Unintended Consequences

I've been thinking lately about unintended consequences, mostly the type that you DON'T wish for. Being delighted or feeling lucky about a positive outcome isn't my concern. When we design learning, we're often asked to include engaging, measurable interactions. Coming up with interactions that are meaningful and relevant is something my team prides ourselves on. My peers share ideas for clever games, incentives, and leaderboards that we've built into deliverables. But we also need to budget for reviews where we pause to fully vet "the fun parts."

What if we don't test rigorously enough for unintended, negative consequences?

I'm recalling a business that used to advertise (in my childhood, back in the day) that they'd deliver their food to your door in 30 minutes, or it was free. A very unfortunate consequence was that many delivery drivers were being stopped for traffic violations, or worse, had vehicular accidents.

Uh-oh.

Recently I listened to a news report about a vehicle-based service that uses a gamified incentive program where drivers could earn extra for completing on-the-job challenges. That scenario seems interesting, because most workers would like to maximize their earning. But if participation compromises employee or customer safety, who's winning or losing?

The unintended consequence testing step(s) should include reviews by sponsors and representatives of the targeted employee roles. You've done your job as a learning designer if you lead an uncomfortable discussion about "what could be" and then alter your work product to avoid the negative outcome.