Gamification is the process of applying gaming techniques to other areas of life. It involves taking elements such as learning, developing a narrative, and understanding user behavior to improve areas as diverse health care, education, and the workplace environment.
When it comes to gambling, there is a close correlation between developing traditional strategy and the process of gamification. Gambling has not adopted gamification to make players better, rather they have adopted the techniques as a marketing ploy. While a sizable number of the population enjoy traditional gambling, many more of them enjoy playing games. By taking something which could appear mundane, such as a slot machine, an online casino will create graphics and a character around it to make it more interesting. This is a very basic form of gamification but one which highlights the basic principles in an effective manner. The gamification experience offers users more than just a chance to gamble, it provides them with an immersive and fun opportunity, as shown on the gambling website Voodoo.
The process seems to be working, as the gambling industry has exploded over the last 10 years since the implementation of these processes. Though it must be noted that this is also due to the proliferation of internet usage at large and also the increase in mobile device usage.
Outside of gambling, gamification has been used widely in the marketing industry. In a recent survey by Forbes Magazine, over 70 percent of companies have used gamification to improve their customer experience. One of the most prominent ways it is used it on consumer websites is to improve the engagement rates. A study showed that after gamification was applied to a website, the numbers of people completing online tasks had risen from 10 to 80 percent.
It has also been used in healthcare to try and encourage people to take a greater interest in their own health. Health applications which adopt a game process and award points for completing challenges have a much greater success rate – proving the theory of gamification. Step counters are another example of how gamification can be used in the health industry.