IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2015 - 77

weekends. Game mechanics, when applied thoughtfully, purposefully, and selectively, can absolutely help improve business processes, but misuse can also be detrimental.
There are many great classic books on game design, and the
following sections do not substitute for or represent the classics.
One of the most torn and tattered books on the shelf when it
comes to details on game mechanics and engagement techniques
is Clark Aldrich's Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious
Games [5]. It's difficult, or perhaps useless, to enumerate here in
a few sentences what's covered in depth elsewhere.

ENTERPRISE GAME DESIGN-PLAYER PERSONAS
All good game design considers player types. Players can be
motivated by different elements of play and different game
mechanics or elements. It's important to consider the type of
player and design games that appeal to one or more of the following player personas. As Mario Herger, founder of Enterprise
Gamification, says, "In gamification we talk about players, not
users. When we talk of users, we think of how we can make
things for them easier, less error-prone. But when we talk about
players, we ask ourselves whether the task at hand is still fun for
them. Whether they are still motivated and interested. Ultimately, this leads to more engagement and happiness at work. And
this benefits all stakeholders."

The most important thing about
a game is to ensure that play
is voluntary and that players
feel like they are helping others.
durations maintain player interest and provide opportunities
to adjust rules and scoring, or even redesign the game to
improve the results or create more motivation to play.

PLAY TEST
Play testing is a game design practice that has players playing
iterative early versions of the game-even as a paper mockup-to allow game designers to iterate and make the game
engaging, fair, and fun.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION
The most important thing about a game is to ensure that play
is voluntary and that players feel like they are helping others.
Players will play for different reasons, and that's okay.

GAME MASTER ROLE
PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER
Player versus player is a game mechanic that is widely popular
in competitive sports, where the result is the glory and shame
of the scoreboard. While many players can be motivated by
competition, it is not for everyone. In fact, in the workplace,
there are some cultures where competitive game mechanics
will backfire. For example, in some Eastern cultures, if an
employee shows up on a leaderboard ahead of his/her boss, he/
she will stop playing until the boss can return to his/her rightful position at the top. This undermines the intent of competitive game mechanics to drive productivity, so it's important to
understand the audience and to use the appropriate techniques.

PLAYER VERSUS SELF
Player versus self is a game mechanic that can be represented
simply by "Can I beat my own score?" Many people are not
motivated by external competition or extrinsic rewards but are
highly motivated to compete with themselves to raise their
level of personal best.

PLAYER VERSUS ENVIRONMENT
Player versus environment is a game mechanic that embraces
external challenges such as puzzles, scavenger hunts, hidden
mysteries, and exploration.

ENTERPRISE GAME DESIGN-
GAME MECHANICS AND DEPLOYMENT TIPS
DURATION
It's important to minimize the duration of crowdsourcing
games-generally no longer than a few weeks. Short

Players who have questions or complaints about the game
should have a human game master available to help. The game
master is usually the person who sends an introductory e-mail
announcing the game, its rules, and how to sign up. He/she
also dispenses game advice and takes feedback from players.
Generally, a single person is sufficient, but for large-scale
games with lots of players, it's possible that a game master
team may be needed.

PRIZES AND REWARDS
In general, the recommendation is not to use prizes and
rewards-extrinsic motivators-but to rely instead on the
intrinsic motivation of altruism and citizenship. Unfortunately,
prizes can skew behavior, particularly when the prize is large.
Another interesting approach to prizes and rewards comes
from Snowfly founder and University of Wyoming Prof.
Brooks Mitchell, who tied the right to play a quick Las Vegastype slot game (you can only win and not lose) to the performance of a specific, measurable organizational goal. As
Mitchell says, "If you can count it, you can measure it, and if
you can measure it, you can reinforce it, and if you can reinforce it, you can change it."

GAMIFICATION EXAMPLES FROM THE REAL WORLD
T-MOBILE
In 2013, T-Mobile leveraged game mechanics to increase
community engagement and support. In T-Mobile's customer
service call centers and company-owned stores, employees
fielding questions from subscribers find the answers by collaborating with their peers and searching for knowledge base
july 2015

IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

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