Get the Most in Life and Work with Gamification

Game designer Jane McGonigal was desperately striving to get her normal life back. This might have lasted forever if not for a magic potion she “cooked up” on her own – a resilience-building game. Today, SuperBetter has been played by more than half a million people

What is lifestyle gamification?

Gamification means that you turn a task into a game to motivate yourself to finish it

In other words, you apply the fun and addictive elements developed by game designers to real-world activities
For example, learning a foreign language through an app like MindSnacks or DuoLingo

Why and how does it work?

As you get points and other rewards, achieve new levels with new challenges, see your name on a scoreboard, and explore new quests, your brain becomes excited and releases dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway (the reward pathway – highlighted in dark blue), which creates higher motivation and makes us chase after a reward.

Factors that make games and gamified tasks incredibly attractive include: Epic meaning and calling, development and accomplishment, empowerment of creativity and feedback, ownership and possession, social influence and relatedness or envy, and scarcity and impatience.

How can a business benefit from gamification?

Up to a 40% improvement in employees’ learning productivity, new customers, easier and fun ways of growing leaders are just a few possible outcomes of gamification.

The ways a business may use gamification vary depending on the type and size of the company
Smaller startups may be interested in product gamification
So-called marketing gamification typically attracts mid-size companies
Gamified experiences are developed for potential new clients or to increase loyalty among existing clients