Gamification with a purpose

A playful experience earns its place when taking part helps someone do something worthwhile. That might mean practising a choice, understanding an idea or finding a reason to return. Before choosing points, challenges or rewards, define the useful action and the person you want to help take it.

Give participation a clear purpose.

Write down what someone should be able to do, understand or decide after the experience. Be specific enough to recognise progress. “Engage people” leaves many questions open. “Let someone practise choosing between options and explain the consequence” gives the design a job.

Then consider the setting. A short public demonstration, a workplace seminar and an ongoing learning programme ask different things of participants. The time available, the reason for joining and the support around the experience should influence the format.

Make a choice matter.

A meaningful choice gives someone a reason to pay attention. It can be small: selecting an ingredient, deciding what to do next or trying a different approach. Make the options understandable and connect the response to the action taken. Surprising someone can be delightful; leaving them unsure how the experience works can interrupt learning.

Our public burger challenge is a small interactive example you can try. It demonstrates how an everyday task can become a sequence of actions and feedback. It is a showcase, rather than evidence that a particular client achieved a learning or commercial result.

Use feedback to make the next step possible.

Feedback should help the participant understand what happened and what they can try next. A score alone may leave that unclear. A short explanation, a visible change or a chance to retry can make the response easier to use.

Consider what happens when someone makes an unexpected choice or needs more time. Keep instructions readable and controls usable. If timing or motion is part of the idea, examine whether it supports the purpose and how people with different needs can take part.

Let progress tell an honest story.

Progress can show that a person has completed a step, explored an option or practised a skill. Be clear about which of those it represents. Finishing an activity is a useful observation, but it does not automatically establish understanding or a lasting change in behaviour.

Choose an evaluation that fits the purpose. You might observe where participants need help, ask them to explain a decision or compare their performance on a relevant task. Agree the question before the experience launches, so a busy screen is not mistaken for a successful outcome.

Connect doing with discussing.

For PepsiCo, our contribution combined a fridge-filling simulation game with marketing and IT seminars. The activity gave gamification a form people could experience; the seminars created room to explore its place in a business setting. The portfolio illustration explains the engagement and is not the original game interface.

That combination is a useful design consideration: what happens around the activity matters. An introduction can establish the purpose, and a discussion afterwards can connect the experience to a real question. Start with that question, make room for choice and feedback, and let the playful details serve the next useful step.