In the previous blog post, I briefly explored how gamification can revolutionize preventive healthcare by enhancing user engagement and driving long-term behavioral changes. But what makes gamification so effective? At its core, gamification relies on carefully designed mechanics that tap into human psychology, motivating users to participate, persist, and achieve goals. In this post, I’ll dive deeper into these mechanics and understand how they can be applied effectively.
History of gamification
But before diving into types of mechanics let’s explore the history of gamification. The gamification strategy was developed in 2002 by Nick Peiling. However, the concept of applying game elements to nongame contexts — such as loyalty programs and customer rewards systems — has been around for much longer.
The rise of video games in the 1970s and 1980s influenced the early development of gamification. The addictiveness of playing video games and the engagement video gameplay generated sparked interest in applying game elements to other areas. In the 1990s, educational games like Math Blaster and Carmen Sandiego introduced gamification to the classroom. These games aimed to make learning more engaging and interactive.
With the success of early gamification efforts, companies like Nike and Starbucks began incorporating gamification into their marketing campaigns and loyalty programs in the early 2000s. One example is Nike+, a fitness tracking gamification campaign that Nike launched in 2006 which ranked friends’ fitness scores on social leaderboards. This marked the beginning of the widespread adoption of gamification in various industries. The advent of smartphones, social media, and mobile apps accelerated the popularity of gamification.
Types of game mechanics
The Core Mechanics of Gamification Gamification mechanics are the building blocks of any engaging experience. These include:
Points and Rewards: Providing instant feedback and a sense of accomplishment.
Badges and Achievements: Recognizing milestones and rewarding dedication.
Levels and Progress Bars: Offering clear goals and a sense of progression.
Challenges and Quests: Encouraging users to complete tasks with meaningful rewards.
Leaderboards: Fostering a sense of competition and social recognition.
As was already mentioned in the previous post, gamification strategies are successfully implemented in various fields, such as education, finance, employee training, customer engagement, and health.
Here are some examples of them:
Retail and E-Commerce. Companies such as McDonalds, Nike, and Sephora implement loyalty programs that leverage game mechanics like badges, bonus points, and rewards to motivate customers to interact with a brand
Achievements board in the Nike app
Education and eLearning. Online learning platforms such as Khan Academy and Duolingo incorporate game elements to engage learners in studying languages and programming. They provide immediate feedback, leaderboards, progress tracking, and rewards to engage students.
Duolingo’s gamification types
KhanAcademy leadership board
Gamification works because it aligns with intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivation drives users from within – the joy of achievement or curiosity to explore. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, involves tangible rewards or social recognition. Effective gamification blends these motivators to create a balanced experience.
Take, for example, a healthcare app that uses daily step-count challenges, the motivation might come from feeling healthier, while extrinsic motivation comes from earning points and competing with friends.
For example, in a preventive healthcare app, the early stages might focus on education and building habits, while later stages could involve challenges and community interaction.
Why gamification doesn’t engage users?
With 1 in 3 adults globally living with chronic conditions and the rise in smartphone ownership, mobile health apps have become a famous tool for managing lifestyle-related health behaviors and mental health. However, high rates of app abandonment pose challenges to their effectiveness.
The observation about sustaining long-term engagement in healthcare apps is derived from common insights in user experience (UX) design and behavioral psychology, specifically regarding app engagement and retention challenges. Research and case studies on healthcare apps, such as Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, and similar platforms, often highlight these issues:
- Repetitive Tasks and Loss of Interest: Users often abandon mHealth apps due to boredom and loss of motivation, which can result from engaging in repetitive tasks without sufficient variation or enjoyment
- Lack of Immediate Rewards: Behavioral psychology emphasizes that immediate gratification reinforces behavior. When rewards are delayed or too distant, engagement drops.
- Sense of Stagnation: Users may feel a sense of stagnation in their progress, leading to disengagement from the app.
The goal of gamification in healthcare should always center around enhancing user well-being, not exploiting vulnerabilities. For instance, some apps use overly aggressive notification systems or create artificial scarcity of rewards, pressuring users into compulsive behavior rather than fostering genuine engagement. These tactics can undermine trust and ultimately reduce long-term participation.
Conclusion
Understanding gamification mechanics is not just about adding game-like features, it’s about crafting experiences that resonate with users. When done right, gamification can bridge the gap between intention and action, especially in fields like preventive healthcare.
I’ll dive into how gamified solutions can improve outcomes for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, focusing on enhancing patient engagement, medication adherence, and progress tracking.
