Gamification for business app development
First of all, let’s give a definition to the term. Gamification is a use of game mechanics in a non-game context to engage people to solve problems.
Have you noticed how a game can capture you? “One more level, one more level!” A game can have all our attention and make us almost obsessed with it. Wouldn’t it be great if your business application could make people so passionate in accomplishing work assignments? Can gamification do that? Yes! Because it is about changing people’s attitude to the process, making it more relaxed and enthusiastic at the same time!
By implementing the gamification approach you can:
Improve employee job involvement – concentration problems at work is not a secret. But we can continue playing games for a very long time, can’t we? Gamified design and assignments which look like a mission in a game will definitely make your workers’ day!
Promote collaboration – people often take their coworkers as competitors, which is not always good for the atmosphere at work and major achievements. Gamified workflows framed as challenges with rewards for cooperation can make people solve issues together.
Reduce costs – higher results bring benefits to the company. Although, you can add some features to the app which will stimulate the workers to eat healthier and have breaks on time. Healthier workers is a big advantage too!
Lower stress levels – the gamified workflow doesn’t cause so much stress. Surely, people get upset when they lose a game, but they know they can start again.
Train staff more efficiently – gamification is not just for children! Grownups study better and faster when the process is brighter and more involving too!
If we speak about advantages of gamification for the customers, they are:
Motivation – is generally the main advantage of gamification. For fitness apps, e-learning apps and other kinds, gamification is what makes the process captivating and motivates to continue achieving further goals.
Brand recognition and engagement- thanks to gamification, your app can stand out among others and stick in the users’ memory, making them your biggest fans!
Recruitment – in e-learning apps for developers, you can create a contest where the winners can get a job proposal. Not only can you boost the popularity of an app, but also find a talented employee.
Gamification principles for business improvement
Isn’t it great to get all the benefits listed above? If your answer is “yes”, here are main gamification principles to implement in the app development to get a truly outstanding result.
Create a challenge correctly: Define all the tasks in a concise and logical way, otherwise, a user can quit the game.
Stay connected: Send push-notifications or some kind of messages to remind the user about the tasks to do. Don’t be too importunate, but ping a person often enough to get him back to the application.
Specify failure options: It’s natural that there can be a loss. Make up several options depending on the situation, whether a user can start from the current level or from the very beginning. However, the necessity to start too often can be very disappointing and make a person quit the game.
Give feedback: Comment on the user’s progress and explain all tasks thoroughly, make the person feel like there is a coach 24/7.
Inspire to keep up with the challenge: Use bright pictures, animation, and inspirational quotes to encourage your user.
Remind about the goal: Show how much has been achieved and what the user is going to get in the end.
Determine the reward: It’s very logical that all the efforts to undertake the tasks must be rewarded. That can be something real, a kind of a prize or an award, but it has to be something memorable to make the user really happy after all the hard work.
Here are some optional features which can improve the user’s involvement:
Use badges: Create funny and bright designs for badges to determine the user’s status. This can also arouse a person to be more enthusiastic to get another badge!
Provide with coaching: – Provide with detailed guidelines on how to complete the challenge. The option can be especially valuable for the newcomers, but surely it’s not a must for experienced users.
Most common missteps in gamification
Regarding how crucial it is for many people to stay concentrated on their goals, gamification is a great way out. The cost to create an app with gamification features can be pretty moderate, but remember about these DONT’S not to waste your investments:
- Make the gamification features optional. If your audience age is very wide, not everybody will appreciate it fully.
- Don’t make your users concentrated on the competition only. There is also quality, properly accomplished tasks and the attention to your brand, as well.
- Don’t give rewards too easy – make people feel they must try their best to complete a certain level, but don’t make it unrealizable too.
- Don’t make a detective story instead of clear rules – they must be easy to understand, non-ambiguous and possible to perform.
Read More: Zoho gamifies CRM, adds fun to sales team competition
Gamification in app development gives endless opportunities to create recognizable and truly unique, engaging projects. However, don’t forget about the aim of your app itself while thinking about the gamification. It’s just an approach to help people with their routines, but not the final aim of your application. That’s why we advise you to hire a professional team of developers, who can create you an outstanding gamified mobile app and make your users absolutely delighted.
