Game On...Levelling-Up Your Life with Gamification
Published 30 December 2023
Photography: Supplied
Written by: Sam Kirby
With a background in business and sales coaching and a love for video-games, when a global pandemic hit, local entrepenuer Steve Claydon decided to 'gamify' productivity and goal setting, and started a tech company. In the three year's since, Arcadify.io now has a global reach, and recently paid out its $1Mth in personalised rewards.
If you grew up in the 90s like me, then you may well remember the classic T.V. commercial where an onscreen video-game character can be seen running through a pixelated Indiana-Jones-like game level, only to collapse with outstretched arms meters away from a shimmering jewel, a loud voice-over declaring “If you don’t eat breakfast, you’ll run out of energy during the day”, reassuring us of our need to start the day with that extra bowl of nutri-grain / weet-bix / just right / coco-pops.
Or similarly, you may remember the very successful “How many can you eat?” weet-bix campaigns of the early 2000s that, out of sheer competitiveness, resulted in my brother and I attempting to eating our body weight in weet-bix on near daily basis.
Beyond just clever marketing, what both of these ad campaigns have in common, is taking an everyday experience and applying an early form of what we might now refer to as ‘gamification’, the application of game-like elements to non-game contexts with the aim of engaging and motivating individuals (in these cases, applying a game-like psychological element as the driver for eating breakfast).
While perhaps primitive in its’ application back then, in the 20-30 years since, gamification has transformed and evolved into a widespread strategy employed across various industries; everything from training and employee management to healthcare and therapeutics.
Today, businesses leverage sophisticated gamification techniques to enhance user experiences, boost customer engagement, and drive desired behaviors. From loyalty programs and retail promotions (think McDonalds Monopoly), to fitness apps that reward users for reaching exercise goals (personally, I get Qantas points each time I go for a run and those with an Apple watch know the satisfaction that comes from 'closing out all of their rings'). I recently read of a gamified app helping people overcome acute social anxieties, and another helping individuals conquer their fear of heights.
What was once a pixelated video game character promoting breakfast has paved the way for a broader and more nuanced understanding of how game-like elements can effectively engage and motivate individuals in the digital age.
For the unintitated, the basic concept of gamification is taking the typical elements of game playing, points, competition, rewards, challenges and incorporating them into real-life applications.
For local Tech Entrepreneur, author and self-confessed 'sales and gamification geek' Steve Claydon, gamification is all about seeing people release their inner potential, driving positive change and assisting people and teams to hit their goals and targets.
Claydon embodies the belief that gamification can be a catalyst for genuine transformative growth, co-founding Arcadify.io, a gamification-based platform that helps teams and individuals build motivation, enhance creative outputs, and boost productivity.
“It was early 2020 and all of a sudden the world was shutting down”, Steve explains. "I had been working in sales consulting at the time and we'd developed a face-to-face game to help with coaching sales teams, so we'd seen how effective gamification could be."
"We knew that what we were doing could make a significant difference for people and organisations, so when all that suddenly changed, it forced us to think differently (and bigger)", Steve says.
"We had to start thinking, how can we go digital? How can we take goals and productivity and these things we have learnt and gamify the process to help teams and businesses actually achieve their goals'.
"And so we set about breaking down goal-setting, looking at the science and pyschology behind it, and then reverse engineering a framework where 'players' could reward and incentivise themselves as they work towards and achieve their targets.
And whilst, as Steve explains, the majority of early adopters are companies who've seen the potential and practical applications within the workplace, he is also a huge advocate for applying these principles in our day-to-day lives and to personal goal setting.
“Most people who miss their goals, do so because they focus on the outcome rather than the inputs that will get them to that goal”, he shares.
"New Year's is coming up and statistically, 60% of people will make a New Year’s resolutions, but only 8% will achieve them (that's crazy!)".
Instead, Steve suggests breaking down larger goals into smaller, input-related 'quests' to significantly increase the likelihood of success, and then to make the process fun and engaging by gamifying it.
“The journey towards your goal should be as rewarding as achieving the goal itself".
The concept of mini-rewards is critical in this approach. Just as video games reward players with points, level upgrades, or achievements for completing specific tasks, setting mini-rewards for achieving input-related goals can provide a continuous stream of motivation and satisfaction (this is what the app does).
“Rewards play a crucial role in keeping us engaged and motivated,” says Claydon. “When we receive a reward, even a small one, it reinforces that action/ behaviour/ habit and encourages us to continue pursuing similar actions.”
Likewise, setting a major reward for hitting the overall goal or New Year’s Resolution is equally important, providing a significant incentive to strive for the ultimate objective.
“The major reward should be something personally meaningful and desirable, acting as a light at the end of the tunnel,” Steve advises. “it’s the big payoff for all your hard work and dedication”.
"Applying these few simple processes, we've already seen a x3 to x5 uptick in the number of people hitting or outperforming their targets, and three years later, we've paid out over $1M in personalised rewards to date."
For Steve, who is currently going through this process again with his team and business for 2024, the year ahead is an exciting one of potential collaborations and innovative ideas on how to help people and businesses 'level-up'. For an Industry just starting to emerge into the mainstream, the applications for gamification are endless.
HOW TO GAMIFY YOUR GOALS
Step 1: Select a major goal for the new year or quarter. Make it specific, measurable and time-bound (Example: Lose 20kg by training to run 10km in under 50 minutes by October).
Step 2: Select a major prize you’ll reward yourself with if you successfully complete your resolution. (Example: A trip to New Zealand).
For some goals, it’s quite easy to put a dollar value to your reward. For example: if your goal was to reduce your alcohol intake in 2024, simply calculate what you currently spend on drinks over the year. If you hit your goal, you can re-allocate those funds to a travel experience with your family or even a business or home investment.
Step 3: Work the goal backwards and select the Top 5 input actions you can take to get you towards your goal (Example: 1) 4x 30 Minute Workouts, 2) 3L Water Daily, 3). 5x Clean Days (no alcohol or fast food), 4) 5x 8 Hours Sleep Recorded During The Week, 5) 5x 10,000 steps recorded per week).
Step 4: Set weekly ‘mini-rewards’ based on your completing each input to the desired level. (Example: Weekly ‘Splurge Meal’ with favourite food if achieved each week).
Step 5: Set up a spreadsheet or visual tracker to track and measure the inputs week-to-week (or use a platform like Arcadify.io).
Step 6: Share your goals with others and build your support team to help you achieve your goals. It works especially well if you include them in the rewards, or challenge them to the same goal and increase the competitiveness with a shared prize.
//steveclaydon.com
