Gamification - How the Principles of Play Apply to Real Life - Extra Credits

[Music] hello before we start we've got somebody you guys should meet Allison has several deadlines piling up on her right now and honestly she probably deserves a week off at this point anyway so today we are joined by a special guest artist may I introduce Aaron seagull substitute pretty pictures maker thank you very much for filling in and for giving Allison a well-deserved week off all right let's do this as promised we're back to talk about gamification gamification may be the most important thing this industry ever does not a lot of people are aware of it yet but in 10 years I can guarantee you will be gamification is simply the idea of taking the principles of play the things we've learned in three decades of making video games and using them to make real world activities more engaging on paper that sounds great it sounds like it could be the key to solving all of our problems with education to making the workplace more exciting to getting people to want to re-engage and become socially responsible but with every great Innovation comes the potential for abuse and this one's no exception

perhaps we can unleash on the world a way to make everything more compelling and see Humanity embrace it for the greatest good perhaps we can bring the same ideas that make you play World of Warcraft for 20 hours a week and instead use them to make learning another language or helping to restore a park just as engaging just as exciting as riding around on a giant barar and holding off a band of marauding elves hell maybe we can figure out a way to combine the two experiences I don't know and perhaps in doing so we'll actually be able to create a better happier more contented world for the future but at the same time we have to consider the risks the numerous ways this can go wrong in the face of greed and personal interest imagine if racking up debt or consuming specific products were reinforced by the same engagement techniques that keep you playing Facebook games way longer than you probably should but all right you get the idea let's talk specifics about how this works both good and bad the world is facing a really weird crisis right now a crisis of Engagement think about the variety of recreational activities we have today from film and TV to music video games theme parks comic books even modern major league sports now compare all that to the entertainment options mankind had even just 100 years ago and you can see how much more VIs and

engaging we've managed to make our Leisure a lot of money and a lot of science have gone into figuring out how to keep ourselves entertained in the last 100 years resulting in spectacles and entertainment unparalleled in human history but the rest of life hasn't really kept up our education system has barely progressed Beyond its 1800s Prussian model roots and many jobs are no more enjoyable today than they were for our ancient forbearers thousands of years ago even traditional advertising no longer holds our attention the way it once did because we've become used to so much engagement per second our play is more fun than ever and it's leaving real life in the dust we need to fix this problem if the pattern continues more and more people are going to be tuning out at school and going through life hating their jobs this isn't just a concern for basic human dignity it's a real and pressing concern for Society at large even with all of today's labor saving devices we've still seen a drop off in individual workplace efficiency and engagement in the American education system sure isn't fairing any better if refreshing your Facebook wall is more exciting than school or work something's wrong hence gamification at its most basic gamification simply takes all those Skinner box techniques we all know so well from earlier episodes level in

systems achievements quests checklists rewards Etc and layers them over existing activities scanning barcodes when doing inventory becomes a lot more engaging when there's a progress bar on your Barcode Scanner showing you how much closer you are to leveling up each time you scan an item getting an achievement for going 20 whole days without a customer complaint or for finishing 30 math problems in a single night it practically ensures that no one drops the ball on day 18 or quits doing their math at problem 25 it's the exact same thing that pushes us to just finish this level there have been studies on it it works it's proven to increase work Place productivity facilitate learning and even make patients take their medicine on time but this is only the very beginning of how we can gamify our lives there are a thousand vectors we can use to improve on this simple Skinner box core everything from integrating our school and work experience with the Leisure we participate in in our free time to simple aesthetic things like better contextualizing our work and making sure that the theme or setting is psychologically conducive to the activity itself kind of like how when you go to Disney World everything down to the trash bins near the line for the rides all fit within the setting and don't break you out of that mindset of enjoying the ride if we can do this then we can deliver on a vision where we are

as excited and energized to engage in our serious lives as much as we are our play lives there will be less distinction between the two and perhaps someday there won't be a difference at all all work will be play and all play will help enrich our lives but there's a really nasty potential flip side to this idea and it's already begun to happen companies are beginning to realize that we're no longer caught by traditional advertising the way we once were we've been so bombarded by media that we don't even look at Billboards anymore we flip channels through commercials or just fast forward straight through them we don't even register banner ads on a web page any longer so they've turned to new tools to compel us to shape our consumption in a way that's beneficial to them look at the rewards on your credit cards the smarter companies have started having you level up for racking up debt check out the progress bar on your frequent flyer program or the achievements that some of these programs are starting to Dole out for taking routes that are more economical for them even the McDonald's annual Monopoly game is an example of gamification seeping into marketing it directs you toward purchasing soft drinks and Fries the two most profitable items for them by putting the most game pieces per dollar on those items so given all that I don't really want to broadcast my nent thoughts on how to really take this sort

of thing to the next level however if any of you guys happen to be Educators or doctors and you're interested in implementing these sort of tactics into your field our email address is coming right up in the end credits usually James charges game companies a good bit of money for that kind of Consulting but in your case he's happy to make an exception anything to help make reality a little more fun for everybody so yeah that's about it gamification is going to be big and it's probably going to be awesome just be wary because somebody out there is going to try and use it against you just keep your eyes open thanks again to aarin for the pretty pictures see you next time [Music] wow