Game Revolution

I love games. And I bet you do too. The Pew institute says the 77% of all US households own at least one video game. When you add in card games, sports, and politics – there’s a lot of game playing happening. But we don’t usually think of games as being a legitimate activity to take on during work. Well, that’s changing. More and more work activities are being gamified – a hot new term that means applying game techniques to non-game activities. Whether being used to drive new business and improve the brand, find operating efficiencies, or change policy holder behaviors there’s a whole lot of playing going on. There are a lot of things to think about when beginning to explore this new area of gamification. My latest report goes into a number of areas to consider. There are a number of established factors to consider when designing a gamified environment that will help to make a game fun, provide rewards, and deliver an experience most likely to achieve the firm’s goals. Points, badges, and leaderboards are common elements, but a wide variety of other techniques exist that can be combined to make a gamified environment more interesting. But there are a wide variety of other issues to consider. Carriers considering entering the world of gamification should start by creating a clear strategy with a specific intent in mind. Next, define a governance process that includes cross functional representation to oversee the initiative. Include legal on the governance team as there are a number of legal and regulatory issues to consider. Assure processes are aligned internally, and align the culture to support adoption. Invest in technology that will provide you with the flexibility needed to modify programs easily. Create metrics that will allow you to measure and monitor the returns. While gamification isn’t appropriate for every business problem, it is a rapidly emerging area that is generating real results for insurance carriers. follow me at @kcarnahan