Gamification

Gamification : The use of game thinking in a non-game context to engage an audience or solve a problem.

The 8 Core Drives of Gamification

1) Epic Meaning & Calling

Players believe in doing something beyond the world—they are the planet's saviours. They feel greater than themselves.

Epic Purpose & Destiny serves as the fundamental motivation wherein a player perceives their actions as part of a grander scheme or feels a sense of being destined for a specific role. This is evident when a player invests substantial time in community endeavors such as moderating forums or contributing to collaborative projects like Wikipedia or Open Source initiatives. Additionally, this drive manifests in instances of 'Novice Fortune'—wherein individuals attribute their early success to innate talent or luck, such as acquiring a remarkable weapon at the onset of the game.

2) Development & Accomplishment

Players are motivated by the idea of self-improvement and achieving mastery.

Growth & Achievement represents the innate desire to advance, hone abilities, and ultimately conquer obstacles. The significance of the term 'challenge' cannot be overstated, as achievements or accolades devoid of difficulty lack significance entirely. Notably, this is the primary Core Drive that receives the lion's share of attention in gamification design, with a predominant emphasis on PBLs: points, badges, and leaderboards.

3) Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback

Users are engaged in a creative process where they have to repeatedly figure things out and try different combinations.

Fostering Creativity & Responsive Input occurs when individuals immerse themselves in a creative journey, experimenting with various approaches and combinations. It's not just about unleashing creativity; it's equally vital to witness the outcomes, receive feedback, and adapt accordingly. This explains the enduring appeal of activities like playing with Legos and painting—they inherently offer avenues for self-expression and feedback, often evolving into Evergreen Mechanics, where the need for constant content updates diminishes as the activity remains inherently stimulating and enjoyable.

4) Ownership & Possession

Users are motivated because they feel like they own something. When a player feels ownership.

This is the inclination where users are spurred by a sense of ownership. When a player experiences ownership, there's an innate drive to enhance what they possess and acquire even more. Apart from being the primary Core Drive behind the desire to amass wealth, this aspect pertains to various virtual commodities or currencies within systems. Additionally, investing considerable time in customizing one's profile or avatar naturally fosters a deeper sense of ownership. Ultimately, this drive is what adds enjoyment to activities like collecting stamps or puzzle pieces.

5) Social Influence & Relatedness

Drive people, including mentorship, acceptance, social responses, companionship, as well as competition and envy.

This drive encompasses all the social dynamics that motivate individuals, encompassing mentorship, validation, social interactions, companionship, as well as rivalry and admiration. Witnessing a friend excel in a particular skill or possess something remarkable often fuels a desire to achieve similar heights. Moreover, it involves the inclination to gravitate towards people, locations, or experiences that resonate with us. For instance, encountering a product that evokes memories of childhood can significantly enhance the likelihood of purchasing it due to the associated nostalgia. This Core Drive has garnered considerable attention in research, with many companies nowadays prioritizing the optimization of their online social strategies.

6) Scarcity & Impatience

Wanting something because you can’t have it.

This drive revolves around the desire for something precisely because it's out of reach. Numerous games employ Appointment Dynamics, where players must wait for a set period to receive rewards. The anticipation created by the unavailability of something immediately triggers constant contemplation throughout the day. Facebook initially leveraged this Core Drive when it launched; it started as an exclusive platform for Harvard, gradually expanding to other prestigious universities before eventually becoming accessible to all colleges. The exclusivity factor drove significant interest among those previously unable to access it.

7) Unpredictability & Curiosity

Wanting to find out what will happen next

In essence, this drive is an innocuous urge to uncover what lies ahead. When faced with uncertainty, the brain becomes actively engaged, prompting frequent contemplation. Many individuals indulge in movies or novels for this very reason. However, this drive also underpins gambling addiction significantly. Moreover, companies leverage this Core Drive when orchestrating sweepstakes or lottery programs to captivate users. The contentious Skinner Box experiments, wherein animals repeatedly press a lever due to unpredictable outcomes, exclusively highlight the Core Drive of Unpredictability & Curiosity, although it has been misconstrued as the driving force behind points, badges, and leaderboard mechanics in general.

8) Loss & Avoidance

Based upon the avoidance of something negative happening.

This Core Drive revolves around evading potential negative outcomes. At a micro level, it might involve preventing the loss of previous efforts. On a grander scale, it could entail avoiding the admission that all prior endeavors were futile due to quitting. Additionally, situations where opportunities are dwindling heavily rely on this Core Drive, as individuals fear missing out on the chance to act indefinitely if they don't seize it immediately.

This is just Level 1 Octalysis

Two decades of researching and applying gamification have yielded a highly comprehensive framework capable of significantly enhancing user metrics. As individuals delve deeper into Octalysis, they can attain higher proficiency levels (up to Level 5—known to only a select few worldwide), which encompass considerably more advanced design principles and extensive analysis.