The increase in demand for engaging learning content and effective training processes will be the key reasons why gamification will continue to be a significant business approach in 2017.
Even though some experts continue to question the capabilities of gamification, they are beginning to accept the approach because of its results.
It has been proven several times as an effective method in increasing employee motivation, building engagement, and creating a fun learning process.
So with that in mind, below are the reasons why gamification will continue to prosper in 2017.
1. Steady market growth
The market for gamification is clearly on the rise year after year. In fact, MarketsandMarkets published research revealing how it will grow considerably by 2020 led by emerging trends and new technologies. From 2012-2020, there will be a steady rise in the growth of the gamification market from £200 million to £9.5 billion.
Small and medium enterprises will be the market drivers this year as there will be an increasing demand for gamification solutions and applications in enterprises. Gamified applications will help companies to cut through the competition and align the motivation of the employees with their year goals.
Cloud-based gamification techniques will flourish in the market driven by the high adoption of innovative technologies, the internet, social media, and mobile devices. Organisations will be demanding enterprise-based solutions to encourage their staff to strengthen their marketing endeavours.
2. Strong demand
When it comes to the use of gamification, both employers and employees believe they have benefited from the technique added to their training program.
The concept is simple, according to training expert Bill Cushard as featured by Bloomfire. Employers only need to allow their employees to be involved in an active learning environment while giving them a goal to reach.
“You could send people on scavenger hunts. You could tell people they have to go out into the organization to discover things and then report back on what they’ve learned,” Cushard explains.
The article also revealed essential data about corporate gamification:
• 62% employees said they would be motivated by leaderboards
• 89% said that a points system would increase their engagement with eLearning materials
• 79% of the employees said that they would be more productive if their work was more game-like
3. Effectiveness
The steady rise in the market growth and demand for gamification is purely down to the fact it is effective in delivering engagement, enhancing productivity, and achieving company goals. There’s an evident increase in skill-based assessments, factual knowledge, and retention rates in companies with the gamified learning process.
There are ways on how to ensure further effectiveness of the gamified training:
• Make sure that your initiatives meet your course objectives
• Avoid poor design, including meaningless points and badges
• Ensure the game behaviour translates into sustainable behaviour
• Continuously change or introduce a new game
• Apply extrinsic and intrinsic rewards systems
4. Balanced learning
Gamification is not all about fun to engage learners, but it’s also not all about technology either. Information Week said that its “75% Psychology, 25% Technology.” It offers a perfect blend of both that makes it more effective.
While the psychology part remains the most important design feature in using gamification, training applications have become easier to deliver because of the availability of technologies, such as the enterprise social networks and ultrafast mobile data connections. O2 mentioned in a post that data allocation has increased to up to 20GB per month, depending on the mobile plan, to cater to the increasing demand of enterprises. With more mobile data allotted per month, companies and employees are now able to send and receive content seamlessly.
Businesses have successfully applied gamification to achieve goals. Applying the concept of feedback, performance measurement and reward systems, it helps them gain the needed engagement to transform their business operations. It addresses not only engagement, but also transparency of the work and methods of connected employees’ actions to business outcomes. The year 2017 will be a prosperous year for gamification and we cannot wait for it to unfold.
Excusively written for Gamification Plus
by TechnoloJen