We are all familiar with badges, rewards and the like. But what does gamification mean and what doesn't it mean? Which gamification elements can you use on your website? What should you bear in mind? And what successful examples of gamification can you find on the web?

What does gamification mean?

The myth that everything can be gamified persists incorrectly. However, colorful badges and constantly flashing rewards do not suit every brand and target group.

Gamification - like everything else on your website - must fit in with the corporate identity of a company. Playful elements can of course consist of badges and rewards. However, there are countless other ways to successfully integrate gamification into your website.

Gamification is closely related to user experience design: if you use gamification, it does not necessarily have to be visually apparent. Gamification is more of a concept. Or as a strategy in which we analyze existing processes and make them more attractive for users by adding game mechanics.

How does gamification work?

Gamification is a derivative of game design. It is important that players remain engaged and do not lose interest - and that their interest is aroused through gamification. Simply put, those who play usually have fun and even forget about the time. Raph Koster goes into more depth on this topic in his book "Theory of Fun for Game Design".

The goal of gamification is simple: present processes in such a way that they are fun to carry out and motivate your users to continue. Or at least arouse a kind of curiosity in them. Note, however, that it is generally not useful to keep your target group busy for hours on end.

Product designer Nir Eyal writes in his book "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products" about the so-called Habit Loop. The theory behind it: Processes should be fun and not seen solely as a task. According to Nir Eyal, we spend more than 40 percent of our time performing recurring processes. Therefore, try to turn the processes on your website into enjoyable habits.

To illustrate this, Nir Eyal has divided the Habit Loop into four steps:

Trigger

Triggers are emails, notifications or call-to-actions on your website. The key questions are: What brings the person to your product? And what does the person really want? Always try to understand what your target group wants at any given time.

Action

Action is the action performed. This can be something simple, such as a login or sign up. Or more complex actions such as collecting likes or adding to the favorites list. The question is: What is the simplest behavior in anticipation of a reward?

Variable Reward

Variable rewards can be classic rewards, but they don't have to be. Anything that offers your target group added value can be packaged as a reward. For example, if you provide qualitative information. Always ask yourself the following question: Is the reward fulfilling? and makes you want more?

Investment

The more someone has invested, the less they want to give up what they have invested. A simple example: A user has several boards on Pinterest created. She will probably keep her account and continue to use it in the future. Pinterest to a similar platform. The central question of this phase: What is being done to increase the likelihood of a return?

We find a similar psychological model with forms: If a person has already invested time in filling out the form, it is less likely that they will abandon the process. This is why we often only find payment details in the last step of a form.

Gamification elements in web design

Progress

It is important that progress is displayed. Users usually want to achieve a specific goal. Project management tools such as Asana use these elements:

Advances are also frequently used when a program/website has new features that users are not yet familiar with. This allows users to learn about the latest features quickly and easily - as in the example of WordPress Block Editor:

Onboarding elements are often closely linked to rewards. On LinkedIn, for example, members are rewarded for completing their profile with relevant feeds:

Rules of the game

This does not necessarily refer to the rules of the game as we know them from board games. Rather, they are conditions that users get to know. For example, which actions they have to fulfill in order to receive certain rewards. 

It is important that your rules are consistent. Otherwise, users will lose trust and your website will lose credibility.

Flaticon provides an example here: the bureaucratic task of crediting is made easier and rewarded at the same time. If you copy the link, the illustration changes and the T-Rex can drink its coffee. There are various illustrations, so users have to download a few icons before they get bored.

Competition

Competitions between users can increase participation and product lifetime and provide variety and incentive. Social aspects also play a role here. As a user, you no longer feel alone, but part of a whole.

Social aspects

The opportunity to make individual contributions can be made more attractive through gamification elements. Facebook uses gamification elements in a variety of ways. As a user, you can write posts or comment on others' posts. And you are awarded different titles depending on your activity.

What you should avoid

Inappropriate points systems

When integrating a gamification strategy, you should ensure that points systems are only used if they make sense and offer added value. 

Points are often either under- or overqualified: If they are underqualified, they lose their importance and the constant flashing of newly achieved points can lead to frustration. Ideally, you want to use gamification to ensure that your users enjoy their visit to your website. And that they forget the time. If a notification is constantly flashing - which is even irrelevant - you are constantly taking your users out of their flow.

Overqualified points achieve a higher value than that which was intended for them. This leads to greater demand. It can also contribute to more users being willing to cheat or hack the system to get points.

Inappropriate rewards

Rewards that appear at inappropriate times can have a negative impact on your visitors' motivation. Therefore, think carefully about how, why and when you use rewards.

Inappropriate communication

As already mentioned, your gamification strategy should suit your target group and your company. Many users will feel underchallenged if you use too many childish gamification elements.

Examples of gamification on the web

Learning through play

Gamification elements are particularly popular in education. The age of the target group is not initially decisive. With the help of mini-games or gamification elements, recurring content can be consolidated and new content learned. 

Another special feature of games is that users can safely try out different options and return to the starting point if they fail. They learn what consequences certain actions can have without experiencing any real harm.

Google has developed the game Be Internet Awesome for its younger users. Users are confronted with various everyday situations from the world wide web and learn to make the right decisions.

Mini games

Mini games are often used for marketing purposes. The focus here is on the fun and surprise factor. The aim is to get users out of their everyday lives. The mini-games are often used to provide additional information.

Some loyalty programs work in a similar way: for example, McDonald's Monopoly and the Lidl shopping store for collecting. Here there are rules of the game, investments, corresponding rewards and motivations.

Storytelling

An impressive way to use gamification and games is to visualize stories: Storytelling. Unlike with written words, you involve your readership emotionally in the story.

Visual elements

The following examples have few gamification elements. They are visually structured in such a way that they are reminiscent of games. You can use this for several effects: to present your brand in a playful way or to appeal to certain generations of users through nostalgia.

Gamification and WordPress

Now you've learned about some gamification concepts that you can integrate into your website. There are also WordPress tools that can help you integrate badges. For example, the gamification WordPress plugin BadgeOS. Have fun trying it out!

Further reading material

• UX Gamification Redefined
• Top 10 gamification elements in eCommerce
• 5 Examples of Great Gamification
• Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal