CNET Discusses the “Gamification” of Products and Services [Update]

A episode of CNET’s Reporters’ Roundtable delves into the interesting discussion of game mechanics being applied to non-gaming services or products. This “compulsion loop” that keeps you coming back is used in various social networking sites such as Twitter or Foursquare and all has its roots in the philosophies of videogame design.

Gabe Zicherman, author of the book “Game-based Marketing”, introduces the subject and links it back to the nineteenth century loyalty card system, where you’d “buy ten pounds of sugar and get one free”. This extends to other systems like the frequent flier programme which he argues gives people an elite status and that the redemption of the invisible points isn’t the focus.

This “gamification” extends to the simple “leveling up” where you often don’t get anything in return for use, but instead just have the status of being higher than your peers. This is apparent in levels on WoW but also badges on Foursquare or in FarmVille where the social element is intrinsic to the game’s mechanics, despite the fact that most FarmVille players wouldn’t call themselves gamers. This compulsion is incredibly compelling and leads to people using services that “reward” them for carrying out tasks with nothing more than a title. Often, as David Feinleib of Mohr Davidow Ventures points out, these rewards cost next to nothing, especially in the digital space and can be incredibly profitable.

The host, Rafe Needleman, brings up the valid point that it sometimes feels like manipulation of the user’s time and picking on his/her’s addictive nature, something described as the “dark side”. Advertising is basically a manipulation of people’s desires so does this extension really change much?

But as Dru Wynings, who runs a company who advises on how integrate gamification into websites Update: Dru rightly points out in the comments that in fact he didn’t say this, and was actually said by Gabe Zickerman. My apologies Dru!

Gabe Zickerman:

[Game mechanics are] the most powerful force in the human universe because they’re the only thing that allows us [companies] to make people do things that are fundamentally against their self-interest without the use of force, in a predictable way.

Scared yet?

The whole podcast (which runs at around 30 minutes) is incredibly interesting and delves into the whole theory of the gamification of products. Worth thinking about when you check-in to a bar for the 18th time that night. It’s not an addiction, you can stop any time, right?