Guest post by: Yaniv Corem This piece was originally posted on Calcalist on July 19, 2015
In 2003 and after long years of searching, a frustrated game developer named Nick Pelling, came up with an idea that will forever change user engagement and experience.
Gamification is kind of a big deal. Exhilarating rewards, stimulating challenges, and epic victories. This is what people want, crave and need.
The video game industry is worth more than $100 billion worldwide, so it’s no surprise that businesses want to use gamification to boost engagement and sales.
There tends to be a common confusion on what gamification for businesses really is. If you want to to go back to the basics, you should definitely check out this “Gamification Made Easy” video by North Highland
If you already know your basics and want to get deeper into the world of gamification, we’ve gathered our top 5 reads just for you:
Dive Into the World of Gamification With These 5 Books:
This book is a guide into the mind of a user, and a definite must for product managers.
Ever asked yourself “Why do some products capture our attention while others flop?” and “What makes people engage with certain products as a habit?” or “Why the hell can’t I stop scrolling though my Instagram feed?”.
This book is a perfect guide to building products people cannot resist.
All you gamification fiends can dig deeper into what controls our behavior, the practical insights to create user habits, and the important steps for building products people love.
This read is pretty much essential for any company looking to understand user psychology and build habit forming products.
You can learn more about creating addictive products through Nir Eyal’s website and twitter.
Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics (and a customer and partner of ours) refutes the common assumption that we react rationally to things that are going on around us.
Ariely investigates why our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin, and why we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup.
If you want to get a better insight into the psychology behind people when it comes to decision making and how we systematically behave in predictable ways – pick up this book!
If you don’t have time to read, you can get a glimpse in Dan’s interesting Ted talk here: “Are we in control of our own decisions?”
Burke will teach you how to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals while working towards organizational objectives.
For companies, finding the middle ground where business objectives align with player objectives is all about fine-tuning.
The book includes case studies from influential leaders who have successfully implemented gamification strategies in their business and identifies the characteristics that lead to success.
Ever asked yourself how come the virtual world is so easy to get addicted to?
According to McGonigal, the reason the virtual world is taking over reality is due to the fact that gaming fulfills genuine human needs.
In her book, she reveals how lessons from game design can fix problems in the real world and how games are improving the quality of our lives.
We think ‘Publishers Weekly’ summed it up perfectly:
“As addictive as Tetris, McGonigal’s penetrating, entertaining look into gaming culture is a vibrant mix of technology, psychology, and sociology, told with the vision of a futurist and the deft touch of a storyteller.”
As gamification addicts we look forward to the release of Yu-Kai Chou’s upcoming book: “Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards.”
A deep exploration into what makes a game fun and how to apply those fun and engaging elements in real-life productive activities.
Are there any books we’ve missed? We’d love to get your recommendations in the comment section below.
