What Is the Future of Gamification? [Survey]

Since Seth Priebatsch’s keynote at this year’s SXSW, excitement about adding a “game layer” to the world – liberating games from their traditional place on a computer screen and imposing game-like, social and situational constraints onto the real world (largely through mobile apps) – has positively erupted. There’s been considerable interest from businesses across industries, educators, social innovators and techies alike.

Latitude Research (which partnered with ReadWriteWeb last year on a study about kids and future Web technology) has launched a new study on The Future of Gaming – they want to hear fresh perspectives from both game enthusiasts and non-gamers. What do you think the role of games will (or should) be in the future? Can they motivate and inspire people to reach personal or societal goals? Can they bring together online and offline experiences in meaningful ways?

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So far, we’ve heard people talking about games in terms of social discovery and community, as a means to improve on traditional education techniques, and as a civic engagement tool. People also want games to motivate and enable – to help them reach their ideal selves – by making things like healthier habits or better money management seem more attainable and enjoyable.

Here’s how a few of our The Future of Gaming participants have told us they have or would like to see games applied:

• Social Networking & Community

  • “I recently read that some people are reaching out to other players within games in an attempt to garner support for Japan in the wake of the earthquake/tsunami/(possible) nuclear disaster. In this way, games are becoming just another way we are able to interact with others be it friends or strangers across the globe.” – Will E., Associate Staff Scientist at Avedro

  • “Xbox is my generation’s golf. It’s how I met a comic book writer and an iOS developer.” – Michael C., Designer

• Health

  • “I would love for games to improve my performance. Track my inputs and set goals for them and alert me of how I am doing compared to others. One major goal I would love to gameify would be fitness.” – Christian A., Studio Director at Toy Studio

  

  Screenshot of Health Month, an online social health game.

• Finances

  • “Right now having games help with health, activity, and entertainment in general is working well for me. Going forward I’d love to have games track progress with money management and stress relief.” – Jon R.
  Guest author Kadley Gosselin is a writer for Latitude Research (@latddotcom), an international research consultancy helping clients create engaging content, software and technology that harness the possibilities of the Web.

• Politics

  • “Politicians are even using games to communicate. North Carolina governor Beverly Perdue, in the midst of controversy over state budget cuts, posted a game on her website that asked players to decide what jobs and services to cut, or what taxes to raise, in order to balance the budget. (Of course, the game didn’t include any modeling of the possible effects of those cuts or taxes beyond the immediate balance sheet!).” – Caroline R.

• Education

  • “I really think that, as education moves online, we need to be harnessing the power of computers to provide immersive interactive experiences for students. Gaming has really pushed my thinking forward in that regard.” – Ted C., Instructional Designer at Samuel Merritt University

  What are your thoughts?
  Click here to participate in Latitude’s 10-minute survey on the future of gaming.

  *Winners are determined by Latitude. Gift cards will be issued to winners by email within 8 weeks of entry, via the contact information collected at the end of the survey. One entry per person; duplicate entrants will be disqualified.

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  To learn more about working with Latitude, contact: Brian Conry, Director of Sales, at bconry@latd.com, and visit us on the Web here. For general inquiries, contact: life-connected@latd.com.

  Creative Commons-license photo by enfad.

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