage their personal finances and invest wisely,
or even educate them about the importance of having a private
[2] duhigg, 2012
[3] Source: cio.com/
article/735185/5_Key_
Benets_Gamica-
tion_Brings_to_Your_
Business?page=3
&taxonomyId=3154
46
retirement plan, with the possibility of converting it into discounts
on purchasing products and services.
The same logic could be applied to encouragement of best dri-
ving practices, vehicles maintenance and even healthcare actions
that could link the clients well-being perception to the insurance
company, besides potentially reducing the accident rate recorded.
Other important aspect we should mention is the possibility of
using gamification with the purpose of retaining clients. Games
that are able to reflect concerns, questions or aspirations can
be translated into a good way to, not only get feedbacks to help
companies develop products and services more assertively, but
also create, throughout time, a reliable relationship that will turn
into loyalty. It is worth remembering that is common to most
gamified platforms to ask users to provide an e-mail address or
Facebook login, enabling companies to have access to specific
information about their customers likes and habits. In the sugges-
ted model, each person is associated with clicks, points, badges
and achievements, generating inputs for Big Data. Despite the fact
that costumers are, almost always, main targets of gamification
initiatives when applied to corporate context, they are not the only
actors in the process that, when feeling motivated and engaged,
can exert positive influence to businesses. In general, collaborative
employees, regardless of their hierarchical positions within the
institutions, may also have their contributions leveraged from the
use of game mechanics. An example to be mentioned is the hiring
process. This experience can be gamified as a reward distribution
to possible job applicants that can experience this process in a
fun, tangible way, discarding the natural anxiety caused by the
accomplishment of many predicted milestones.
Similarly, gamification can be used as a way to recognize em-
ployees that were more engaged in performing their tasks, serving
the purpose of causing awareness throughout the organization
upon the importance of identifying and capturing a talent. Another
possible application that is worth mentioning is retaining good
employees. We dont need to say that this is essential to any
organization. After all, it is directly related to create a positive and
inspirational corporate culture. In this case, gamification can be a
good strategy to incentive collaboration among departments or, for
instance, the internal improvement of products, which can be eva-
luated from predefined criteria as commercial viability, originality or
business added value.
47
Those who become more regular in relation to the suggestions
given can be recognized by digital platforms, guided not only to
track the ongoing activities, but also to indicate new contributions
opportunities, promoting intrinsic motivation through public recog-
nition. Such platforms can also be consolidated as tools to consult
and register activities, including supporting the decision making
about job promotions and salary increase. This way, it becomes
quite evident that Human Resources is undoubtedly one of the
most benefited areas by the application of gamification.
The participation in trainings, qualifications or other initiatives
of similar nature, for example, are not often in the priority list of
employees of a company, especially when you cannot see the rela-
tionship between the suggested practice and its direct application
in the professional routine clearly. Therefore, encouraging people
to spend a couple of their busy hours on something else is a real
challenge that, on the other hand, may be smoothed by designa-
ting collective missions or by creating a mechanism of reward and
individual recognition for completed tasks.
This format can also be effective when applied with the purpose
of improving the commitment of filling forms and reports. Nobody
likes to fill in records, registers or document processes in detail,
especially when this task competes with more urgent or useful
ones. Since it is impossible to totally eliminate bureaucracy, why
not turn it into fun? The idea of making similar initiatives tangible,
or even allowing them to assume playful shapes through game ele-
ments, could cause positive competition and create spontaneous
engagement on performing repetitive or less mind stimulating
tasks.
It is common, in large corporations, to observe a general feeling
of frustration that comes from not understanding what it takes to
ascend professionally. Some employees may become bothered by
their colleagues evolution, since goals and rewards may vary from
case to case - and, therefore, may give the impression of being
partial - or just because they do not hold the ability to transfer the
actions applied by others to their own careers.
In the presented context, the use of gamification may be pre-
cious, for example, on suggesting departments to define specific
clear missions and criteria to grow within the company. Let us take
as a reference a top member of the sales team, traveling a week
across the country, attending six pre-scheduled meetings, getting
three others during the trip and in the following week, delivering
48
five proposals as direct result of his professional skill. If the perfor-
mance of this seller was exposed in some way to other colleagues,
it would serve to parameterize the objectives of the area, or even
to inspire the younger ones who have natural identification with
games and similar tools. [4]
Games x Work [5]
In the game At work
Tasks Repetitive, but fun Repetitive and boring
Feedback Continuous Once a year
Objectives Well dened Vague or contradictory
Personal evolution Clear and tangible Obscure
Rules Clear Unclear
Information Proper to immediate
needs
Overused and still
insufcient
Status Visible Not so visible or invisible
Promotion Meritocracy Subjective criteria
Contribution Present Present
Risk High Low
Autonomy High From mid high to low
Narrative Always present Rarely present
Obstacles Purposeful Accidentals
49
Me, me and me: Understand the Generation Y
Arrogant, lazy, uninterested, spoiled, apathetic, narcissistic, living
with their parents; undoubtedly a list of adjectives that makes any
mother dig a hole in the ground to hide herself in shame, right?
After all, what does the future reserve for young people like these,
who live with their noses stuck in their smartphones, snooping
into the life of others and dreaming about enriching without any
effort? Answer: recreate the society we are living in. In May 2013,
the controversial matter was the cover story of Time magazine,
titled "The Me, Me, Me Generation". The suggestive term was
carved by Joel Stein, author of the article, as a more figurative
way to refer to the generation that, in the United States has been
called Millennials, covering everyone who was born between
1980 and 2000. In order to prevent attacks from those who see
some exaggeration on the profile, describing the 21st century first
young adults generation, Stein made sure to support their claims
on figures accuracy: according to studies published at the time,
more people between 18 and 29 live with their parents than with
spouses.
The incidence of personality disorders related to narcissism is
currently about three times higher in 20-30 y/o people than the
one recorded in the same age group during the 1970s.
As if these were not already potentially incendiary data, Stein,
41, decided to climb one more step toward becoming a true
Judas for those who grew up watching Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, Saint Seiya and Pokmon on TV.
In the magazine's website, besides a digital version of the
article, you can watch a video (in a jocose tone) that recorded
the journalists attempt to spend an entire day living as a typical
[4] Source:
cognizant.com/
InsightsWhitepapers/
Reinventing-Customer-
-Employee-Enga-
gement-Through-
-Gamication.pdf
[5] herger, 2013
50
representative of the Generation Y.
His rst challenge was to sleep with his smartphone beside the
bed and check it as soon as opening his eyes. And that is not all. The
"competition" also involved sending 30 SMS messages in 24 hours
(at least one of them with sexual content), keeping a conversation
going on all day long through a chat window, using two electronic
devices simultaneously, publishing multiple photos of himself
on Instagram, answering ve times the question "what are you
thinking?" on Facebook and, nally, never using a landline phone.
Provocations aside, among the aspects that particularly
distinguish Generation Y from preceding ones; one of the most
significant concerns is the relationship they nurture with techno-
logy. Remember that we are referring to those people who literally
left their cribs to integrate a world where cell phones, video
games and even internet were already widespread. Regarding
specifically to games, a study conducted in 2012 by Nottingham
Trent University showed that some Millennials manifest the desire
of pushing the fast forward button during boring classes and
even showed a tendency of trying to apply the tricks used in the
FIFA Soccer video game when playing in real fields. [6] This said,
there is not much to say about the game role in their routine and
therefore, in professional life. As employees, they are demanding.
The lack of personal recognition interferes with their production
capacity and their commitment to the work subject.
They show a particular appreciation for multitasking, flexible
working hours and textual communication, rather than oral. They
are optimistic about the future; they demonstrate high envi-
ronmental consciousness and are proud of engaging in social
causes; besides just money, they look for professional growth
linked with well-being.
Considering that the companies have more and more
employees with the mentioned characteristics, sooner or later
they will be asked to apply or at least consider gamification
into their work processes conception, at the risk of irreversibly
divesting themselves from the way of thinking of those who, in
practice, represent arms, legs, heart and mind of any corporation.
Next, we disclose some games aspects that increase benefits,
when applied to corporate context.
instant feedback
In games, all the performed actions receive feedback. When
getting an apple, for instance, the player increases his health bar;
when collecting 100 coins he gets an extra life etc. Positive
51
feedbacks reinforce good behavior, while negative ones allow more
efcient behavioral adjustments. In corporations, instant feedback
can help reducing the panic about the dreaded annual reviews,
accelerating the professional growth and learning process.
badges
Just like in real life, where jobs, clothes and skills show who we
are, in the games universe, badges are the way to show what
we like and how we are good at something. By creating and
distributing badges, businesses can have access to a free and
very powerful resource to stimulate techniques and specific skills
development; enabling its employees not only to stand out and
be recognized by their talents, but also to show other colleagues
how capable they really are.
tangible goals
In a game, there is always a main objective (eg, how to save
the princess) and some secondary objectives (how to pass to
the next stage or collect hidden items). In business, setting
tangible goals creates a sense of steady progress, reducing the
perception of long term tasks difficulty. Instead of considering a
six months project, with far ahead benefits, why not break it into
three smaller goals with deliveries every two months?
competitiveness and contribution
Humans are competitive by nature, there is competition in any
context including professional. Most companies know that;
however, they use practices that soon stop being stimulating.
In other cases, competition is occasional or informal, failing to
fulfill the function it was truly meant for. The introduction of game
mechanics helps to make competition scalable and automated
and produces, as a direct result, the maintenance of good
performance in a linear way, as long as goals and objectives are
constantly reviewed.
It is noteworthy that, by the same way that they encourage
competition, games also reveal themselves as an effective
stimulus to collaborative work.
A good way to take advantage of this aspect is from proposing
collective challenges aiming, for example, in reducing procedural
bureaucracy or even redefining goals to be achieved by the de-
partment. With clear missions and appropriate stimuli, a group of
people can organize themselves towards a single goal, increasing
the results that could be achieved by working alone.
[6] Source: mindash.
com/blog/2012/02/lifes-
-a-big-video-game-for-
-gen-y-%E2%80%94-
-so-let-them-play
52
learning by doing
A fundamental difference between games and work is that
games teach us the stepping stones, not with a manual, but from
practice. Farmville is an example. It is considered a simple game,
popular among kids, but there are many types of cropping, pets,
money, gifts you can offer friends. Perhaps if, in this context,
things were thrown from a shovel without any explanation,
many players could get bored because of the initial difficulty in
understanding how it works and what is the purpose of each
element. The game success is linked to the fact that its creators
are concerned about teaching, step by step, to their potential
players how to become an expert in that universe, enabling them
to get the best of it.
Lets be honest, who nowadays is patient enough to read an
entire manual? People can spend hours playing, but they do not
spend a single hour doing something that sounds as training.
Therefore, its fundamental that the companies learn do teach
their employees what they need to know, but in a less imposing
and theoretical way but yet more participative. [7]
[7] Source: gamication.
co/wp-content/uplo-
ads/getting-started/
White%20Pa-
per_Enterprise%20
Gamication_The_
Gen_Y_Factor_2012.pdf
55
4
Gamication and companies:
made for each other
This chapter will be devoted to the narrative of practical experien-
ces on using Gamification methods to solve traditional business
issues in large organizations. Youll have a clearer understanding of
how the proposed methodology is applicable to real and common
challenges for most companies.
Cultural Change
Case: Gamication in Change Management
Change Management processes are notoriously one of the most
complex challenges to be faced by large corporations. Ancient
Protocols, validated by time, work as engines from a gigantic
system that, once disassembled, may never match parts again. But
the pressure exerted by mindsets and market changes sentences
the need of adjusting the boat rudder in new directions, even if it
determines questioning what is most valuable to a company: its
culture. This was the delicate mission that MJVs Technology &
Innovation team had ahead of them when leading the implemen-
tation of a SAP [1] module in a construction company with more
than five thousand employees. The project lasted twelve weeks.
Its purpose was to sensitize the companies employees in relation
to the system replacement they would be submitted to, besides
arousing motivation and engagement in order to reach, with no
major mishaps, adjustments in the work model they were used to;
therefore, avoiding, from a humanistic and creative approach, the
known inconveniences inherent to this kind of implementation.
Through Gamification methods it was possible to go beyond tra-
ditional training and communication initiatives, multiplying values
by influencing mindsets more efficiently and bringing a significant
differential to the project.
[1] German company,
leading the Business
Management
Software Industry.
56
transforming findings into ideas
After the completion of dozens of interviews, identifying repre-
sentative profiles from the companys employees and a detailed
analysis of their opinions and yearnings regarding the company
and the management change process a list of questions appe-
ared, synthesizing the main difficulties the change management
team would face. They are:
Concern that SAP would prevent or at least, complicate - a
series of practices considered essential for the maintenance of
the company's major contracts.
Awareness that benefits offered to preferred customers entailed
an operational onus that has never been accounted before.
Collective perception that SAP implementation would directly
interfere in common procedures vital for the companys
operation.
Impression that individual cultures of each companys division,
if confronted, could imply in a SAP design that, on trying to
please everyone it would please no one at all.
Feeling that the recent mergers and branches proliferation in
the last years, were opposed to the concept of family business
in which older employees were used to, and for whom the
company's growth was still unknown.
Expression of quite disparate expectations regarding benefits
and damages consequent from the Change Management
process.
Preconceived negative SAPs image, considered to be a very
stiff and overly controlled system.
Concern that SAP could promote a business operational
freeze, resulting in the loss of its most differential market factor:
flexibility.
57
transforming ideas into action
From the projects core themes identification, that are
essential to the Change Management process, it was necessary
to present a great quantity of relevant findings to the employees,
meeting the purpose of developing measurements that could
help them during SAPs implementation process. Preliminary
analysis of macro themes originated from research indicated the
need of caution regarding the kind of approach, since the defined
categories covered topics of difficult introduction, some of them
indicating the need of reviewing behaviors and ideologies that
would no longer be tolerated after the systems transition.
The biggest MJVs team concern was how to spread so many
interesting aspects without turning them into a tedious and arbi-
trary teaching, or even a cluster of behavior lessons, directed to
restrain and constrain those who would not fit in the future ope-
rational model. This search for the best way to optimize working
results took the people responsible for the project to consider
some approaching options; however, none of them seemed
adequate to the scope in question. At this point, the challenge
was clear: it was necessary to create a set of practical tools to
allow simulation of problematic situations, investigate opinions
and behaviors, raise discussion, deliver knowledge in an unusual
manner and communicate effectively the Change Management
process in which the company would be submitted to.
engagement, membership and fun
In the specific case of this construction company, given the pos-
sible organizational issues resulting from SAPs implementation,
to consider gamification as possible approach showed numerous
benefits, starting from the fact that the Serious Games concept
fitted perfectly to the projects particularities. By stimulating
SAPs disclosure and its intended application in the companys
context, the game would directly influence positive and cons-
cious adherence to the new ERP as to the changes that would
come with it. In addition, to encourage such aspects, virality and
social mobilization would be promoted determining that when
commenting on the game - a totally unusual activity, considering
the context in which they would be inserted - participants would
grab other employees attention, increasing the people involved
in the initiative.
Therefore, the desired engagement would occur, once the
game would stimulate the devotion to assigned tasks, allowing
the construction of relationships between the organization and
58
its employees. By contributing to the resolution of issues raised
during the project, Gamification methods would encourage the
creation of a collective commitment with SAPs implementation.
The idealized solutions developed to the project, and presented
in the following reading, were structured on identified key points
in the projects immersion stage, in order to create a playful and
fun conducive environment.
game logical structuring
On the set of games developed in order to support the imple-
mentation of SAP in the company, it was firstly considered the
challenge element, or the need and willingness to overcome
obstacles to move ahead in the games experience. Then, the
importance of stimulating curiosity was highlighted as a fuel
for imagination and a determinant factor to retain the players
attention. The proposed dynamics also contemplate the need
to provide meaning and value to users and to the cons-
truction company and ultimately enable the creation and
strengthening of social bonds, essential to the integration of
the company's employees and the consequent success of the
project.
games of change
The set of games to be presented has been developed to
generate engagement and encourage participation in the
process, as well as approaching the sensitive issues raised
during immersion and likely to represent a constraint in the new
ERP saps implementation and acceptance. Games of Changes
were conceptualized in order to be part of a set, but can be
played separately, so as to interfere as little as possible in the
organizations operational routine. Following, we describe each
game features, specific objectives, the rational factor behind the
concept presented and the participation rules.
59
Construction Operation
challenge: face the task of assuming a contractor employee
position in this exciting one day journey in the company. When a
real problem appears, do you know how to solve it?
objective: the Construction Operation invites the player to be in
the place of other professional, to live under an unknown point of
view: the experience of critical situations of daily work, conside-
ring processes and habits sometimes contradictory.
how to play: on the monitors screen, it was proposed a chal-
lenging work situation similar to that experienced in day to day
business, from three professionals perspectives: administrative
assistant, office manager and plant supervisor. By choosing one
of the suggested positions, the player needed to think and act
according to his option, choosing one between two alternatives
to move forward in the game. The storys development depended
on the choices made by the player, being his main objective to
complete the assigned task without violating operational rules
established by the company.
why does it work?
This game was designed in order to address in a playful manner,
delicate and incisive themes, related to cultural aspects of the
company in question, as well as negative and extremely harmful
habits resulted from former operational gaps. By getting another
professionals place and exercising functions that were not usual,
the companys employee had the opportunity to undergo the
inherent difficulties from each step of the process, and decide
how to proceed to get more adequate understanding of propo-
sed situations, without bearing the consequences it should have
in real life. Therefore, it was an efficient tool to promote SAPs
60
arrival in the company, and serve the purpose of educating or
changing inadequate mental models without creating embarras-
sment or coercion.
Expectra
challenge: when the cards are at the table, your opinion is
the starting point in a discussion upon the challenges to SAPs
implementation.
objective: Expectra was designed to directly and cooperatively
stimulate a discussion about many questions that made SAPs
implementation a new challenge to the ones involved in the
process.
how to play:
Numbers of players from 2 to 4.
Participants first defined who would be the games speaker. The
elected was responsible for reading to the group problematic
situations shown on the numbered 1-20 cards.
From the reading of each problematic situation, the participant
places a card on the table corresponding to their opinion on the
subject. The cards that each player had in hand showed num-
bers from 1 to 100. For example: Regarding SAP, I dont think it
will have adjusting problems (adaptation). How much do you
agree with this sentence, taken from an interview? In this case,
if the player agreed with the statement, he should put a card at
the table, with a value near 100. In case he disagreed, he should
put at the table a card with value near 1.
61
When all players have put their cards at the table, the group
should discuss about the final figures, to understand the reason
why each participant has chosen a particular card.
After the discussion, the group was again invited to show their
cards to rate their opinion about the proposed themes, and at
this second turn, having the opportunity to change or confirm
the prior choice.
At the end of the second opinion round about the same theme,
the speaker sums the cards figures shown, and the total should
be inserted to the score chart in the corresponding place of the
problematic situation cards number.
Same procedure was conducted to all problematic situation
cards, so that, at the end of the game, there would be a total
score figure from that group, as a result of the sum of individual
numbers obtained by each problematic situation card proposed.
The winning group was the one that the sum of points was
closer to the total determined by the Change Management
committee. The contest result was announced to the partici-
pants by email, as soon as all scores were counted.
why does it work?
The idea of proposing a deck of cards as a platform to encourage
debate on SAPs implementation was justified by the fact that
this type of game is commonly associated with relaxation
and informal chat, in opposite to what could had become: a
heated and unproductive discussion. The designed game is
based - with some changes - in the rules of Planning Poker, one
of the Scrum project management methodology tools. One of
them corresponded to problem situation cards, developed to
portray the existing contrast opinions within the company upon
the benefits and losses caused by system change. More than
meeting expectations and stimulating discussions on the topic,
this game allowed participants to learn from each other about
SAP, enabling knowledge multiplication in an agile and fun way.
62
sap marathon
challenge: join your colleagues and participate in this enter-
taining contest, which aims to complete tasks, score points and
share knowledge about SAP!
objective: to engage employees into SAPs implementation
process and make them become change and promotion agents.
how to play: SAP Marathon has been structured to unfold over
a week of activities, regardless the branchs location or division.
With the objective of combining educational and recreational
aspects of playful factors, SAP Marathon has been characterized
as a contest where participants companys employees - are
engaged to perform a series of missions. These missions should
be carried out by groups with up to three members, promoting
integration and debate and encouraging team spirit. Teams
should register in advance, within a previously determined
deadline. Once the teams were set, the SAP marathon started
and was implemented on the course of five days, mainly from
Monday to Friday. Activities have been conceived upon two of the
projects macro-themes: Learning about SAP and Promoting
SAP in the Company.
Theme 1: Learning about SAP
Within this theme, activities have been proposed to lead employees
to get informed about what SAP is and to share their ndings with
the community they belong to, bringing out a more educational
and cooperative aspect. Each day of the week corresponded to
an activity, only revealed at the day it occurred. Every activity to be
performed had a specic score, and the sum of points determined a
nal rating as well as the winners.
63
Theme 2: promoting SAP
Considering the referred theme, activities were proposed to bring
visibility to SAPs project within the company, by stimulating
cooperation and entertainment. On the contrary of the actions
from Theme 1, the activities were released simultaneously on a
Monday, in order to give time to the teams to perform tasks. To
complement theme 1, each activity had a specific score, and the
sum of points determined the final rating as well as the winners.
why does it work?
As important as adapting the companys processes to SAPs
operation, it was also important to promote knowledge about the
Change Management process in progress, since the successful
system implementation was related to the ability of employees to
absorb the new model proposed. From this point of view, it was
necessary to develop a dynamic specically focused on promoting
the project, which should allow the involvement of as many people
as possible and that had the potential to become viral. More than
this, by proposing SAPs marathon, the objective was also to turn
members into change agents, creating the best conditions to,
playfully, multiply the knowledge acquired from performed missions,
engaging colleagues who were not aware of the games or even of
SAPs implementation.
Sapient
challenge: become an expert when unrevealing SAPs secrets
and peculiarities; a game in which strategy denition is fundamental.
64
objective: the Sapient had the main purpose of introducing
SAPs environment to employees and enable them to get familiar
to the new platform.
how to play: the definition of this games rules was related to
the content developed by the future phase of this project.It was a
game about strategy and reasoning based on SAPs operational
manual.
why does it work?
This game fulfilled the important role of allowing SAPs users to
obtain a prior understanding - at the same time rational and intui-
tive of the functions that they would need to deal with on a daily
exercise of their activities. Instead of accessing key information
from the conventional method, which consists of reading robust
handouts (sometimes extremely didactic, but not very functional),
the Sapient participants had the opportunity to obtain a similar
result, but in a much more interesting and fun way. In practice,
this game represented Gamification of SAPs User Manual, a new
approach to transform bored readers into engaged players. The
Sapient concept is based on establishing a relationship between
the content and its receptor, causing the receiver, for example, to
understand the reason of a particular system aspect, rather than
just memorize it.
roadshow
When thinking about Games of Change as a widely publicized
event, the possibility of creating a real bond in favor of changes
was designed, and also to establish the event as a transition
ritual for a new order within the company. The goal of Games of
Change launching event became the presentation and disclosure
of SAP itself, introducing Change Management to employees
who were not directly involved in the project. MJVs team propo-
sal to this Construction Company was to make Games of Change
into an itinerant event, able to move, according to needs, among
all active areas of the company regardless of its geographic posi-
tion. This format reinforced the popular and flexible feature of the
project, making it a viable alternative to obtain more significant
results than those achieved with traditional models of Change
Management.
65
Planning/Comunication Strategic
Case: Gamied Strategic Planning
Whenever the topic strategic planning is contemplated, the
same concern appears: how does an alignment in macro level,
result of the understandings of the best minds of a company,
unfold into a series of practical measures likely to be carried out
by employees, who dont know much about the business, besides
what they can see over their tables? On multinationals the
situation is even more delicate because there are organizations
that often have thousands of employees with particular cultural
aspects, acting in almost antagonistic markets; however, none
of these companies are free from the need to pursue strategic
definitions to guide their actions globally.
Here is the challenge, faced by MJVs team in this project, to
gamify the strategic planning of a worldwide insurance organi-
zation. Having as a guide the intention of developing a game me-
chanic that met the goal of communicating and aligning specific
missions among departments that should develop better synergy,
the initial scope became the companys operation in Brazil. The
proposition was to create a collaborative game with the main
purpose of achieving collective goals (set by areas/departments)
that could be associated to a certain vision determined by the
organizations global strategic planning. This means that, each
player had to perform tasks and earn points individually to help
the area/department which they belonged to by winning total
points needed to ensure the group the correspondent engine to
fit in the "Master System". The Master System was similar to a big
clock, installed at the entry of the company's branch in So Paulo,
and its perfect work only occurred when all the engines (each
66
from a separate area/department) were positioned in the right
places, situation that configured the end of the game.
entering the game
To start playing, the employee had to create a profile in the virtual
game platform. On his computer screen, he checked the objec-
tives and targets set to his area/department. These goals had to
be met, individually and collectively, within the period stipulated
by the game, which was thirty days. With the platform, besides
various statistics, the players obtained specific information not
only about their involvement in the game but also about other
players. Through this platform it was also possible to watch
videos explaining the games rules, get strategic tips or even plan
collective tasks with colleagues.
choosing tasks
To help your team achieve the goals set to the group, the player
had to win points individually. He could:
a) Apply to receive tasks related to the companys strategic
objectives.
b) Submit to challenges that tested their knowledge about
these strategic objectives.
c) Choose to replicate to other employees the knowledge
gained through the game.
On each of the above categories there were difficulty levels
established and different scores. The tasks were inserted gradu-
ally each week, preventing some more engaged participants to
distance themselves from other players, reducing the sensation
of competitiveness in the game.
earning points
By choosing to perform tasks related to the companys strategic
objectives, the player received badges (public recognition stamps)
on his prole as "Troubleshooter "; when testing his knowledge
about the company's vision for the future, badges of "Visionary";
when choosing to share with other employees the wisdom achie-
ved, he got badges as "Knowledge Builder". The individual score
was assigned even when the tasks were planned to be conducted
by groups. Effective participation in the game determined the
achievement of individual and collective tasks from different
natures, which consequently demanded different skills, some of
them requiring interaction with other areas/departments.
67
To enable the area/department to conquer their engine main
objective of the game - each member of the group needed to
perform five individual tasks, two collective ones and one inter-
departmental, chosen by self-defined criteria. It is noteworthy
that the managers of the areas/departments could see in real
time, from the platform, each employees performance on the
game as well as those who more effectively contributed for the
achievement of the objectives in the group. It was up to the
manager the creation of complementary goals or even allow that
the demand for results occurred at the initiative of the team itself.
additional benefits
By completing all that tasks assigned to them, players were
granted access to Special Tasks, which, when completed, gran-
ted additional bonus score. Players who performed a minimum
number of distinct tasks among themselves (e.g., two missions,
three challenges, one tip sharing) also received extra points.
Employees who reached the highest individual scores in each of
the three possible tasks (mission, challenge and tip sharing) were
invited to join an elite squad, in which they dealt with strategic
topics for the company.
how the game ends
In practice, the game ended when all areas/departments got their
engines, allowing the Master System to fully function. To get to
this, all players should complete the assigned tasks: individual,
collective and interdepartmental. However, there was the pos-
sibility of getting awards derived from the main game objective,
for example, rewarding the department that got its first engine
or which demonstrated better engagement and proactivity. The
final installation of the Master System coincided with a major
event, highlighting the achieved goals by players and how they
could be transferred to daily business routine. Possibly the
main obstacle transposed by the team during the project was to
translate important generic goals to the organization however,
with difficult assimilation and implementation by its members - in
tangible missions that could be unfolded to various hierarchical
levels. The flexibility of smaller goals aligned to large guidelines,
generated empathy between staff and business objectives, par-
ticularly giving them a sense that the benefits could be achieved
without total cooperation. By determining individual and collec-
tive missions achievement, the game suggested an interesting
balance between personal and team commitment, providing a
68
favorable environment to collaboration an almost viral sharing of
this engagement. The metaphor proposed by the Master System
was an ingenious way to create collective view of achievements
for each designated area, which tends to exert a positive kind of
competition capable of accelerating certain processes.
Software Development/Project Management
Case: Streamlining
Managing software development is often a tricky task, since
even the most experienced professionals may be surprised by the
amount of obstacles and unforeseen events that sometimes needs
to be overcome along the way. One way to attenuate this risk is
by adopting agile methods, a model conceived in order to quickly
absorb changes in planning, whether they come from increasing
customer interaction - who participates actively in the project and
anticipates necessary adjustments - or even from results obtained
from tests of minimally viable products. Although representing a
breakthrough compared to the traditional model of development -
given its more dynamic character - the agile methods assume grea-
ter team integration as well as the implementation of more efficient
communication mechanisms and visualization tasks. Stimulated by
thinking on how to attend this important demand, MJVs team or-
ganized a brainstorming session that brought together developers,
IT managers and designers in order to list the possibilities for the
tangibilization of a process. From the perception of the importance
of playfulness as a facilitator of communication and identification
of requirements - which sometimes are not explicit in the early
development - it was agreed that it was necessary to develop a tool
capable of providing those features in any projects development,
regardless of their particularities. To better understand the market
69
for applying agile software development methods, MJVs team met
with three Scrum coaches who offered courses on the subject or
who were coaching in companies of different sizes. The tool that,
by analogy seemed more faithful in contemplating the demands of
such a project, was a board game followed by conducting a market
survey to identify their different types, the languages used and
what artifices were employed to engage the players. Regarding the
definition of probable games tasks, the agile development process
itself was analyzed, considering its phases and its key moments
of interaction with the customers. For the game to become more
efficient, it was also necessary to think of a storyline, and so the
idea of comparing the development of a software to climbing came
up, since in both activities there is the need for chain steps, redo
plans and deal with the unforeseen in order to achieve the objective.
Having the first prototype of the game in hand, MJVs team met
with some "potential" clients in order to assess the responsiveness
of the tool that was being developed. The language used was one
of the most pertinent observations of this first model. There was
the impression that the board reminded of an overly playful univer-
se, which could bring some resistance, especially from the more
conservative customers. Not only this, but other collected opinions
were essential for reaching a final version of the product in the two
weeks time established for the project time.
70
streamlining
From the tests conducted, the assumption was that through
playful activities team members would be more easily involved
in determining the real business needs, resulting in a richer
specification and reducing risks to the project. In this context,
two "products" to be developed were defined: the first was
called "streamlining" and consisted of a board game focused
on prospection and oriented to provide transparency to the
process, allowing the client to feel comfortable to bring out their
real worries and concerns about the project. Defining the scope,
monitoring groups performance, sizing efforts and controlling
chronogram were some of the tasks that could be performed in a
less complicated and fun way with the presented solution.
The second corresponded to a playful dashboard, focused
to ease projects monitoring, configured as an interface of easy
understanding, able to stimulate interaction among managers,
developers and customers, considering the following aspects:
Weekly display global monitoring graphics.
71
Include a team "stress meter".
Provide an evaluation opportunity to enable the client to interact
with the staff.
Introduce the concept of measuring sustainable actions.
Provide a deadline monitor instrument.
From another point of view, the game also provided a relaxed
environment and the narrowing of the relationship between the
parties. The desired intent, therefore, was to assist the client on
understanding his own needs; and for the developers team to get
a clear strategy to be used when creating the project. Following is a
brief description of the games created, their specific goals and for
what projects milestones they were designed for.
Daydreaming
objective: understand the success perception the client has
about the project.
proposed activity: think you're already continuously using
the product ordered. Describe the products features you are
satisfied with (richer, safer, smarter or any other proper adjective).
The game objective is to refine the stories (requirements specifi-
cations for developing each specific projects task).
Ophthalmological Test
objective: prioritize stories (projects backlog [2]).
proposed activity: write down each story on a card and mix
them on a table. Choose two of them randomly and compare:
which one is more important? Set a level of priority and paste the
most relevant card on the wall, positioning the other story right
below. Repeat the same comparison as often as needed.
Planning Poker
objective: scale the complexity level of the stories.
proposed activity: having the stories list in hand, give one
set of cards to each team member. Participants start playing by
selecting the story that represents the value 5. Then they must
select another so that each player exposes the card that cor-
responds to the development complexity which, in their opinion,
demands that activity. If the numbers are very discrepant, players
[2] Backlog: Refers to a
log (historical summary)
of working overow,
in a period of time.
Backlog is a kind of
"client orders sheets
collection related to
undone products
Roughly, backlog is a
stock of orders waiting
to be responded.
72
must justify their votes. After the explanation, the story is voted
again until the team reaches a consensus. The game ends when
all the stories have received complexity attribution.
Market Stories
objective: to define the projects budget.
proposed activity: show participants the stories list together
with their development cost - and distribute coins of different
values for them to choose in which of them they want to "invest"
the budget. It is interesting to have "expensive" stories so that
teams members have the chance to discuss with each other and
join forces to invest.
Exploratory navigation
objective: to approve the interfaces navigation.
proposed activity: select a story and try to accomplish it
by browsing the interfaces, which must be sketched on paper
sheets placed on a table. If you identify inadequate or faulty ele-
ments, include on the sketch suggestions for changing. Repeat
the activity with all stories.
why does it work?
The design of a board that suggests an evolutionary journey and
joins activities to ease the completion of specific tasks, related
to software development, satisfactorily achieved an important
demand, which seemed neglected in agile projects: the tangibi-
lization of a process. More than this, the suggestion of a playful
dashboard destined to generate better visualization of the steps
and allow more participation from the costumer, proved to be the
best complement to the purpose of making a more collaborative
task with fewer errors due to lack of communication. From two
simple tools suggested, a bunch of paper stuck on the wall and
a handful of unproductive discussions, this can turn into a more
organized, creative, and why not, fun process.
73

Capacity/Awareness
Case: Brazil 2022
If there is some certainty about a group of two hundred CEOs of
the most influential Brazilian companies is that this is not an easy
public to engage. Inserted in a decision making routine, almost
always concomitant and of vital importance for companies that
mainly command lack of time, these professionals became used
to understanding their surrounding scenario through executive
reports or even the endorsement of their faithful advisors. Taking
this into consideration, what are the real chances of grabbing the
attention of these people for a whole day event, turning them into
avid players, willing to contribute on building a collective vision of
the future of the country? To meet this expectation, MJV, with the
assistance of a consulting [ 3 ] company specialized in prospective
scenarios, developed Brazil 2022, a pervasive game applied during
Brazil Summit 2011: Order and Progress? An event organized by
the British magazine The Economist in November 2011 in So
Paulo which the objective of promoting dialogue about the possi-
ble paths for the country's economic future until the bicentennial of
its independence.
How will Brazil be in 2022? What obstacles could prevent
its growth over the next decade and how to overcome them
and achieve the so desired economic strength? Due to these
and other questions, a guided game was created to stimulate
participants to gather the ten cards that composed one of four
macroeconomic scenarios that they considered the most likely to
consolidate within the deadline.

[3] Macroplan
Prospective Strategy
and Management
www.macroplan.com.br
74
brazil 2022 the game
At the events entrance, potential players received a kit consisting
of an invitation - with basic operating instructions for the activity -,
four activated cards, each one corresponding to a group scenario
(Back to 1970s, Chinese Capitalism in a Brazilian Way, A shock
of orthodox capitalism, A new economic retraction) and a blank
card to be filled by guidelines. All kits summed 42 points. So,
despite of numerous possible combinations of the cards, all
players started the match evenly. In the games booth there was a
cards bank where the cards could be exchanged according to the
player's interest. Although they chose their favorite scenario, they
didnt know the value of the card received, which could vary. Still
in the booth through a video monitor, fictional news about the
economy in the coming years were shown, which interfered in the
probability of dominance of one or other scenario.
how to play: Like a policy, each card represented the players
company investment in the scenario; however, besides the four
cards received at the beginning of the event , it was possible to
obtain others through direct exchange with other players (accor-
ding to exchange rules stipulated by them) at the games booth.
An additional way to win cards was linked to completing a board
in which players guesses were gathered on specific aspects of
the economy (external context , external insertion, economic
adjustments , economic growth , investments , leadership in
investments , States presence, productive park innovation,
Environment and Deforestation, gdp per capita) . For each group
of three opinions recorded in the chart, the player received three
cards with random values (ranging 3-42 points) corresponding
to their favorite scenario.
In the second stage of the game (after the events second
coffee-break), players could also interact with NPCs (non-player
characters), or staff members who performed the function of
introducing new cards with new scores, making investments
75
and exchanges even more dynamic. These special collaborators
were also responsible for collecting the players impressions,
indicating the appreciation of one or another scenario, which
impacted directly on the choice of cards by other players.
At the end of the day, all the players were asked to count their
points at the games booth. The scenario cards pointed out by
the majority as the most likely to materialize had their score
amplified by 25% in comparison to the other cards, being the
winner defined from the higher score obtained. After submitting
to the playful experience provided by the game, participants had
the opportunity to know the statistical data generated by the
activity, compiled with the purpose of showing the evolution of
the opinions in accordance with fluctuations occurred during
the game.
why does it work?
By creating a game from a deck of cards that contained
information backed up by experts in macroeconomics, the main
objective of the project was achieved: to involve businessmen,
heads of the most powerful Brazilian organizations into a dyna-
mic, not only capable of awakening their curiosity, as to transmit
a proposition of practical value, applicable to their professional
contexts. More than this, Brazil 2022, served as a tool for
probing an extremely intimate group about the economic future
of the country, which generated, as a legacy, a solid database
likely to even be referred on discussions about the topic. On the
month following its accomplishment, the game earned an online
version, hosted on the digital edition of the newspaper O Estado
de So Paulo.
76
77
5
Lets get down to work!
How to start?
Now that the Gamification concepts are understood, some dou-
bts remain on how to make the methodology tangible through
solid actions within a company. This chapter aims to objectively
present practical tools and suggest a Step by Step implemen-
tation, giving an alternative approach to solving businesses
problems. The Step by Step doesnt need to be followed in the
proposed order, but this order was meant to serve as a support in
the first Gamification implementations. See how we describe the
process:
Step 1: Understanding the issue and the context
Usually, the most appropriate way to start a project is by unders-
tanding what is the Gamification problem you're trying to solve,
as well as the context in which it is inserted. It is very likely that,
at an early stage the origins of the problem are not clear; to assist
in the scenario mapping and users understanding, techniques
derived from Design Thinking can be used to identify the impas-
se, as well as its causes and effects.
There are three fundamental aspects to be considered at
this stage: company culture, business goals, and especially
understanding the users.
The company culture has great influence on how players
will interact and react to the Gamification initiatives. Thats why
it is necessary to understand them, in order to achieve effective
behavior change. Different cultures may be more or less open to
new ideas, rigidity, duties flexibility, orientation on cooperation
or competitiveness and formal or informal environments, among
other characteristics. Try to identify, at the beginning of the
project, which are the main aspects of the companys culture,
78
making sure that they will be considered in the following stages.
Gamification initiatives should also be aligned with the
companys business goals they must serve as a support
for other ongoing actions. If the initiative affect other areas, it
is important to have understanding of their goals and specific
business objectives while avoiding the incidence of conflicts. To
achieve an effective behavior change, it is necessary to unders-
tand many human aspects of the people involved in the pro-
blem and the way they face it in their daily routine. The way users
absorb new knowledge, the emotional characteristics related to
work, their aesthetic perception of the world and cultural issues;
are some of the elements that need to be studied with great care
to create a good gamification experience. Remember that Gami-
fication initiatives will be designed for people, being important
to understand them fully so that you can create exciting and
relevant games. By means of the following techniques, you can
understand which behavior needs to be changed.
techniques to ease issues definition
The information necessary for understanding the three initial
questions suggested by the Step by Step can be obtained from
interviews, observations and the application of some tools for the
synthesis of findings.
interviews
This is the most intuitive technique. Talk to people who need to
have their behavior changed and try to understand the motiva-
tions behind the attitudes expressed by them. Interviews can ha-
ppen informally so that employees do not feel pressured at work.
Hierarchical differences often compromise results not only from
interviews but also from several other research techniques, so it is
recommended to seek a neutral person within the organizational
structure to obtain this data. Some tips may be helpful:
Ask open-ended questions (avoid "Yes"/ "No" questions).
Do not induce responses.
Allow respondents to speak - do not interrupt, unless it's
really important. Moments of silence can be precious when
uncomfortable topics show up, even when the interviewees say
something that was not asked.
79
Ask many whys, try to deeply understand peoples
motivations.
Try to record in detail everything you hear. Records can be
made through notes, photos or videos, and will assist you
during analysis.
questionnaires
Another common way to extract information is from question-
naires, which can be done via online tools, paper or through a
mediator asking the questions. However, its necessary to be
aware that an online questionnaire usually brings more superfi-
cial information than an interview in person, the first one being
the most suitable for quantitative research and the second for
qualitative research.
5 whys
A good technique to acquire comprehension about the issues
origin is called 5 Whys The approach consists in asking one
question, get an answer and ask the second question using the
given answer. For example:
p: Why were the sales goals not achieved?
r: Because we couldnt motivate our sales team.
p: Why couldnt you motivate your sales team?
r: Because supervisors didnt agree with the sales goals policy.
p: Why didnt the supervisors agree with sales goals policy?
And so on.
Usually, by asking why five times, you get to a crucial place:
the essence of a problem.
observation
Another recommended technique is observation, which may
occur in an intrusive or non-intrusive manner. From this tech-
nique, its possible do get more assertive information, e.g., the
observation of what people really do, instead of considering just
what they say they do.
Its common to respondents to say things just to please
80
the researcher, or because they dont have full knowledge of
their actions. Thats why it is so relevant to use observation
techniques.
There are different ways to observe:
observing in a non-intrusive and concealed manner, i.e.,
without interfering on the actions done by the person.
observing in a controlled manner, i.e., asking the participant
to perform an action, without interfering on it.
observing in a participative manner, being actively present in
the action, to get a better perception of how the task is performed.
When observing, its important to understand both the indivi-
dual and the context he is inserted in:
observing the individual: What does he do? How does he do it?
Where is he looking to? What are his difficulties? What does his
facial expression indicate?
Observing the environment: What is going on? What factors
influence the observed context?
These techniques are useful to observe behaviors in a com-
pany, as well as observing current and potential customers.
diary or cultural probes
Another way to get information is to ask the participant to make
their own notes and records. The diary is a simple way to un-
derstand the habits and routines. The application is simple: give
respondents a notebook and ask them to describe their daily rou-
tine or specific tasks they perform for a few days. Cultural probes
are kits for self-registration delivered to the participant during a
certain period and collected by the researcher for analysis after
finished. Kits have various tools to stimulate the participant, and
it may include diaries, activity notebooks, instructions for taking
pictures or inspirational material for collages, among others.
Probes bring a large amount of information for understanding the
participants universe, as well as inspiration to generate ideas.
81
mind map
The Mind map is a diagram conceived to organize thoughts in
a visual and textual manner, helping to view different themes,
and enabling connections between them. Start with a central
theme and, like representing a tree and its leafs, keep branching
it through secondary themes. From each branch, create sub-
-branches with related questions or themes.
users journey
The Journey is a way to understand the actions that the user needs
to perform, and it can serve as a base to understand how and
when gamication can be applied. Its a representation of all steps
that a user goes through before, during and after experimenting a
product or service, or while performing a task within a corporation.
Besides the actions detailing, its possible to explicit the touch-
points that make the product or service tangible, i.e., all tangible
evidences from an intangible task.
On one day journey of a companys employee, there are contact
touch points that are not so evident , such as ID badge, computers
login screen, posters he sees on elevators, e-mails received, among
others.
Mapping these points helps to identify opportunities of inserting
gamication elements, communicate information or develop
motivators. When mapping, try to understand what is important to
the user in each stage of the journey.
If your gamication initiatives are in resonance with the real
needs of the player (user), the likelihood of adherence to the game
becomes much higher.
Contact Points
physical evidences of
the service or process
Users
actions
Users
needs
How do
users feel?
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empathy map
The empathy map is a synthesis of information about the user,
where it is possible to identify what he says, feels and thinks. This
map is a simple manner to help the context understanding, the
behaviors, the concerns, and the users aspirations. To make the
map effective, prefer to use sentences that represent what users
listen or say, or verbal constructions that represent what they see.

stakeholders map [1]
It is a visual representation of the various people or groups acting
in the studied situation, mapping helps to identify relationships
among individuals/groups. First of all, try to identify the agents,
i.e., which individuals and groups affect or are affected by the
issue being studied. Choose one person as the central focus and
start adding other agents, one at a time, always positioning them
according to their relationship with the central person.
Proceed identifying existing conflicts and established
alliances, since this map can help creating different roles within
the game, in order to positively influence these relationships. To
potentiate the maps effects, try to identify what are the interests
and motivations of each agent, how do they relate and interact.
User
What thinks and feels
What does and says
Difculties Achievements
What hears What sees
83
After using these tools, it shall be possible to obtain a clearer
vision of the issue and of the behavior to be changed. A full
tool list is available in the book Design Thinking Business
Innovation.
is the behavior to be modified a habit?
If the behavior can be featured as a habit, it is necessary to
identify what is the cue that activates it, the established routine
details, and the reward offered in exchange for the change of
habit. Charles Duhigg suggests a model to habit identification:
[2]
A. The first Step is identifying the routine: what is the
repetitive behavior that we are trying to change? This is possible
through interviews, diaries and cultural probes. Example: eating
chocolate every night.
B. To identify the cue and the reward, make experiments: ask
the person to - when feeling the urge to execute the routine -
create a different routine, generating a different reward. The first
thoughts of each experiment should be registered on a paper
sheet. A few minutes later the action should be repeated in
order to evaluate if the urge remains. In case a different reward
fulfills the urge, the reason that generated the old habit has been
probably identified.
The experiments objective is try to understand if the urges
origin is really to eat the chocolate or if the increase of sugar level
[1] Stakeholders:
term used by
several areas such
as project
management,
business and
software architecture
related to
people involved,
pursuant to corporate
Governance practices
delivered by company.
In Design, it denes any
people who has
an agency, i.e.,
impacting or being
impacted.
[2] duhigg, 2012
Identify, in the center, a person
or institution that will be the
starting point.
List and position people/
institutions who has a relation
with the starting point
Who do people group?
What relations are there
among them?
Who is closer or more distant?
Are there arguments?
Identify the relation among
the stakeholders
84
is compensating a feeling of loneliness, for instance.
Example: every time you want to eat chocolate, go for a walk or
call someone.
C. Isolate the cue: identifying the cue may not be an easy task;
therefore, try focusing at one aspect at a time; otherwise the
excess of information can be an obstacle. There are ve types of
cues: place (where is the person?); time (what time is it?); emotional
status (how are they feeling?); other people (who is around him?);
and immediately preceding action. When the urge appears, ask the
person to write on a piece of paper the answer for this information
and evaluate the result a few days later.
D. The fourth step is having a plan and replacing the non-
-benec routine by another that brings the same reward. This can
be potentiated by Gamication techniques.
Checkpoint
After applying the techniques to dene the issue, make a mission
checklist. [3]
[ ] game goals
What is the central issue to work on?
Is the issue relevant to the company/business?
[ ] behaviors
What is the current undesirable behavior?
Why do people show this behavior?
To what behavior should it be changed into?
Why is this behavior change needed?
Who benefits from this change?
How can the player benefit from this change?
Is the behavior to be stimulated in agreement with the businesss
needs and goals?
[ ] environment/context
Into which context is the game to be developed inserted in?
How this context or game is physically constituted?
Is it a noisy or busy environment?
Which are the rules and limitations imposed by the environment?
Is the player participating from home or from some specific
environment?
85
[ ] platform (Defines limits, spaces even virtual of actions.
Knowing in which environment the game will take place, one
may think about which platform is more appropriate.) What is the
most appropriate platform for your game? Board game, compu-
ter game, mobile game, physical activity? What is the interface
between the player and the game?
Step 2: Understand who the players are
With the problem dened, it is important to deeper comprehend
who are the players and how their efforts could be applied to the
solution or which of their behaviors need to be changed.
Personas are archetypes, ctional characters based on the
analysis of observed behaviors, and represent a variety of needs,
motivations, wishes and expectations from extreme proles. It is
a synthesis technique that helps the design process by giving an
overview of signicant user aspects that needs to be considered
when developing ideas for products and services focused on
experiences. It is also a form to facilitate the alignment of user
information among all stakeholders involved in the project, sup-
porting decision-making. Some of the characteristics that should
be included in a Persona created for a Gamication project are:
genre: as dened in Chapter 2, there are gender differences on
games. Men prefer challenging games where they can obtain a
deep command. They are stimulated by competition and can enjoy
destroying things. They tend to learn by trial and error and are
attracted to space puzzles. Women prefer games that explore the
emotional, similar to reality. They are attracted to dialog and verbal
puzzles and like to learn from examples. [4]
age: as also dened in Chapter 2, different life moments can impact
the way games are inserted into routines. Children 7-9 y/o are at
the reason age, they can already read and therefore become more
interested in games. From 10 to 13 y/o, they get into the obsession
tendencies phase, when they are passionate about their interests.
People from 25 to 35 y/o dedicate themselves to professional growth,
and some of them have a casual relationship with games. From
50 on, its common to be interested in games they liked during
childhood, and they tend to feel attracted by activities with strong
social appeal.
[3] Adapted from
herger, 2013
[4] schell, 2008
86
professional information: what do they do at work? What is
their job title? How is the department in which they work? What
are the difficulties involved in their daily tasks? What are their
career aspirations? By applying Gamification in the corporate
context, these are very relevant information that can become
crucial to find motivations to players.
type of player: is your player a killer, an achiever, an explorer or
a socializer?
behavior axes: identify some relevant polarities to your project
and evaluate each persona according to these polarities. An
example of polarity can be social x introverted.
generation: as explained in Chapter 3, different generations
have different behavior patterns. The Baby Boomer Generation,
for example, identies with competition, hierarchical systems. The
Generation X is pragmatic, individualistic, dont allow failures. The
Generation Y, who grew up living with video games and internet,
needs immediate feedback, adopts a more collaborative behavior
and learns by doing.
As an activity, create a set of personas that represent various
aspects identied in the eld, and assign them stories, phrases
and names to bring this archetype to life.
Photo
Personas description
attitudes, habits, behavior
Name, age
Main attributes
describe and record your accordance level
Occupation
A typical quote
from the persona
+
87
Checkpoint
[ ] players
Who is the player?
What are their demographic and behavioral characteristics?
What activities does the player perform?
What type of player is he?
Are there other people to be engaged in the game (ex:
supervisors)?
Step 3: Design principles and game mission
With a clearer understanding of the problem and the players,
establish directive criteria for your game. These are guidelines
that lead the project, so that critical issues are not neglected.
Create a criteria list from analyzing the collected data, concer-
ning the business objectives. This will represent the principles in
which to be aware of in all stages of the project, serving as a tool
to analyze and select generated ideas.
Examples of criteria: to stimulate cooperation among players,
stimulate information exchange among players; players should
learn by doing.
game mission
Considering the design principles, define the mission. It is the
games reason to be, the main objective of your gamification
initiative. The mission consolidates needs found on previous
development phases into clearly outlined actions; therefore,
reachable. Defining missions is extremely significant for the game
to be successful and appealing among players.
Try to create well specified and measurable missions instead
of suggesting generic activities such as improving sales. Try to
be more objective and specific like: stimulating employees to
share daily information about best sales practices, for example.
Checkpoint
[ ] mission
Are the directive criteria in agreement with the initial projects
challenge?
Are the directive criteria aligned with the businesss goals?
Is the game mission clear, specific, achievable and measurable?
88
Step 4: Develop ideas for the game
Armed with the problem definition, the context in which it appe-
ars, the understanding of business objectives, the peculiarities
of the players, and having defined a mission; the next step is to
develop ideas to determine the game format. Relevant questions
are: What story do you want to tell with the game? What will be
the games theme? What is the games aesthetic?
analogies
Think of an existing game that can serve as a baseline for deter-
mining the objective and mission of your gamification initiative,
since establishing analogies is an efficient way to generate good
ideas. The "force-fitting" technique consists of combining stimuli
of different symbolic universes to create new associations. This
can be done through analogies, metaphors or random stimuli. For
example, "tracking sales target" + "Farmville" = for each sale made,
a new plant is added to the player's garden.
brainstorming
It is the most traditional technique for developing ideas, in which
a group meets to suggest a greater possible amount of solutions
to a given problem. In a brainstorming, ideas should not be judged
or blocked, in order to establish a comfortable environment to
thought expression. Create as many ideas as you can, then discuss
them with the group, making a pre-selection. After getting feed-
back from others, try to develop the idea more thoroughly before
proceeding to the next step.
Some tips for developing ideas
Write down all your ideas.
Try to see the problem from different angles: conduct brainstor-
ming sessions at unusual places, move to other rooms.
Try to develop ideas acting hypothetically as someone else: If
I were a millionaire, how would I solve the issue? What if I were
famous? What if I were a child? What if I were a super-hero?
When ideas are not flowing, go home, let your brain rest and
think about it again the next day when you wake up.
Set a theme and a game aesthetic, because these elements
play a major role in establishing a symbolic context that helps
89
the player to understand rules and objectives from previous
knowledge. Aesthetics is the games appearance, smell, taste
and sensations. [5] To create a good experience, the mechanics,
the story and theme elements should be considered to reinforce
it. For example, the Mario Bros. games aesthetics is of fantasy
colorful worlds that resemble buildings and structures full of life.
The story, however, is a series of events unfolding within a
game and need to be reinforced with mechanics. Following Mario
Bros example, the game story is about saving the princess and
the journey the short mustached man needs to face to accom-
plish his mission. All these elements must be combined so that
the objective of providing a consistent experience to the player is
achieved.
Checkpoint
[ ] theme
Which theme represents the games objective?
Does the metaphor make sense for the players and the games
objective?
[ ] story
Does the story have potential to engage players?
[ ] aesthetics
Which aesthetic do you want to focus on the game?
Does the aesthetic reinforce and consolidate the story?
Step 5: Denition of the game and its mechanics
At this time, the activity mechanics can already begin to be
designed.
Every game should have clear length definitions. The game
can end when a player achieves an objective, may take a certain
time or be infinite. One way to keep players' interest for longer
periods is with the creation of cycles or editions, as do game
makers when releasing new versions from time to time. In a game
with cumulative score, incoming players may feel discouraged to
compare their progress with what was achieved by the leaders.
In this case, cycles that reset scores help bringing these new
players.
[5] schell, 2008
90
Another way to keep engagement is thinking on the games dra-
matic arc. This is a device derived from literary and cinematic arts,
which helps to think in an engaging experience from start to nish.
BoomwowWowWOWBOOMAhhh... [6]
Besides being a giant onomatopoeia, "Boom-Wow-Wow-
-WOW-BOOM-Ahhh ..." is a theory that, if properly assimilated,
can change forever the perception that you, the reader, have of
your own life. It must be clarified that this audacious assumption
is not mystical or religious, since such a theory is only an
ingenious attempt to transmit to the world the backbone of one
of the most popular dramatic arches in the history of art and, not
coincidentally, serves as an explanation of what is behind the
events that will probably be the most memorable of any persons
existence.
So, in the script of a play, at Sunday lunch, in a professional
trajectory, on a vacation trip with the family, or even in a video
game, you can be sure, whatever the circumstances, if they have
a vocation to become minimally significant experiences in the
ordinary course of our routine, the "Boom-Wow-Wow-WOW-
-BOOM-Ahhh ...", will show up, in a more or less obvious way. To
simplify, in practice, each expression represents some emotion,
at a given intensity, which, when chained together, supposedly
would capture the peak of interest and human involvement. Still
very complicated? Maybe it will be better to illustrate this talk
from a very familiar example: a classic James Bond movie.
1
st
Boom: Note that any James Bond movie always starts with a
chasing scene, sometimes the continuation from a previous TV
w
o
w
W
o
w
B
O
O
M
A
h
h
h
B
o
o
m
W
O
W
91
Show episode. This sequence means grabbing the audiences
attention, and at the same time, to inform that it is worth to keep
seated, because the best is yet to come. It is the first spark of the
script, or rather the first "Boom" of the movie. After facing the
danger, 007 goes back to his sweet routine in London and visits the
laboratory where all the awesome gadgets are being created [7]
(guns shoe, wristwatch with device to climb walls etc.) and he will
them use them against his enemies in the next hour and a half.
1
st
wow: the triviality of daily life in the British capital is suddenly
interrupted by a new mission that will put him back in action, this
time untying the knots of the screenplay that will lead this particular
movie. Before he notes it, Bond is involved in a frantic chase scene
through the streets of Paris, not so unpredictable, but something
that can make the viewer stop chewing his popcorn for a moment,
look at the person beside him and say: Wow.
2
nd
Wow: the fact is that just one "Wow" doesnt make a summer;
the sequence that makes worth paying for the ticket and that
justifies another movie for the saga has just started. Now the
"Wow" needs to be a little louder, to be heard from the back row
of the cinema. What if Bond were hunted by ten KGB agents
running on the wagons of a train crossing at high speed on the
Siberian railroad?
3
rd
WOW: to avoid breaking the established electrifying rhythm
and potentially cause a collective "WOW" to audience, the recipe
is to engage 007 to an even more sinister threat, an even more
exotic and unfamiliar place, something like a motorboat chase
across flaming rice plantations in Southeast Asia, while having
his voodoo doll pierced by the local sorcerer who was hired by
the countrys dictator.
2
nd
BOOM: ok, if the movie was a roller-coaster, we would now
be on the highest spot before the great descent that makes
our stomach come to mouth. In the script, its time to steer the
critics, those that, hopefully, the audience will want to share with
their friends, the scene that consumed half of that movies yearly
budget: Bond takes from the inside of an alligator's mandible a
chopped leg of an enemy soldier and uses it to stop the propel-
lers of his motorboat, which explodes, producing such an intense
fire ball that it ends up also inflaming the dictators helicopter,
who had ordered Bonds death and who was watching the chase
from the above.
[6] Freely inspired on
Adam Lawrence,
co-founder of Work-
PlayExperience,
German Consultant
on service innovation,
That uses methods
from theater to
their projects.
[7] Gadget: an
equipment (device)
with an specic
purpose, practice and
daily useful. It is usual to
call Gadgets, the
portable Electronic
devices such as
PDAs, cellphones,
smartphones MP3
players, among others.
92
Ahhhh: but what now, what else could be thought to overcome
so much adrenaline? Is this the way the lm ends? With everyone
thinking that James Bond is a demigod endowed with unparalleled
sagacity and that therefore his story is completely implausible and
disconnected from audience reality?
Of course not! The instant that the British agent sails the coast of
Greece celebrating the amazing victory, he realizes that his Hunga-
rian girlfriend is actually a double agent, and that he is the victim of
an ambush: the champagne is poisoned! Ahhh, he is also makes
stupidities, he is like any one of us, thinks the relieved audience.
Apparently, evil still remains unpunished, at least until the next mo-
vie. Well, if the above example was not didactic enough, evidences
of "Boom-Wow-Wow-WOW-BOOM-Ahhh ..." can be found even in
the way the experience is thought by audience of Magic Kingdom,
Disney's premier theme park.
In this case, the problem identied was that each visitor makes
his own journey through the sights and there is a big chance that the
visitor leaves the forgotten attractions that never have a line, for the
end of the day, which could contribute to a negative perception of
the whole experience.
And what did Disney marketers do about it? Created the Electri-
cal Parade (super illuminated parade that occurs on the Main Street
and stops all the parks attractions) and reworks, just to make sure
that everyone would go home after a legitimate "BOOM" followed by
an "Ahhh ...".
More examples? What about the main rituals of the Catholic
Church? Birth, baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage,
extreme unction: "Boom-Wow-Wow-WOW-BOOM-Ahhh ...". And
what about traditional relationships journey? Flirting, first kiss,
dating, engagement, marriage, sex, although the order of these
steps may vary. Now I think that at least it must have been a bit
easier to understand why you cannot eat dessert before the meal,
watch Return of the Jedi before The Empire Strikes Back, learn to
skate before biking, know Beatles before Rolling Stones...
According to the participants prole and the context, try to
dene what will be the players interaction frequency with the
platform.
If it is a dynamic conducted inside a company, the player can have
some interactions a week, once a day, or even many times a day. The
frequency needs to be well-dened to keep the engagement without
making the game boring, and without disturbing all other activities
performed by the player.
Mechanics are designed to clarify to the player what objectives
93
should be pursued and what happens after performing each action.
Although there is no denite taxonomy, there are several mechanics
which can be used for a game. Objects are all things that can be
seen or handled: characters, records, scores. Each object has attri-
butes (object characteristics or what an object can perform, such as
"maximum speed") and states (variable momentary characteristics,
such as "current speed"). Actions correspond to what the players
do, and always involve consequences. Rules lead the game from
how it should be played to how the player should behave.
Mechanics list [8]
Restrains
Score
Achievements (for example, badges, score, rewards)
Comments, followers, ratings
Dynamic commitment: the player needs to go back at a specific
time to perform certain action (for example, Farmville)
To avoid punishment (the player needs to perform the action to
avoid being punished)
Happy productivity (participating in a game is such a pleasant
activity that makes people happier when playing than when
doing nothing)
Countdown
Disincentives (lose points as punishment to stimulate behavior
changes)
Significant results (epic meaning): motivation from the percep-
tion that the effort applied is to achieve something important,
significant
Lottery
Modifiers: items influencing other actions (e.g., multiply points
in the next action)
Dynamic progression: progress bar
Reward Programming: wins reward X, when action Y is perfor-
med, within Z period of time
Status
Viral mechanic: game element that requires many players (for
example, Farmville: you become more popular if you have more
people playing with you)
Virtual items, virtual currency
Pride
[8] Source: techcrunch.
com/2010/08/25/scvn-
gr-game-mechanics
94
List of motivators considered fun [9]
Recognize patterns
Collecting
Finding random treasures
Achieving a sense of completion
Gaining recognition for achievements
Creating order out of chaos
Customizing virtual worlds
Gathering knowledge
Organizing groups of people
Noting insider references
Being the center of attention
Experiencing beauty and culture
Exchanging gifts
Imagining yourself as a character (hero, villain, wise old man,
rebel, magician, ruler)
Pretending to live in a magical place
Listening to a story
Predicting the future
Competition
Psychoanalyzing (understand others motivation)
Mystery
Mastering a skill
Exacting justice and revenge
Nurturing
Triumph over conflict
Relaxing
Experiencing the Freakish or bizarre
Being silly
Laughing
Being scared
Strengthening a family relationship
Improving ones health
Imagining a connection with the past
Explore a world
Improving society
Checkpoint
[ ] game duration
What are the games duration rules?
How is the players experience curve?
95
[ ] interaction frequency
How often will the player interact with the platform?
[ ] game mechanic
What are the mechanics that lead the game?
Are the mechanics engaging for the players?
Does the mechanic help reaching the games initial objectives?
[ ] scoring
Is the score balanced? Is it fair?
What do players feel when they lose?
[ ] rewards
Are there any rewards in the game?
Are there risks of rewards destroying intrinsic interests?
Step 6: Low, Medium and/or High Fidelity Test
Prototypings objective is to validate the developed idea, as well
as to obtain inputs to improve it. A prototype is any tangibilization
of an idea in order to bring learnings. By doing so, the team
producing the game learns about it when simulating concepts
and actions with future users, a process that involves, as a
consequence, inputs to improve the proposal. This is the concept
of iteration: continuous improvement of an idea for it to develop
according to end user needs, before more time and money are
invested. Therefore, prototypes help to reduce the projects
uncertainties and the risks inherent to its implementation.
These tests do not necessarily need to occur only when the
game is completely designed; they can be conducted at earlier
time, in order to validate the concept. There are different ways to
make a prototype: high or low delity (object similarity accuracy
and real interactions) and contextuality (public similarity accuracy
and real interaction contexts). It usually starts with low-delity and
low-contextuality prototypes and as the game is improved and
iterated, the prototypes delity can increase. There is no pre-set
or recommended duration to the prototyping phase, since each
project presents different complexities and questions that need to
be claried in different moments.
[9] radoff, 2011
96
storyboard
It is a sequential representation of a story or action, performed
visually. Several techniques can be used, such as drawing, pho-
tography or collages. Storyboards are useful to enable viewing
the game's narrative, or the experience the user will have when
playing.
paper prototyping
Representations of graphic or product interfaces made on paper.
It may have different fidelity levels, since the sketch of a freehand
wireframe [10] to the printed drawing of an interface with all its
details, colors and final proportions. These schemes are both
to enable designers to visualize and optimize their work in a
tangible way and to test users, simulating a functional interface.
It is a low cost prototype, and serves very well as a first validation
of scores mechanics.
volumetric model
Volumetric representations of the Interface or game, which vary
in levels of fidelity according to the stipulated purpose. Built
with simple materials (paper, cardboard, modeling clay etc.), or
more elaborated - composed of various materials and painted to
simulate the color and finishing of the product to be manufac-
tured - are useful to test the mechanics without the high cost of
implementation.
To test the games dynamics, it is possible to stimulate its
functioning using low fidelity prototypes. As an example, a
prototype software developed by MJV can be mentioned to
assist sales teams to adapt their subject-matter to the clients
profile and track transactions. An analogical game board was
used to represent the systems dashboard. For every sale, new
information was manually added to the dashboard. To check the
Quiz feature (questions that automatically appear in the system
with the objective of training), a member of the innovation team
simply printed the questions on a paper sheet and tested them
with the sales team. Each correct answer granted an element on
the board. Thus, it was possible to test the concept, the interac-
tions, the feedback and the games scores.
Prototyping Tips
Conduct tests quickly and early in the process.
Initially, do not think on improving the prototype quality: any
tangibilization attempt will likely help you clarify issues and
97
improve the concept.
Do not stick to ideas: if during the prototyping phase better
solutions appear, do not hesitate on embracing them.
Checkpoint
Prototyping serves to evaluate all defined points so far: concept,
engagement, mechanics, aesthetics, and story, as well as getting
participants feedback upon what needs to be improved.
[ ] evaluation
Evaluate the games mechanics: Did it work with the participants?
Evaluate the score: Is the score attribution model fair?
Evaluate the games concept: Did the mechanics make sense for
the players?
Did players have fun with the game?
Step 7: Implementation and monitoring
After the game implementation, its necessary to constantly
manage and evaluate the need of implementing changes. So,
it is important to have well-established metrics to validate the
players actions, motivation and engagement.
Step 8: Measuring and evaluation
Some suggestions on measurements related to metric evaluation
have affinity with the purposes commonly associated to corpora-
te games: [11]
Regarding engagement
Average/Median number of actions
Number of users performing actions
Number of times users return
Progression of users throughout the experience
Level of satisfaction shown by players
Regarding time spent
Players retention
Frequency of visits to the platform
Response time to proposed challenges
Timeliness
[10] Wireframe: A
website wireframe
(also referred as
"wire frame
web", "wireframe web",
"web wireframing") is
a visual basic guide
used to interface
design, in order
to suggest a web
site structure
and the relationships
between its pages.
98
About the achieved ROI
Number of active participants
Indicators of productivity increase
Cost reduction
Sales gures increase
Quality
Ratings
Completion of task
What can go wrong? [12]
Even carefully planning the gamification initiative, it is possible
that something does not work out as expected. The following
items assist identification of possible impasses that may appear
and should be considered during the planning stage:
Inadequacy to business goals. It is always important to
emphasize: if the gamication initiative is not appropriate to the
companys objectives as a whole, or to some stakeholders invol-
ved, this may prevent the games adherence and implementation
process.
Inadequacy to the companys culture. The game inadequacy
to the companys culture can cause estrangement and low
engagement of players
Lack of clarity on the players value proposition. A score
without value proposition simply will not engage players for long
periods.
Lack of engagement in short term. It can occur due to lack of
communication from the initiative, or even the players demand
for an adaptation time. If there is little initial engagement, try to
identify the people who are motivated and think about how to
turn them into disseminators of this behavior. Many times, it
is enough for a small group to start engaging with the game in
order to have a cascading effect.
Lack of long-term engagement. It is likely that the game has
become monotonous, i.e., the flow between challenge and
difficult level is not appropriate. A game needs to be challenging
but achievable, and this balance is difficult to obtain. For long
lasting games, we recommend the inclusion of cycles, renewing
the subject or resetting the score.
99
Games Obsolescence (lack of management). Like any product
or service, it is important monitoring and updating objectives
to adapt them to new parameters that can show up. To keep the
game alive, plan to insert new cycles from time to time. Players
are stimulated by continuous changes because it helps bring
freshness to the games experience.
Lack of dynamics. The game will be inserted into the players
habits if you think on dynamics and frequency of interactions
and status updates. Social networks are a good example of
frequently updated content that arouses curiosity and recurrent
visits by users.
Unfair score. Cheating is common in games, so get used to the
idea that players will try to go against the rules or seek loopholes
that grant them advantages. When the other participants
perceive such behavior, they relate it to the game mechanics
permissiveness. So, try to pre-simulate all possible interactions
in order to avoid jeopardizing the projects credibility.
Lack of management involvement. The support and involve-
ment of senior people are fundamental for the game to succeed
and to promote changes in the corporation. To facilitate this
adherence, you can assign specific roles for managers in the
game, so they perceive themselves indispensable to the process
or even allow their experience to contribute to the elimination of
possible planning mistakes.
Lack of encouragement in fatigue moments. After some time,
it is quite common for some players to experience moments
of fatigue. This can happen for various reasons, like poorly
defined mechanics, or by external pressures, as exceptionally
troubled times in the department. Given this situation, incentive
campaigns can help reversing this condition. Some possibilities
are: give visibility to the players achievement, send stimulating
emails, schedule meetings between players to share experiences,
among others.
Poorly planned score system. The player should always believe
that progressing and reaching the top ranking position is possible.
If there are players with extremely high score, the task of reaching
the top seems unfeasible, reducing the motivation when playing.
[11] Adapted from
herger, 2013
[12] Source: hrexaminer.
com/12-ways-to-make-
-your-gamication-
-project-fail/
100
Tasks that do not make sense on players routine. If the
games tasks represent an increased amount or the duplication of
work, it can impair adherence to the game.
In addition to this Step by Step, an interesting alternative to develop
corporate games, especially when you do not have much time, is
through workshops. From a collaborative and pretty straightforward
dynamics, it becomes possible to organize ideas and concepts that,
in a following moment will serve as resources for games develop-
ment. The following is a suggested format that has been used by
MJVs Technology & Innovation team to make Gamication process
tangible with executives from various segments.
101
Game Design Thinking Workshop
Expected length: 2h | number of participants: from 8 to 15
Graphic Material used available for download at
gamicationbook.com
Activity 1: Warm up
1) Perfect World
(group activity expected length: 10 minutes)
objective: to facilitate abstract thinking about problems, relativi-
zing possibilities of resolution.
proposal: participants describe in a few words how would it work
according to their, the companys or the departments dreams.
2) One Word Story
(group activity expected length: 10 minutes)
objective: motivate players to practice solving issues in a
collaborative way.
proposal: participants meet, standing up in a circle, to tell a
collective story where each person tells a part and it has to be
continued by what was told by the predecessor. Depending on the
number of participants, and how funny the story is, more than just
going around the circle can be considered.
Example:
participant 1: Yesterday I went to the beach and I saw something
that shocked me
participant 2: Indeed, I saw a talking sh
initial suggested theme: When arriving at the company, I
met the director, who with a scared look told me: A misfortune
happened
Capture: Understanding the problem
Activity 2: What is the problem?
(individual activity expected length: 15 minutes)
required material: adhesive dots; 10 problem cards .
objective: create a strategic mapping of problems that can be
approached by the game to be developed.
102
proposal: participants are invited to write down, for ve minutes,
what are the key problems (one per card) related to the area where
the game will be applied. Following, among the problems listed by
them, the more relevant one should be chosen, and xed to a wall.
When all suggested problems are shown, everybody shall stand
up and x the adhesive dots (two per person) on two problems
they consider more critical.
Transformation: approaching the problem from new angles
Activity 3: Stop and Go Ideation
(group activity expected length: 10 minutes)
objective: switch moments of ideation and reection, in order to
allow full exploitation of ideas generated in brainstorming.
required material: ideation cards (one per group)
containing a space to stick the problem removed from the wall
and space to transcribe possible solutions.
proposal: after the collective evaluation, the top rated problems
(one per group) should be put aside to be used in the next step of
the activity. The remaining problems are to be distributed to the
groups (one for each), which will be invited to conduct a brainstor-
ming session to solve them. Each series will have three minutes
length, followed by a one minute silence break and reection
on what has just been proposed. This module is repeated twice
in total. It is recommended that the ideas shown up during the
activity should be considered when designing the game.

Activity 4: Superhero
(Group activity expected length: 15 minutes)
objective: from an abstract proposition, this activity aims to
expand the horizon of possible solutions to generate narratives
and more creative concepts for the game that will be developed
by the team.
required material: superheroes cards Super Man, Iron Man,
Batman, Spider Man.
proposal:
a) Each group receives the card of a specic superhero and needs
to list their super powers within 5 minutes. Online research using
smartphones are welcome, once it is fundamental to get a well
done list, under the risk of jeopardizing the next step.
103
b) Once the super heroes characteristics are dened, each group
receives one of the top rated problems in activity 1, devoting 10
minutes to think on how the superhero should use his super
powers to solve the challenge.
Pause: 10 minutes
Implementation: convert ideas into reality
Activity 5: Gamifying the solution
(Group activity expected length: 30 minutes)
objective: with the supposed solution to the problem, the groups
are challenged to create a game that helps them to translate the
developed solution to practice.
required material: player cards; challenge/actions; rules/
limitations.
proposal: By fullling cards with denitions about the main
aspects to create a game (Who is the player?; What are their
challenges/actions?; What are the rules/limitations?), each group
will develop an itinerary for the game they intend to create. The
records corresponding to each aspect are fullled, one by one, in
agreement to the suggested order and pause:
Card 1: The player (10 minutes)
Card 2: Challenges and Actions (10 minutes)
Card 3: Rules and Limitations (10 minutes)
Activity 6: Results Presentation
(Group activity expected length: 20 minutes)
proposal: each group will have ve minutes to explain how the
created game works.
Activity 7: Final Considerations
(Group activity expected length: 15 minutes)
objective: stimulate among participants the perception about
the activity and understand how it can be extended in the profes-
sional routine of each one of them.
104
Costs, difculties, obstacles
What are the costs of implemen-
tation and maintenance foreseen
in the game?
Which difculty and obstacles
can inuence implementation or
success of the game?
Gamication Canvas
If you you dont have much
time or you are alone, its
ok, there is still a last trick
hidden in the sleeve:
Strategic
partnerships
Are there other people to
engage on the game (for
example, supervisors)?
What departments within
the company should
support the game?
In what way?
Games aspects denition
Which is the most adequate
platform for the game
(board, computer, physical
activity)?
What criteria denes the
game s length?
How often will the player
interact with the platform?
What are the games rules?
Which activities the player
should do in the game?
Scores and rewards
How does the score
mechanics work?
What awards are offered to
the player?
105
Expected benets
What results are expected
to be reached at the games
implementation?
How would the games
results be measured?
Business objectives
What are the business
objectives that have to
be reached through the
game?
Which behavior should
be modied through the
game?
Games objectives
What is the games mission
(what achievements should
be reached by the player)?
The games mission
should be clear, specic,
reachable and measurable
and in agreement with the
business objectives.
Games environment
What is the story/topic
of the game? How will it
engage the player?
To create the games
environment, consider
the real context where the
player is inserted.
Players characteristics
Who is the player of
this game? (Behavior
characteristics,
demographics, habits and
activities he accomplishes).
What kind of a player is
he and how does this
shape the game (predator,
conquistador, explorer,
socializer)?
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6
What about the future?
Experience indicates that weaving conjectures about what's yet to
come is an often unthankful job, but what other way would there
be to end this book then throwing ourselves on the assumptions
eld, particularly when seeking answers to a possible question:
after all, what does the future hold for Gamication? Although
there is no pretension on knowing nowadays this answer, some
evidences, that compose the current scenario of the application of
this methodology, indicate possible paths to be followed. In fact,
as the use of game mechanics gradually increases the subject of
interest, it is natural to expect higher sophistication as a result of
the proposed use of such mechanics as well as a broader objecti-
ve scope, which can be achieved with the method.
A trend that denitely has a good chance to prevail is self-
-development through games. Considering the likely impro-
vement of Game Design as science, the emerging technologies
and higher incidence of professionals working in this area, its not
difcult to foresee that in some years a proliferation of applica-
tions designed to gamify any objective achievement will occur. By
using augmented reality, less articial interfaces, remote control
by gesture or devices that recognize emotion, it will be common,
for example, to nd physical exercises programs able to "read" the
true condition of its users and recommend one or other sequence
of activities, adapting them to the circumstances of themoment.
Still on the health eld, it is also expected that there is an
exponential increase in the use of applied Gamication to prevent
the incidence of chronic diseases or monitor higher efciency and
practicality patients that require special attention. With detailed
and real-time monitoring of biometric data, customization of
metrics and rewards related to the well-being, health profes-
sionals may be more easily involved in the care of their patients,
bringing more assertiveness on treatments or even increasing the
108
adherence index especially on long treatments. There are already
discussions about the possibility of applications with these featu-
res potentially reducing the need for hospitalization, considering
that more precise monitoring of the patients condition, in some
circumstances, could allow him to remain at home, making
hospital beds more available for severe cases.
Maybe education could be one of the areas with bigger
expectations regarding the extension of benets that can be
achieved with Gamication. In the opinion of renowned experts, it
is only a matter of time until the schools include games aspects in
learning, making the universal education curriculum more exible
towards a better adaptation to each students individuality. To
illustrate this hypothesis, a language teaching program whose
content is directly associated with particular experiences and
expectations of the student in question may be quoted, providing
classes created from their personal interests or practical expe-
riences they have had on the previous day.
In the public sphere, it is expected that the data extraction
from Big Data in higher ow and better dened purposes will
provide an extremely conducive climate to Gamication, since
there will be numerous opportunities to produce metrics and
performance indicators conditioned to any interactions between
citizens and governments. You can imagine, for example, a taxa-
tion model linking tax rates to the amount of garbage generated
by a person over a year, or even to their contribution to a criminal
mapping program on their neighborhood.
We must also mention that the paradigm change is likely
to occur related to how virtual simulators are used today. The
technological advent expected for the coming years can effec-
tively make them so believable that the point of the concept of
experimenting can be replaced by "experiencing", since the
evidences to attest the non-veracity of the proposed situation
tend to be despicable. Simulations, therefore, would not be limi-
ted only to reproducing risky circumstances or promoting training,
but creating factual interaction environments, with entertainment
or socializing purposes, for example.
In corporate context, we can witness a systematic transition
from marketing oriented model to game oriented model,
from the purpose diversication to be reached by games in corpo-
rations, and from its subsequent application to areas that, under
the current point of view, seem to have low familiarity with the
theme. It is also possible to get a vision of near future, where work
and entertainment become inextricably linked, binding personal
109
satisfaction to productivity increase, as suggested by some study
lines that already refer to this new professional reality as Playbor
(play+labor) or Weisure (work+pleasure).
The simple consideration of these terms incites the imagina-
tion on this environment preponderance that suggests a more
symbiotic relationship between individuals and corporations,
consolidating a management and production model more wont
to paradigms that were brought on the 21st century. According
to this scenario, the absolute value of a company would not
be restricted only to the sum of the monetary patrimony of its
shareholders, but it would also be an important indicator that,
despite almost never coming out in trading rounds, it is essential
for any organizations future: Social Capital corresponding to its
employees satisfaction.
Under this aspect, which narrows the gap between personal
and professional goals, Gamication would be a natural comple-
ment to the established order, forming teams for individual deve-
lopment oriented towards collective goals and managers more
identied as orchestras conductors than lion tamers. When rules
and goals to be achieved are perfectly clear, the result frequently
observed is of players engaged to seek innovative solutions to
the challenges they face and more condent to achieve them. It is
likely that the vast majority of todays corporations are not ready
yet to get into this game, but at this point of the book, who would
dare to disagree that the laurels of victory will t to the rst ones
who know how to do it? Daydream or prediction of a new era?
We'll know soon.
111
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cincia da educao.) ufrgs.
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Thinking: inovao em negcios. Rio
de Janeiro: mjv Press, 2012.
about the authors
Ysmar Vianna
Electrical Engineer from ITA (1966), master in electrical enginee-
ring and computer science from UCB - University of California at
Berkeley (1969), PhD in computer science from UCB (1972). With
extensive academic career, he was a pioneer in computing in
Brazil, and participated as an instructor to Coppe / UFRJ to the
rst computer facility at the University, in 1967. He has created
the course Informatics UFRJ, and was Head and Director of the
Department of Computer Science at NCF / UFRJ. He has coor-
dinated innovation projects for MJVs clients such as Coca-Cola,
BR Distribuidora, Ita, Porto Seguro, Dufry, Icatu Seguros and
Government of Rio de Janeiro.
Maurcio Vianna
Computer Engineer from PUC-RJ (1990), master in computer
science at ITT- Illinois Institute of Technology (1992) and PhD in
computer science at ITT (1995). He has worked as a Consultant
for the Chicago Board of Trade Clearing Co. (USA) Performance
Computing Inc. (USA), Fairchild & Miller Inc. (USA), R & R Donnel-
ley (USA), Banco Boavista, Secretaria Municipal de Finanas do
Rio de Janeiro, Telefonia Celular Claro, Vivo and Oracle. He has
participated in the development of Case (PCCase) tool in IBPI. He
has several technical papers published in international conferen-
ces IEEE and ACM, in the object orientation and database area.
He is currently developing projects in the areas of Mobile Vas,
innovation in auto insurance / health and social systems. At MJV,
he has worked with clients such as Vivo, Zurich, Government of
Minas Gerais, Claro, Mapfre, SulAmrica Seguros and Mills.
Bruno Medina
Graduated in Marketing at PUC-RJ, he was a member of the
musical band Los Hermanos from 1997 to 2006. He has worked at
Multishow channel developing new TV formats and has worked
with various print publications such as O Globo, Jornal do Brasil
and Trip magazine. Since 2007 he is a columnist to Pop & Arts
section of the G1 portal. Since 2009, he has acted as an innovation
consultant to MJV, integrating projects performed for companies
like Icatu Seguros, Ita, and Mills. More recently, he became the
Head of the Gamication Initiative.
Samara Tanaka
Integrated Design Master from Kln International School of Design
(2011), graduated in design by ESDI / Uerj (2004), worked with design
graphic design, information publishing and interaction in Tecnopop,
OEstudio, Om.art / Osklen, Flashpoint (USA). She is currently
a consultant for strategic innovation to MJV where she applies
Gamication to stimulate behavior changing in several contexts,
including companies such as Petrobras BR, Porto Seguro and Icatu
Seguros. She is an independent researcher in social innovation, a
Design Research lecturer at PUC-RJ, and has spent many sleepless
nights due to her fascination with games.
about the illustrator
Joo Rocha
Integrated Product Design Master from TU Delft (2010), graduated
in Design from the University of Aveiro (2008). He has worked on
guerrilla advertising for brands such as Diesel, O'Neill, Philips and
Greenpeace. With visual facilitation, he has worked to Roche and
Adobe, and events like Ignite technology conferences and lectures.
After a short stay in the startups world, he moved to Brazil, where
he is currently an innovation designer for MJV, developing projects
to help companies plan strategies for innovation, having also done
visual facilitation for companies like Coca-Cola and SAP.
London
9 Devonshire Square
ec2m4yf London, England
Phone: + 44 7 842749470
So Paulo
Rua Helena 280,
gr. 1103, Vila Olmpia
04552-050 So Paulo sp
Phone: +55 11 3045 0536
Rio de Janeiro
Av Marechal Cmara 160,
gr. 206, Centro
20020-080 Rio de Janeiro rj
Phone: +55 21 2532 6423
If you are interested in conducting
Gamication Projects at your
company, contact us:
Maurcio Vianna, Global ceo
mvianna@mjvinnovation.co.uk
Ysmar Vianna, president
yvianna@mjvinnovation.co.uk
For more information, please visit
mjvinnovation.co.uk
mjv.com.br
gamicationbook.com
about mjv
MJV has over 17 years of experience collaborating with some
of the most important companies in the world on their technology
and innovation challenges. With a focus on people, using Design
Thinking and Gamication Methods, we are driven to discover
smart and actionable opportunities for businesses to grow, adapt
and develop in the face of change.
With ofces in Europe and Latin America, MJV has grown into a
multidisciplinary team of over 300 employees, graduated by inter-
nationally renowned universities. Among the projects undertaken in
the Design Thinking and Gamication area, we highlight a gamied
change management system to implement SAP in a construction
company, a gamied tool for operators in call centers, and the gami-
cation of strategic planning for a multinational insurance company.
In addition, with a solid experience in Technology Consulting,
MJV offers the best solutions for Web development, Mobile/ Digital
Apps, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Big Data, and
Business Intelligence Services Management. We use state-of-art
technology to help your company reach high performance business
levels.
Our clients include large companies in the most diverse business
segments. We hope we can be part of your successful future.
Gamication is the use of guided games mechanisms to solve
practical issues or to engage a specic public. In a report published
in 2012, the Gartner Group announced that by 2015 about 50% of all
global innovation process will be "gamied". In 2016, according to
the study, the Gamication market will be around $2.8 billion. The
development of this true science comes from a somewhat obvious
nding: human beings are strongly attracted to games. With increa-
sing frequency, this set of techniques have been applied by several
companies as alternative tools to traditional approaches, especially
to encourage people to adopt certain behaviors, to get to know new
technologies, speed their learning or training processes, and turning
some tedious or repetitive tasks into pleasant ones.
In a game, when rules and goals are clear, the most common result
observed is of engaged players looking for innovative solutions for
challenges. Who disagrees that this same behavior, when repeated
in a corporation, has the capacity of simply revolutionize the way we
think and execute our professional ideas? Through this book it is
possible to comprehend how Gamication has, not only helped the
biggest organizations to engage, socialize, motivate, teach or build
loyalty in an efcient way with employees and clients, as also to get
closer to a new way of thinking which its assimilation looks essential
for understanding of the world today..
Learn more at gamicationbook.com