Gamification: Can volunteer work be a fun experience?

GamificationCan volunteer work be a fun

experience?

Kyriaki Iatropouli

"Play is older than culture, for culture, however inadequately defined, always presupposes human society, and animals have not waited for man to teach them their playing."

Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens

Gamification = the use of game thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context to engage users and solve problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification

Gamification techniques strive to leverage people's natural desires for competition, achievement, status, self-expression, altruism, and closure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification

"Some of the ingredients of games are absolutely psychologically primitive. We know the brain responds to gains and losses, whether it’s real dollars or virtual gold pieces. There’s something fundamental about recognition, seeing yourself compared to other people."

Byron Reeves, Professor of communication at Stanford University

Applications

Marketing

Education

Everyday life(eg. finance,

health, wellbeing etc.)

HR

Crowdsourcing/ Crowdfunding

and many more...

“Bringing games, play, and fun into the workplace keeps people happy and they stick around. When they stick around, they get better at their jobs, the return on training is amortized over longer periods, relationships and trust improve, and there’s laughter and an optimistic energy in the hallways.”

Ross Smith, Director of Test at Microsoft

Challenges / Missions / ObjectivesNarrationRewardCompetitionTrust

Basic Game Elements

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Case study 1

Πηγή: How Gaming Transforms the Workplace | Ross SMITH

The use of games at work goes back a long time. A few thousand years ago, workers at the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza formed teams which competed each other.

Case study 2

Case study 3

Gamification in action

Set clear objectives- Discuss them with your volunteers- Make sure they are achievable- Agree on how to assess each objective

Choose carefully the prizes to:- Be attractive to everyone- Be fair- Reward teamwork, in addition to individual work- Promote the ultimate objective, which is the completion of the project

Divide a project into objectives / tasks of short durationAchieving short term goals revives morale, while large long-term goals can be tiring and frustrating.

Create an environment of trust, cooperation and mutual support

Work with your volunteers to improve the process

Have fun!