Game On – SCTEM: Gamification and Travel October, 2012 Tom Ruesink, President Ruesink Consulting Group, Inc.

What is and isn’t gamification? Yes No “Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences.”

Why talk about gamification? Avg 21 yr old spent 10,000 hours gaming By 2015, 70% of Global 2000 companies will have one gamified app (Gartner) 70% By 2016, Over 2.8 Billion USD to be spent by corporations (M2) Drugs! (dopamine)

Nike Plus

Nike Plus Avatar

Is Nike Plus a game? In a traditional sense? What do we get in Nike Plus? Badges Levels Avatars Social Layer Challenges Appointments Statistics

I want to have MY OWN UNIQUE experience within your system Fundamental Tenet #1 I want to have MY OWN UNIQUE experience within your system

Do frequent flyer programs use gamification? What do we see? Status Points Levels Leaderboards

What about these? Linked In Progress Bar: Scores profile completeness Facebook Likes, Twitter Retweets & Followers: Not enough to just add content or share - scored

Takeaway: Looking at a program through a gamification doesn’t have to be “high tech” or “high complexity”

Gamification Recipe One part sexy Three parts strategic points, leader boards, badges, challenges, scoring, attaboys, etc What’s the journey of the player, narrative, onboarding strategy, keep them interested, etc

Mechanics – Sexy Part 1 Old World Currently 1. Player = User/Consumer. Allowed to customize & express themselves – social interactions.

Mechanics – Sexy Part 2 Old World Currently 2. Game Dynamics = Pacing of the game, reward schedules, habit/addicting, appointments to come back, etc.

Mechanics – Sexy Part 3 Old World New World 3. Progress = Levels, leaderboard, badges, points

Mechanics – Sexy Part 4 Old World New World 4. Aesthetics = The emotional component…how does the game evoke trust, curiosity, surprise, envy, pride, connection

Applying gamification techniques

Applying gamification techniques

What makes a good game? Flo Journey

What makes a good game?

Supplier to corporation/college Way too many contract terms – no control over most Complexity forces corporations into 3rd party analytics No ongoing narrative – organization doesn’t know progress Not clearly articulating/measuring steps to share, not just share: Biasing strategy ratings Organic v Intentional Share Rational Partner Airfare Inventory assumptions 10 Key Markets

Supplier to Traveler Status, Access, Power, Stuff They’ve figured out that it isn’t just about the free ticket anymore

Fundamental Tenet #2 Status / Access / Power / Stuff IN THAT ORDER

Corporation/college to traveler Only time I hear from travel program is exception/negative Travel isn’t hard – Corporations haven’t made the story compelling. We spit information and policy. How does my travel compliance help the company? Would I join the travel program if it was optional? Never onboarded Empower = Do what I want?

Looking at your program through the eyes of a game designer Canonical Stories (who), groupings of players? Top 5 actions want the player to take Advocate, Recommend, Taunt, Show Off, Argue, Comment, Give, Flirt, Like, Explore, Greet, View, Vote, Join Objective statements – what behaviors do I want from my players? Levels/Progress – how will I show progress and status? Customization – how will I allow the user to customize? Onboarding – What are the first 30 to 60 seconds like? Action, Reward, Action, Action, Reward Rewards: What are all the touch points where we can say good job and thank you?

Recognition That Doesn’t Cost Much Remember: Status / Power / Access / Stuff Thank you letters/notes when they reach a level or accomplish something Picture or placement on a portal page Donations to charity in their name Early access to events, tickets Access to executives - webinars Badges Decorations of their avatar / points or karma points

Exercise – Partner Off Think of every possible action or accomplishment that you could possibly congratulate a traveler or department for. Make a list. Now add every possible action or accomplishment that you could congratulate an employee for. Brainstorm list of potential fun badges/badge names Brainstorm list of potential rewards that don’t cost money (remember status, access, power, stuff)

What pieces of gamification exist today in corporate travel programs or companies? Gamifying the Enterprise: Most common application that companies would be familiar with is HR/Wellness Challenges. Sabre had PSP (Sustainability) challenges. Virtual meeting rooms, virtual campuses (avatar representations) – Sun SAP, Salesforce – common apps having platforms built in Microsoft – Ribbon Hero Scoring the Transaction – Digestible Outputs Cornerstone’s C3, TravelGPA, Coca-Cola custom dashboard Other SERKO – points & leaderboard – self booking Asia/Australia Xilinx – working with Bunchball to create employee portal including travel Large computer company – working with platform provider to create agent awareness contests/education GetThere – Travel Hero

What help is out there to add/enhance your program with program Platforms: Bunchball, Badgeville, Big Door Consultancies: AIMIA, Maritz, Dopamine Meetings Applications: QuickMobile, Goosechase, Scavngr Interactive Newsletters: Jive

Fully Gamified Platforms…Examples – The Office Front Page

Examples – The Office, Drill-in Page

Providing meaningful value for points

The Office - Self-expression matters to people

Examples – Real Housewives of Atlanta Front Page

Examples – Real Housewives of Atlanta Drill-In

Examples – NFL Fan Rewards

Examples – Chamillionaire Chamillionaire.com

Meetings Apps & Platforms

Employee Travel Portal - Today

Sample Portal Tomorrow Make it more like a travel community – look at tripit. Should include: Performance Indicators: Real-time-feedback - The immediate delivery of positive or corrective feedback solidifies learnings or provides an opportunity for adjustment.  Surface a notification that an employee is on track or has just been successful. Transparency - Show your employees where they stand in relation to company goals and others in the organization.  You can do this with leaderboards, newsfeeds, progress bars, badges and other techniques. Goal-setting - Break large goals down into achievable steps on a path toward long term success. Achievement Badges - Universally understood symbols that indicate mastery of skills and accomplishment.  Display them on a profile and they can act as a visual checklist or a point of pride and status. Levels - A shorthand way of indicating long-term, sustained achievement and status.  An employee's current Level Icon should be closely tied to their profile photo, name or other identity items and is most effective when used to unlock special privileges or abilities. Mastery - The drive to master new skills and feel competent is an essential human motivator. (see self determination theory and this blog about the dopamine response) For example, onboarding employees shouldn't be about reading instructions, it should revolve around “teaching by doing” - coached along by a system that provides step-by-step guidance, until they feel they have sufficient mastery to venture off on their own Social Competition - Employees and organizations often involve competitive situations.  There is an opportunity to move beyond competing for a position or a raise and foster competition around enablement (top performers/first to complete training). Collaboration – Introduce Groups and Teams Team provide an opportunity to connect and bond with others “like” you, (even if the only similarity is that you’re on the same team), and work together as a cohesive unit to accomplish goals and compete with other teams. Connection - We are spending more of our work lives online and the line between personal and professional continues to blur.  Encouraging employees to share their work success with their social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) deepens their pride in accomplishment as it’s broadcast to a broader audience.

Sample Onboarding Experience 1. Employee comes to the portal and sees a Notification asking them to read the Travel Policy 2. When the Employee finishes reading the Travel Policy, they are asked to take the quiz. 3. When the Employee finishes reading the Travel Policy, they are asked to take the quiz. 4. Once the Employee finishes sharing (with their mgr or another Employee) they receive a reward.

Employee Profile Answers the question: how am I doing?

Questions & Discussion