According to Gartner’s most recent Hype Cycle model, gamification is reaching its peak. What brand at the moment isn’t trying to get users to check in, compete for medals, points or places on a leader board? Mobile is being leveraged for gaming and is infiltrating our lives; whether we are aware of it or not.

Gamification itself is the weaving in of mild game mechanics into everyday services, to try and improve user engagement. Sometimes it can work well, but success pivots on whether the use of game tactics will suit the brand and its values. When embarking on a design project, it is important to look closely at the brand values and the nature of the experience that the client is trying to bring to market. While gamification techniques could lead to good services, people will pick up on the dissonance between what a brand stands for and the game-focused platform that they may have launched.

The whole idea of using gaming techniques to encourage engagement is not new, it has been around for years, in the form of air miles, happy hours and credit card rewards. Many regard gamification as a horrible word for something that has been around for a long time. The notion of rewarding customers has always worked, and for some services such as commerce, works particularly well.

Successful designs are those which just seem to work; services that are so good that you keep on using them, rather than services which may well have an initial ‘wow’ factor, but short life-spans. Like every fad, 90 percent of it ends up being unnecessary: not everything is appropriate to gamify, and leaderboards and badges do not represent what is engaging or effective about gaming.

More and more brands are looking for innovative ways to increase customer engagement, in order to build awareness and sales. However, one of the main benefits for businesses is the collection of data. While this data doesn’t automatically increase top line revenues in a visible sense, it does mean that businesses can tailor products accordingly, building customer engagement and satisfaction through rewards.

We are seeing a much more social dynamic in terms of the gaming techniques that brands are using. It is hinged on competition and sharing, reward and enjoyment. Aside from applications such as Foursquare, which has successfully created a platform that has leveraged gaming techniques and retained its longevity, Chromaroma is a great example of gamification in action. The application layers on top of a London Oyster card, turning an everyday commute into a game.

At the moment the market may seem flooded with these sorts of services, however last year everyone would have been talking about ‘viral.’ Gartner may be right – the hype around gamification may peak soon, but brands will not stop wanting to use gaming techniques as long as they keep people engaged. Supermarkets have been in the loyalty game for years, with coupons and loyalty cards and this can translate well into digital, helped along with gamification.

Life is a game – one manufactured by brands where the consumer is always a winner. Things to be aware of? Gamification could easily devalue a brand, and could lead to a damaging backlash on social media. And if you approach a brief using the word gamification, it's game over before you have even begun…

John Oswald

John Oswald is Business Design Lead of service design agency Fjord.

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members