Adding gamification to a learning experience is a hot trend in corporate training. A TalentLMS survey found that 61 percent receive training with gamification and 83 percent of those who receive gamified training feel motivated, while 61 percent of those who receive non-gamified training feel bored and unproductive.
In this blog, we review some of the basics of gamification in training and provide insights about how to incorporate it into your learning experiences.
- What is gamification?
- What are gamification techniques?
- How to design gamification
- Gamified learning platforms
- Best practices for gamification
- Why does gamification work?
- Companies that use gamification
- How LEAi supports gamification
What is gamification?
Gamification is the process of adding game mechanics or elements into a non-gaming environment. In training, this could mean adding a point or tier system for interactive activities or having small competitions with a reward system.
The purpose of gamification in training is to avoid long, boring sequences of raw information, and add activities that will motivate and engage learners to continue. It can also help learners achieve specific learning goals
A clear distinction to make is that gamification is not the same as adding in a game. Gamification is simply a matter of enhancing material so that it becomes more fun and engaging for a trainee, rather than designing an entire game that contains related content.
What are gamification techniques
A common gamification technique is tests or quizzes, which improves learner engagement and reinforces knowledge. Another gamification technique is offering challenges where the learner is required to complete a task but is not penalized if they fail or complete the task incorrectly. Adding points, tracking, badges, leaderboards and levels to tests and challenges helps learners gain the benefits of gamification.
According to the TalentLMS survey on gamification techniques
- 71% mention badges as the most common gamification element.
- 59% say they’re granted points by an app or software at work.
- 56% are awarded virtual or physical rewards for accomplishments.
- 51% put leaderboards fourth.
- 47% work with levels.
How to design gamification
Add personalization
Give learners the ability to personalize their online persona that best represents them. This may include allowing learners to change their user Id colour and avatar which are used in leaderboards. Other ways to personalize learning is to use their name throughout the course and allowing them to choose their own learning path versus prescribing one for them.
Make games challenging
If you have ever played a game, you will know that easy games become boring very quickly. This same principle applies to gamified training.
While game mechanics might seem innovative and fun to a learner at first, creating very easy interactive activities will make the learner quickly lose interest. Make the material challenging to force the learners to know the material well and “pass” to the next “level” in the gamified content.
Experiment with different activities
There are a variety of interactive activities that can be implemented into an online course, such as tests, mini-games, and competitions between learners. Consider experimenting with different activities to create variety in a course and prevent the feeling of repetitiveness.
Break longer sections into shorter parts
Break up longer text sections into shorter parts, and mix in plenty of interactive elements to avoid boring training. This will also allow you to have activities that focus on specific information, instead of ones that try to cover large segments at a time and that may overlook key details.
Add rewards
Many people enjoy playing games with rewards or the ability to “win”. Ensure that there is some form of incentive for continuing to progress through the course.
Add levels
Having learners earn experience after completing tasks or having them “level up” after certain activities will promote a feeling of accomplishment. It can also help trainers, facilitators and management understand how the learner is performing relative to others.
Create a reward/leaderboard system
Another way that games motivate players is by having a scoreboard that shows the names and current scores of leading competitors. Called leaderboards, these can motivate learners to complete the course and work harder in order to be the top “player”.
Test games extensively
As with any form of training, make sure that all of the implemented game mechanics are well thought out and have been tested thoroughly. Ensure that any gamified features work properly, that learners can interact effectively with others (if that is part of the course), and that any reward system is functioning. Try going through the course many times, to make sure that all relevant content is also presented at appropriate times, and that nothing was skipped during the gamification process.
Gamified Learning Platforms
Many Learning Management Systems (LMS), offer gamification features to complement learning delivery. Here is a list of common gamification features to look for in your learning platforms.
- Built-in game mechanics – Game mechanics are the structure to build games. Look for learning platforms that already include features like badges, points, and other rewards that motivate your corporate learners.
- Customizable badges – Many LMS offer the ability to customize the colours, graphics and other aspects of the badges
- Social learning – Some platforms provide the opportunity to engage with peers and pit their talents against the top performers.
- Personal progress tracking – This feature gives learners the power to see how far they’ve come and what they have left. More advanced implementations of this feature allow creators to go beyond simple progress bars.
- Leaderboards – This feature tracks points for positive behaviour and provides a fun way to create friendly competition between learners.
Some examples of learning platforms that have gamification features include
Best practices for gamification
Don’t implement entire games
The focus of gamification is not to create entire new games to be used to try and teach content, but rather supplement existing content with interactive activities. Make sure that you don’t lose sight of your learning objectives while gamifying training, and remember that the priority is always to teach material or skills.
Refresh information constantly
Relevant information is always changing, and as such, gamification training and development should also be constantly tweaked in order to keep up. It is always a good idea to periodically review the material being taught, either through the gamified content or by evaluating learners that have completed it, and then modify the course to match new company needs.
Focus on intrinsic learning, not external rewards
One of the largest goals with gamification in training is to encourage learners to seek more learning opportunities outside of the training or course, rather than finish the course and never consider the topic again. As such, any gamification for learning used should aim to make the content more enjoyable to learn and should help motivate them to continue to expand their knowledge on the subject.
Ask for feedback on the training
One of the best ways for developers to gamify training effectively is to ask for feedback on the game mechanics implemented in a course, and then use what they learn to improve the training. For example, if through feedback developers find that learners think that a certain activity is too tedious, they can choose to shorten or simplify the activity, or omit it altogether.
Why does gamification work
Makes training fun and engaging
Arguably the biggest benefit with using gamification for training is that it creates an enjoyable learning environment for learners. It replaces conventional training techniques with interactive activities and various motivating factors, all of which are designed to make learners have more fun while being trained. Giving them an enjoyable experience will improve overall company morale, and will make them more open to being trained further in the future.
Improves information retention
When learners are more engaged with the training that they are doing, they will naturally retain more information. Adding in tests to earn points or experience, small competitions between learners or even just a scoreboard to show top players will play into learners’ competitive sides and motivate them to learn the information better and improve their performance, which in turn also results in them retaining more information after the course is completed.
Encourages active learning
By creating motivating factors for learners, they will often pursue their learning on their own, and will strive to complete the training without being prompted to. This establishes a habit of active learning, where learning is sought out rather than forced on them. By gamifying training, it will no longer feel like a responsibility or a chore to complete, but rather an opportunity, which will make for a better training experience.
Allows for easy performance assessment
By using gamification in training and including some type of level or experience system, trainers can easily see how any learner is performing at any given time by checking what level they have reached, or how much experience they have earned.
Certain levels can also be set to only be unlocked through the completion of certain evaluations, and thus trainers will know which learners have completed key parts of the course. Leaderboards will show which learners are performing the best, and which ones require assistance with their training.
However, the addition of gamification does not have to stop other assessment methods typically used with online courses. Trainers can still check assignments or look at performance on tests in a gamified course to know exactly what level of knowledge learners have reached.
Companies that use gamification
Whether it be through gamification apps for training or simply online course gamification, there are many companies who already employ gamification in order to improve their training.
Domino’s
As they expanded, Domino’s needed an effective training method that could be used globally. The restauranter created a gamified online system that taught new skills in small modules and included scoreboards and levels. This new training method was so effective that they launched a mobile app called Pizza Hero, which incorporated even more game mechanics and further improved the competency of new hires. Overall, with their success of gamification, they reported an increase in sales by up to 30 percent.
AstraZeneca
In order to train a large volume of staff on a variety of new products, AstraZeneca decided to invest in a gamified system that would help train 500 sales agents about their new drugs, increase agent engagement and foster team-building. Not only did they succeed in getting employees excited for the new products, but they also reported a completion rate of 95% for each module included in the system.
McDonald’s
The fast-food company used gamification to train front-line servers to use new cash registers. The gamified course led learners through a series of increasingly challenging exercises of serving customers. Within the first six weeks, the course was played by 50,000 employees and it saved the company £1/2 million in direct training costs.
How LEAi supports gamification
LEAi is our training content creation tool that imports the raw documents and presentation from your subject-matter experts and using AI, creates well-structured training content for you. Not only does LEAi help create the training content for you, it also creates your learning objectives, course description and test questions that can be used for your gamification.
If you would like to get a demo of our LEAi or discuss how to incorporate gamification into your program, give us a shout.
