The role of Gamification in User Experience

The global gaming industry recorded a whopping $180 billion last year, with a forecasted growth of 8.76%. You might be surprised to know that the gaming industry is estimated to be worth double that of the music industry and Hollywood combined.

So, what makes games so addictive?

From boxing arenas in ancient Rome to modern-day football, games have been a crucial part of human society. Their addictive nature is evident in the swarms of soccer fans who follow their favourite teams across the world.

The dark psychology of game addiction lies in its hook on the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is a reward hormone associated with pleasure, motivation, and learning. It spikes in our brain when we experience something pleasurable. A 'dopamine rush' is a quick and intense release of this chemical, triggered by activities such as a snort of cocaine or receiving a bunch of likes on social media. This often produces a state of pleasure and euphoria, but the downside is its addictive nature.

Games are packed with fast-paced, exciting sessions that trigger dopamine-releasing centres. There are rewards and reinforcements along the way. When the user finally kills the Mongolian emperor or ambushes a zombie with uranium-enriched bullets, their brain is literally on a dopamine trip. There is no stopping, and the desire for more keeps users glued to the screen for hours.

How can we incorporate this psychology into user experience?

'Gamification' is all about introducing game mechanics into non-game environments. In user experience, it makes users more engaged and passionate about completing tasks. A good gamification experience can be built on three basic concepts:

Objectives: Users have a clear guideline of the task they are to complete to get the reward.

Reward: Rewards are tokens of appreciation earned for completing tasks.

Competition: Competition can trigger users to engage with the application and perform better.

How are these concepts brought into play in UX?

Incorporating game elements into the user journey can trigger users' intrinsic motivation to complete a task.

Badges and Stickers: When a user attains a certain level of performance or accomplishes a specific task, they are awarded a badge or sticker, which they can proudly display, giving them an advantage over other users. For example, Google Pay offers scratch cards when users reach a certain threshold of transactions.

Leaderboards: Hierarchies have existed among humans since ancient times. Those at the top of the ladder receive greater power, prestige, or wealth than others. The same psychology is used in designing leaderboards in UX. Leaderboards motivate users' desire to be at the top.

Constraints: When properly applied in UX, constraints present an urgency to the user to complete the task. This creates psychological tension that motivates and drives the user to respond quickly.

Progress Bars: More than a visual representation of progress, they create the Ovsiankina effect – the users' inclination to pick up a discontinued action or activity until it is completed. From educational to fitness apps, progress bars are widely used to motivate users to complete tasks.

What are the benefits of gamification?

Do you have friends who sit up in front of their screens playing games all night? They are simply geared up to tackle the next challenge on the next level. Games evoke motivation. They make users supercharged to achieve a certain goal. The same result can be brought about by gamifying the UX. Maybe not to the extent that games do, but it will certainly make the interface far more engaging.

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