gamification level 2 certification project t trenkler

Gamification Level 2 Course

Certification ProjectTina Trenkler

Sept 20, 2014

Tina Trenklertina@t2consult.biz@T2Impwww.linkedin.com/pub/tina-trenkler/0/895/805/

Cats – the cute domesticated ones have kept us laughing with their

antics and are a favorite on YouTube

… but feral cats are disliked by many even though they are an integral part of big city

ecosystems, keeping rodent populations in check

The problem is that overpopulation can create a nuisance and sick and injured cats can be a hazard, so in the past colonies were euthanized

• Neighborhood Cats (www.neighborhoodcats.org) is a NYC-based non-profit org that promotes caretaking and Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) activities for cat colonies

• They achieve their mission through encouraging local community members to become caretakers of each cat colony, training them in TNR and coordinating with local vets and animal welfare orgs for free or low cost neutering• They rely on individuals to self-identify, do the work for TNR and caretaking and

pay for all the expenses. This is a tough sell with limited appeal.

• They have a basic website and a database that tracks cat colonies and caretakers, but that info is not publicly available. Occasionally they send out a mailing with stories about a colony or cat and those seem to be effective in getting donations.

Neighborhood Cats needs a better way to increase donations and solicit more colony caretakers

• This should be done through community building and giving members visibility into their clients – the cats

• The following ideas are ways to do this and include gamification elements to drive engagement

Solution 1 - Establish an online

community

• Allow community members to share stories and learnings

• Create cat colony teams who can share in the workload and/or expense to care for and TNR the cats– Team members support their colony with donations,

caretaking, assistance in caretaking & TNR activities or simply as fans/supporters/colony neighbors

• Maybe colonies become a place to check-in on Foursquare (may be a bad idea)

• Set up notifications for new updates and whenever a new cat or colony is discovered

Solution 2 - Who’s That Cat game

- Get community members to help identify the colonies and cats– Take pics of cats and cat colonies on phone

tagged with geolocation info and then upload(could be an app with API to Instagram). Colony or cat is matched to database.

– “Collect” as many cats (pictures) as you can within a colony, in different colonies, in different cities, etc

– Data is used to identify new cats and colonies and if cats have been neutered. Could also provide valuable data on how far cats roam from their colonies.

– New colonies identified are marketed to members for “adoption” via donations, caretaking and assistance

Solution 3 - Give visibility of the cat colonies to all community members

Through community crowdsourcing, identify the territories of the cat colonies and create a new city map of “cat neighborhoods”

Giving visibility increases the likelihood that members will engage with the community

Solution 4 – Establish a Points System

• Members get XP for activities within the community– Participation in Who’s that Cat

game– Caretaking and assistance– TNR– Online story updates

• Karma point system – members send each other a “purr” when someone does something good

• Rewards can include things like being able to name a new cat or colony

TNR help

+ 200+

1000

+ 50

+ 100

+ 10

Solution 5 - Caretakers should be heralded as heroes

They do a lot of work to keep the colonies safe, healthy and the population under control

Involving more people in the care of colonies and giving a face to

the cats will go a long way toward attaining the mission of

Neighborhood Cats

Feedback Please!

• These are some cursory ideas and I’d love to hear your feedback on whether I am grasping how to apply gamification to this kind of situation– For example, I chose a points system, but

would badges be better here?

Thanks for your feedback!

Tina Trenklertina@t2consult.biz@T2Impwww.linkedin.com/pub/tina-trenkler/0/895/805/

Disclaimer:This work was produced solely for the purpose of attaining Gamification level 2 certification by the Engagement Alliance. It does not constitute a position held by Neighborhood Cats nor a formal proposal to that organization. The author is not connected to this organization aside from being a fan and donor to their cause.