Designing Gamification Technologies
for Innovative User Engagement
Today’s consumers of digital media have a natural response to challenge and rewards. Appealing to people's desire to win with gamification technology will help your business drive specific buying behaviors all while improving your bottom line. DDA has a nearly two decade long history of innovation with interactive technologies and digital media of all kinds. In that time, DDA has acquired serious experience and skills in the arenas of cross-platform multimedia development, from user interface design and comprehensive media creation and repurposing, to online and mobile application development. DDA has helped to pioneer the digital revolution and brings to bear an unequaled level of experience, allowing it to build anything on any operating system, device, or platform.
Once game dynamics are conceptualized and a gamification platform is determined, the next step is to design the game mechanics that work to boost engagement and retention. When considering what gamification techniques to integrate, it is important to first ask the following questions:
What’s going to attract users to the game and intrinsically motivate them to play?
Will this be a one-and-done game, or should there be a draw for users to return and play as often as possible?
How can user behavior be influenced and rewarded?
What is the target demographic and what is their attitude toward gaming in general: users who have a competitive nature and want to test themselves against other users; users who relish in the feeling of achievement; users who are perfectionists and want to do everything correctly and in the correct order; users who have a need for speed, etc.?
What is the learning objective?
As a gamification plantform developer, DDA Games finds the answers to these questions and more when conceptualizing the scope of the work in discussions with the client and finding creative ways to achieve the intended goals. Although there are standard gamification techniques that can be incorporated, in most cases, the mechanics are customized to suit the needs of the game. Standard techniques include gated content, achievement badges, leader boards, progress bars, instant performance feedback, virtual currency, systems for exchanging points, and inter-user challenges. All work well to promote engagement in many diverse gaming scenarios. However, there are times when thinking outside of the box yields even better results.
Take, for instance, a virtual doctor game in which the gamification techniques could be to allow users to perform a procedure through a variety of custom interactive controls. Users can make precise incisions, sculpt bones, extract material, suture wounds, and received feedback on their performance of operational tasks in real time, with additional support provided if any wrong moves are made. Points can be awarded based on both accuracy and time. Those who complete the procedure with a high degree of accuracy and/or timeliness could receive an award—perhaps in the form of continuing medical education (CME) credits. Another example is a business game designed to motivate change in employees for better performance. Users can create virtual identities for self-expression and work collaboratively in a game sequence, which functions to improve morale and excitement around tasks, projects, and even job roles.
The possibilities in gamification techniques are endless. Contact DDA Games to find out how we can use the dynamic mechanics of psychology and interactive technology to make games so addicting, so sticky, and so engaging that they influence behavior and have a real, measurable impact.
