And what do you think Jasmin?

When I met Altug I was in Istanbul at the Digital Age Summit. He is a Gamification Expert and writes the first Turkish book about Gamification. He writes as well a blog and interviews a lot of people, about Gamification and I was one of them. Today I want to share the interview with you.

The original you will find on is Blog in English and in Turkish. 

1) First of all thanks for you accept to our interview. We really like to know more about who is “Jasmin Deniz Karatas”.

The pleasure is all mine. I thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas.

Answering the first question I need to go back to the time when I studied. Back then, I was studying product design at the HfG Schw?bisch Gmünd and walked by a book of Jane McGonigal “Reality is Broken – Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change The World”. I read it and was fascinated by all what I discovered, so I read more about the topic and decided to make this the topic of my Bachelor Thesis. For more context feel free to read my blog post “My way to gamification and why I believe in it”.

2) When do you first hear and experience “gamification”? And why you think “gamification” is a very hot word at last years?

Gamification is a “hot” word, still now. And why is this so, as all the wonderful buzzwords in the business, it promises the change. For the business, it seems to be the holy grail for motivation – as everybody is linked to games as a child or still is committed to them even as an adult. I see “gamification” from a different perspective – I see it from the ankle of a Strategic and User Experience Designer, which may differ from the common sense of the business term.

 3) Game and Gamification is a very close word that overlapping. How do you separate them?

For me Games have another purpose – it is for enjoyment and making money out of the enjoyment, so it is entertainment. Gamification has the purpose of solving an existing real world problem. So it is the context and the purpose of use, which differs them.

4) Jasmin Deniz Karatas is working with Accenture but also giving speeches and workshop for gamification. And gave a beautiful workshop at Digital Age Summit 2017 at Istanbul. You got your own gamification cards can you tell a little bit more how and why you design it and how you use them for a customer?

As mentioned before I made my Bachelor Thesis together with Elisa Eichner. It was about Gamification in a Design Process – dealing with Fuzzy Front End, Design Thinking, Design methods, Gamification and much more. Out came a Card Game for Ideation. As years passed by, I was gaining more and more information and experience, more and more people asked, what Gamification is and what it could do for them. So I refined last year the Card Game, including Gamification cards directly as into the game, to help people to ideate their ideas for Gamification – so come up with ideas with integrated Gamification mechanics. It helps people to understand, what Gamification is and how the could implement this into their ideas and so in their business. More you can see here in my post when I used the new Card Game the first time.

5) What is the hardest challenge at a gamification project you having? And what is your advice to Turkish gamification designers?

The most challenging is always the beginning of a project, that the business always thinks, that Gamification is PBLs – Points, Badges, Leaderboards – and it is not just only that. So explaining the business, that it is a holistic approach with a lot to think through and which needs to be carefully designed. A lot of business then see how much effort it is and don’t want to take the risk, to try it out, or to take the chance for change. As Gamification, is a method and a continuous journey, it has a lot to offer, and a lot which will change – and some businesses are afraid to change – even if they asked for it and know, that they need to.

For the Turkish gamification designer, I am not really having an advice, it is more an in what I truly believe – humans, and so business can change for better – trust in you and trust in the people. Gamification is not something you can create without them, they create it, but you are the one who is the one who can design a good or a bad experience.

6) Which sources like blogs, people, or online courses, books you are following about Gamification?

Ohh I red a lot of books, the first was Jane McGonigal, out of her book, I read most of the literature she had a look into, like into Flow, Rules of Play, I read a lot about cognition, about our psychology, how we as human behave and think. As well I read some books about Gamification like “Gamify” by Brian Burke, “Actional Gamification” by Yu-Kai Chou, ”Homo Ludens” by Johan Huizinga, “Game Frame” by Aaron Dignan and really much more… However it is not just about reading about Gamification, it is about thinking about it and as well doing it. Make up your own ideas, make it to your topic.

7) In your daily life do you have any gamify application or process?

The funny part is – No not really. As I am a designer, I always try to take a look behind the scenes and so the mystic is gone. It is when you do something in a professional way, you always will have a different look on the world. But what I have is more personal way of using Gamification for me, I have certain people, whom I give special introductions, so they can help me to change my behaviour – like coaching me, or handing them items, I will need at certain point of times – this is the way how it works out for me.

8) What do you think about future of gamification?

I think the Buzzword will go away – I tink it will be seen more as a method. Gamification is existing since a long time – I would say, as play is making us human, gamification is a method to make a process, a product or a service more enjoyable, more human. So I hope it will get into all the things we will create in the future.

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9) As a player type do you think Turkish players have any difference from others? What it is and how you can use and motivate them at a Gamification project?

Turkish people are emotional and very social, but as well want to achieve something – when you see the purpose and can believe in it, you will make everything happen to aim goal. You have the spirit in you, so I would always motivate you by giving you guys a personal purpose, a vision – something you can be part of and make the change happen.

10) As an author what do you thing about first Turkish gamification book, and what do you advise to us?

It is always a challenge to be the first – but you will be the FIRST – So believe in what you are doing and trust in yourself. Do it for you, do it for others – I think it is necessary to distribute the knowledge to others, so they can grow, so they may contribute to their own ideas and values towards your work. Accept the challenge, decide on a point of no return (when you know, this will fly or not) and then write about as well your personal flavor, what you learned out of it, give it your personality. However never forget to give as well solid information, from business, science, research and other theories. And don’t forget to have fun.

Thank you for your questions and I wish you confidence, trust, woo and a lot of eye opening times for your book and your future.

Follow me on my journey trough the design & gamification world – let’s play!

Thanks for reading — I’m Jasmin Deniz Karatas. I’m a Strategic Designer & Gamifier.

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