Gamification in design as nostalgia

Gamification as a form of nostalgia 

To continue on from Sam's post on video gaming, I am interested in the way that gaming spills out into the design of apps and things around us. Gamification is a trend in the design world which entails implementing video-game method into other applications, (such as banking, organisation apps and health tracking to name a few) to me this reflects a nostalgia for being a child. 

I think that particularly in a society that is centralised around hyper productivity, it is seen as a waste of time to engage with play simply for the fun of it, and yet as adults, we still have a need or desire to play. Therefor I suggest that the trend of gamification both allows us to realise and capitalises upon a deep nostalgic desire for the unfettered play of childhood. 

A brief overview of how gamification works with examples

 1.  A tangible rewards system

The most simplistic form of gamification is the coffee loyalty card. A small game of collecting, It offers a clear extrinsic reward (a free coffee) for completing the small scorecard. 

This was actually build upon an old market logic that if someone buys 10 pounds of sugar at a market and a merchant gives you the 11th for free, you will return to the merchant next time. Thus the 10:1 ratio came to form the basis of most loyalty programmes. 

What Nero does here is that they gamify the transaction by making a collecting game. I think there is something that appeals to a the simplistic logic of childhood that is called into the present in the form of nostalgia of a feeling of play which makes gamification a powerful tool.

- Gamification by Design, G.Zichermann and C.Cunningham 2011

2. Points mean prizes! 

A slightly more advanced version of this is frequent flyer programmes, who not only  implement point systems but gated spaces that you only get to enter you progress throughout the 'game'. 

"Frequent flyer programmes can be considered prototypical gamification techniques, they foster a new kind of gasified loyalty that might motivate a certain sense of identity, but its immediate object is not the brand as such, but the point system attached to its consumption"

- Rethinking Gamification, P.Ruffino - 2015 

3. I'm Game!

With the digitalisation of many banking services, including fully digital banks such as Monzo,  No.26 and Starling Bank lay out their iPhone and android apps using game features. Like badges and banners for saving money into different 'pots', the possibility to track the progress of your spending habits ( to do better!) and colourful graphic representations of your financial data all contribute to the feeling of 'making banking fun!'. 

They often follow the ARCS model which represents; 

Attention - gaining the interest of the user (surprising colourful designs, hooks like having to be invited with golden ticket)

Relevance - establishing the importance of this app specifically to you as a user (creating individualised money saving pots allow you a sense of ownership and control)

Confidence - see above, the flexibility of these banking apps allow you to feel in control but because of their dynamic layouts there is always something new to learn, building confidence in small steps.

Satisfaction - users see the value that the banking app has for them, for example rewards, badges and banners that remind them they are doing great at banking!

 - The Gamification of Learning and Instruction - K.Kapp

4. A Foucauldian reading of gamification and governmentally 

In a blog post there perhaps isn't time to delve into this fully but the shadowier side of gamification could be explored through Michel Foucault's concept of liberal governmentality, in that it presents an extreme mode of regulation which belongs to a set of methods aimed at regulating individuals and societies in a Libertarian paternalism. 

Gamification draws upon the nostalgia of gaming as a young person, or of being in a system that is motivated by rewards, such as education. it appeals to a missing sense of fun, it reminds us that we can play, it captures our short attention spans and brings a idealised childhood into the present subconsciously, I believe that gamification in design relies upon a sense of nostalgia. 

Mylo