Gamification
in marketresearch
By @eliasveris
R&D consultant Insites Consulting

Hes not motivated to reach anything. Has zero real hobbies.
He has bad grades at school and had to retake a year.
Hes every mothers worst nightmare.
Meet my nephew, 18

But he became one of the top 5 players in the Playstation game Warhawk 2 years ago.
He battled via the playstation network for days in a row, to get to the top. That is the one experience that immerses him completely.
The game is absolute chaos for the unskilled. And so he practices, and learns from others by watching youtube screencasts of that one roll with the airplane, that one moving shot,...
The one thing that keeps this guy up at night, is gaming.
Absolute Chaos

Everybody plays. Consoles like the Wii have democratized console gaming by making it easy for all ages; brining it from the teenage bedroom to the everyday family life.
Everybody plays

Average age: 34
26% over 50
Average age of most frequent game purchaser: 40
In the US, theesa does some great work in showing that gaming is for everyone. Although the average age of the most frequent game purchaser is probably influenced by having kids, the mere fact that a quarter of all gamers are over 50 is quite astonishing.
Source: theesa.com

Playing
Women: 40%
46% of gamers play with other gamers in person
Source: theesa.com

Do you know Zynga?(A company named after a dead bulldog )
50M+ daily active users
Farmville: 13M+ daily active users
30M+ farms (only 2M real farms in US)
Surpassed by new hit: Cityville (20M+ active daily users)
Zynga makes a lot of money with their games. Some of their designers explicitly state that they design for the 43 year old woman; that is the average socialgamer.

So the game industry is pretty big.Let us not forget however, that many things are games. Boardgames have been around since 3500 BC, with the Egyptian game called Senet.And dont we all have that one relative that always beats you at chess?
But why do people play games?
STOP!
Many things are games
And games have been aroundsince3500 BC

Autonomy
I do it because I want to do it
Mastery
I do it to get better at something
Purpose
I do it because I want to serve a higher purpose

The learning element in games is what keeps the experience going for you, what keeps you focussed
Above all, games are learning experiences

Whichexplainswhyprogress wars isntfun

Learning is a function of Challenge and Ability.
If these two are balanced out correctly, you are totally immersed in the experience, something that Mihly Cskszentmihlyi called Flow.
Anxiety
Inherent challenge
Flow-zone
Boredom
Player ability

Flow is not equal for everyone. That is why games have the Novice, Skilled and Expert levels of difficulty. Some players need more challenge than others.
(ps: Can you spot the wolfenstein 3d references?)
Im death incarnate
Anxiety
Bring em on!
Inherent challenge
Can I play daddy?
Boredom
Player ability

Games have stories, but...
theme is a lure to bring gamers into the experience

Game Mechanics
So learning is key.
The elements in gaming that produce learning (and thus enjoyable gameplay) are called game mechanics.
Constructs of Rules and Feedback Loops intended to produce enjoyable Gameplay.

Ive got something boring I want people to do.
I want people to flow
That is what some people in marketing and market research have been worrying about. And then, they came up with the following concept:

Gamification
The process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage users

The people at Volkswagen have used game mechanics to make boring tasks, such as going to the bottle band, a little bit more fun. They called it the Fun Theory.
(click image for movie)

The Gamification loop
Gabe Zichermann has coined the concept of the gamification loop, on a very tactical level.
Give users a challenge, and tell them what they need to do to win. For everything you do (and especially for winning) you get points, that are shown on a leaderboard. Badges are a form of extra virtual reward (think foursquare for instance) that can be granted. The combination of points and badges indicate the users status, and is most powerful when shared over a social network.
Point system

Elements of the loop can be used in various contexts. Mint for instance aggregates all your spending from your bank account and gives you insights in your behaviour.
On top of that, you can set challenges for yourself (saving x amount of $ this year), and mint will give you points and feedback for every step in the right direction.

Some more tactical issues to keep in mind...
Multiple long- and short-term aims
A long-term aim is difficult to achieve if there is no short-term gain. Therefore, intermediate goals are important.
Reward every effort
Every small action people do must be rewarded, so that they keep in mind that they are progressing. Points are a great tool for this.
Rapid & frequent feedback
The best kind of feedback is immediate feedback. I dont want to wait 2 years to see how you liked my performance, give it to me straight!
A tiny bit of uncertainty
Remember the variable ratio schedule? Behaviour will be more persistent if the reward strategy is not linear.

To get back to badges:
Do they really matter?
They are just a couple of pixels on a screen, right?
Badges? Seriously?
To these guys, they matter.

Badges? Seriously?
To these guys, they matter.

Goal-setting device
Where to go
Instructions
What is possible
Reputation
Who you are
Status & Affirmation
What you did
Group identification
Who is like you
Badges have various functions, from giving indications to users what it really is you want them to do (in a fun way) to enhancing reputation via shared symbolism.
Antin & churchill

And after all, a lot of people care about a simple 500+ badge on linkedin too...
Lets call it shared business symbolism?
Name available upon request. Or good googling.
Name available upon request. Or good googling.
Whowouldyouratherbe?

Keep in mind

Not all people are equal
There are gender differences (the stereotypical risk-averse, social woman versus the risking, competitive man) and player differences, like Bartles typology describes.
Anyhow, not every person enjoys the same rewards. Gamed design must take that into account.

Playing the same game over and over again is boring. Even for good games.
Statistics solve this. They call this Metagames.
I played worms a lot during college.
Not because I enjoyed the game that much, but especially because I played it with my best friend at the time, and we kept a huge scoreboard on our door of who won how many times.
The game was ok, the meta-game of beating my friend was THE main driver.

Incentivize well, and people will cheat.
Keep in mind that people will try to cheat. Either you give them ways to cheat that fit within your goals, or you keep a very good eye on whats happening. A very good eye.
hmmm

Or be too focussed, like in the BMW Eco Challenge
BMW challenged people to drive as fuel efficient as possible, in a gamified system.
First tests were extremely good, with 0,4l/100 km less fuel used on average.
The one thing however that has a huge impact on fuel efficiency is starting and stopping. For traffic lights for instance.
When people noticed that, some tried to avoid this at all costs, with traffic violations and collisions as a result.
Always keep in mind the possible unintended consequences of your system. Always.

Didnt you ever try to beat the system?
I know highly respectable people that try to beat their GPS every time, getting at their destination faster than it indicates.
I also know some that take an alternative route, AND try to get there sooner. Just for the fun of it.

Getting somewhere faster than a deadline can be an achievement. If your GPS would then give you a badge for that, thats a reward. Not really what GPS systems are intended for, but you get the picture.
Rewards are not achievements!
Learning is an achievement. Getting better is. Being rewarded for that is just nice.

Keep trying. Iterate. Measure. Improve.
Key in setting up a system with game elements is iterating and measuring. It helps you stay ahead of dramatic unintended consequences, and tailor challenges and reward systems to your users.

I work in market research
Can I use this gamification stuff?

Response rates have been dropping for years.
(Its notfun)
Response quality follows. Speeding. Straightlining.
(theydontlearn)
Good people drop out because they never get rewarded for their effort.
(no feedback)

What are drivers of research participation in general?
Intrinsic:

• To provide an opinion
• Out of curiosity
• Find research fun

Extrinsic:

• Chance of winning prizes
• Charity

This is ourstoryline.
Source: InSites Consulting panel study (2005)

Research

What community researchers dream of: A high number of on-topic posts

Communities:drivers of on-topic posts
Information Benefit
When people get interesting information out of the community, they are more likely to contribute to it.
Informational Engagement
People spending more time deep-diving into information on the community will be more likely to post on topic.
Social Benefit
When people like the social side of the community (getting in touch with people), this has an enrichment effect on the on-topic participation.
Social Engagement
People spending more time deep-diving into the social side of the community are less likely to contribute interesting information.
Community & Brand Identification
More identification with either community or brand means more engagement & more on-topic posts.
Time Cost
The more time costs involved, the less people will participate.
Starting from these intrinsic drivers, we can reinforce them even more by using them in a gamified community.
InSites Consulting internal research

Socialization: what are
on- topic-posts?
Badges & win conditions:
Most valuablecontributorwins!
Golden nugget badge for best insight
Topic x-expert for high topic contribution
...

Information benefit
on- topic-posts
We know getting information drives participation.
If information is rewarding, we can make the availability of information dependent on on-topic posts pretty easily.

Informational engagement
on- topic-posts
Challenge:
Can you come up with the best summary of the answers on this topic?
Rate the best summary up!
Via the same mechanic, we can stimulate people to assimilate and engage with the available information, and reward that behaviour. Its also a renewed focus on learning. And games are all about learning.

Social Benefit
on- topic-posts
Challenge:
Battle the other team in sharing as muchquality content as possible
Personal leaderboard
The social benefit of an in-group augments the social benefit of a larger group. Therefore, having respondents battle each other on the community yields great results, and increasingly so if its coupled with status via a leaderboard.

Design
the
journey
Win conditions feedback rewards
Learn, Learn, Learn.

Surveys

Surveys Suck
People abandon surveys because:
No time anymore (19%)
Too long (12%)
Dont feel like it anymore (10%)
Too boring (10%)
InSites Consulting data, 2011

What influences survey satisfaction?
Subject
Length of interview
Questioning
Lay-out

What influences survey satisfaction?
Subject ( = .37)
Survey Satisfaction
(R=93%)
Length of interview ( = .10)
Questioning( = .43)
Lay-out ( = .18)

Questioning is key
We challenge you
Feedback * 3
You have 2 minutes
Feedback * 10
Imagine
300% more ideas
Since changing the subject is not easy, why dont we look at questioning and making that more fun and game-like?
Previous research has shown that great things can be done by using projective techniques and challenges in surveys, increasing feedback by large amounts.
Research by @jonpuleston - GMI Interactive

This is a survey.
It measures brand identification. Do you like this?

This is a survey.
Or do you like this one better?

Few things in life are linear.
Should surveys be?
Games are not linear anymore. There are mini-games, sidetracks, alternative storylines,...
Why not in surveys? We can ask the questions that need routings first, and then the respondent can decide what he wants to answer next.
Its easy. And it communicates autonomy.

Right now, surveys are a black box.
Gamification is all about feedback. Why not share results to some questions immediately? Based on the previous 30 respondents f.i.
Feedback is most effective if immediate, so lets give it to them immediately.
Zero feedback.
Challenges need win conditions and rewards

All this makes no sense.
It makes no sense if it isnt integrated in the whole research process. Remember metagames?

Respondents dont care about our researchsilos.
Quanti = Quali = Communities = focus groups = surveys = ethnography =
If I participate, I get rewarded.
If Im a loyalparticipant, I get rewarded more.

We must gamify the process of research for participants
If well implemented, the fun factor can extend engagement in research for a lifetime.
Lets make it fun
Lets think loyalty
Lets reward loyal fun-makers.

Earning points per survey
Burning points with gifts
(And gifts can be charity)
Branded badges
Meta-badges (cofee-expert)
Visible on the platform
Response quality scores
A leaderboard with your friends
And much, much more.

A gamified platform.

Keep trying. Iterate. Measure. Improve.

Costs. Benefits.
Implementation time & cost of that
Knowledge building & cost of that
Increased focus on measurement & cost of that
Renewed respondent engagement
Competitive advantage versus DIY research

Gamification is at a non-desirable place in the hype cycle according to me. Some of us expect too much, others are disillusioned already.
Maybe we should even ban the word gamification.
Anyway, lets not be blinded by the hype, and use this as a return to focussing on respondent engagement. With some workable tactics.
Remember Gartner. Were not exactly where we want to be yet
Inflated Expectations
Productivity
Enlightenment
Disillusionment
Technology Trigger

Gamification is dead
If its just an overlay of points
If it doesnt change the product or service beneath it
Gamification in Market Research is alive!
Because it can completely change the user experience

To the people who make gamification move forward by evangelizing and sharing,
@gzicherm
@jesseshell
@dingstweets
@avantgame
@amyjokim
@margaretwallace
@getmentalnotes
@sethpriebatsch
@playbe
@jonpuleston
+ everyone I forgot
+ the whole online creative community for the awesome visuals