Gamification Principles in Non-Game Contexts

Explore the application of gamification principles in non-game contexts and unlock new ways to engage and motivate users

Gamification takes the best game aspects and implements them into non-game environments. Why does it work? Games can make anything more fun, even ordinary tasks like doing the dishes or learning a new language.

Remember the extraordinary nanny Mary Poppins? Her quote sums up the main benefit of gamification: "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and SNAP! The job's a game." We rarely experience anxiety or boredom while playing a game. Instead, we get to win, expand our limits, use imagination, work with others, and explore, which brings us a sense of fulfillment.

Understanding this psychology helps designers add game mechanics to their products to improve UX and increase engagement and loyalty.

Definition of gamification

Gamification refers to using game mechanics in non-game contexts. But what does this mean?

  • Game mechanics are the rules that guide a player's actions, as well as a game's response to them. For example, the point system determines which actions earn players points. Other examples include levels, badges, leaderboards, etc.
  • Non-game context refers to anything other than a game. A teacher that gives their students badges like "Perfect attendance" or "Early bird" is an example of gamification in education. In UX design, gamification is used in websites and mobile apps to make them more engaging.

How is gamification different from game design? The main difference is that gamification is used in a non-game context, while game design is about creating games. Their goals also differ. Game design starts from the desire to make something that people will enjoy. In gamification design, you add things that will help drive the user toward your business objective.

This can be a nice icing on your product if the experience is already helpful and intuitive. However, gamification is not a magic solution that can fix a product's core business problems, usability issues, or poor product-market fit.

🧠 Pro tip: Explore how to boost user engagement, drive behavior, and create memorable experiences in non-game scenarios by enrolling in the Gamification course.

Why Gamify

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Why are people more excited about playing a game than doing a chore? The short answer is that games are fun. This feeling of fun can be broken down into several game mechanics. Gamification involves applying these mechanics to your product:

  • Meaningful choices: Seeing that their actions determine the outcome makes people more engaged. Show users that their actions matter. For example, allow them to exchange points they earn by taking language lessons for extra lives.
  • Progression: Gradual development gives users a sense of growth. Show users how far they've come and how many steps they need to take to reach their goal.
  • Social interactions: Games often involve communication with others, and people are social creatures. Allow users to share and team up with other people.
  • Habits: Games consist of repeatable actions, and repetition creates habits. Encourage users to repeat actions: check messages, post pictures, or take a language lesson every day.
  • Urgent optimism: All games can be won, so failure is only temporary (unless it's the Game of Thrones). Aspire to evoke this feeling in your product's users.

Gamification pitfalls

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Sometimes, designers get carried away when adding game elements and forget the primary goal of gamification. Gamification may help increase users' motivation or engagement with a product, but you can't force someone to have fun.

Major gamification pitfalls include:

  • Manipulation: Gamification isn't about tricking users into doing something they don't want to. Avoid using dark patterns like Pay-to-Skip or Social Pyramid Schemes.
  • Turning the product into a game: Too many game elements and mechanics can captivate users so much that they forget the tasks they set out to do. As a result, you will fail to achieve your business goals.
  • Treating gamification as a magic pill: If your product has terrible navigation or bugs, and if users fail to complete their tasks, gamification won't be able to save you.

In short, gamification techniques should be added only when a product’s usability, accessibility, and user experience are on point.

🧠 Pro Tip! Learn about other design dark patterns that you should keep away from to maintain an ethical and user-friendly experience for your audience in the 14 Design Dark Patterns You’ll Want to Avoid lesson.

The need for autonomy

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Gamification allows people to meet their need for autonomy — i.e., the psychological freedom and desire to take action. Allowing users the freedom of choice gives them a sense of individuality. Examples include an option to set their avatar or customize their phone's home screen.

Another aspect of autonomy is task meaningfulness. This means that users' actions must have a purpose that conforms to their goals and attitudes. Designers can achieve this aspect through meaningful stories and an important mission. For example, an app can reward users for saving the environment if they refuse to order plastic cutlery with their takeaway order.

Customization

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People enjoy customized and personalized functionality — it helps them express themselves, feel unique, and be a part of the community. You can add customization to your UI by allowing users to change avatars, fonts, backgrounds, modes, or other elements.

Most designers believe customization is a powerful tool to encourage commitment and engagement. However, the dark side of customization is offering too many options. Users might find the idea of an indefinite number of choices appealing — but things change once they have to decide and pick one. User satisfaction level decreases with the number of available options.

Apple is an excellent example of adhering to the "less is more" principle. iPhone's customization options are minimal, which helps users make a selection faster and feel happier. Users don't want to see pages of available options — it frustrates them and leads to choice paralysis.

The need for competence

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Why do people enjoy encountering game elements when using apps or websites? One of the first needs that motivate us to take challenges to test or extend our skills is the need for competence. In the UX design context, the need for competence refers to feelings of being successful and competent when using a product.

Game elements like leaderboards, points, and badges meet this need by providing feedback on users' progress and mastery. They also encourage people to continue interacting with a product or service.

Challenges and quests

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Adding challenges and quests allows you to turn uninspiring tasks into adventures. A challenge or a quest always has a goal that helps guide users in their journey. It also adds depth, drive, and structure to the user experience.

Completing challenges and quests brings users a pleasant feeling of winning and triumph. This is true even if the activity doesn't imply beating opponents — solving a problem, exploring, or achieving something is already fun.

In design, challenges are the perfect tool for motivating users to explore. Consider using small rewards during a challenge to keep users' spirits up.

Challenges must also suit a user’s level — don't give newbies master-level challenges. For example, as a beginner in Duolingo, you start with basic, bite-sized lessons that are pretty easy to complete. The feeling of accomplishment after a completed lesson motivates users to take up another.

Points

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Points are essential game elements that help represent users’ progress measurably. Players usually receive points as a reward for accomplishing specific activities.

There are several types of points that designers can use in gamification:

  • Experience points: They help designers rank and guide users. Booking.com rewards experience points to users who travel a lot to receive special discounts or prices.
  • Redeemable points: Users receive these points for special activities and can cash them for some benefits. Remember to manage capital flow to prevent massive inflation or deflation, like in any economy.
  • Skill points: These points are rewarded for completing extra tasks or subgoals. For example, offer extra points to users who take an advanced Spanish lesson after finishing their daily studies.
  • Karma points: Users have no benefit from keeping points, only from sharing them with others. For example, LinkedIn users can endorse their colleagues to express gratitude for their work and help them enhance their LinkedIn profiles.
  • Reputation points: These points serve as signs of trust. Airbnb uses reviews to rank hosts and guests so everyone can see what to expect when renting and hosting an accommodation.

Leaderboards

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Leaderboards are lists of users ranked by score, usually in descending order, with the player with the highest score at the top. Leaderboards help compare user performance and motivate users to achieve better results.

Not everyone is motivated by leaderboards. Users who often find themselves at the bottom of the list can experience social pressure and stop participating. You can avoid this by ranking users against competitors of their level instead of all users. This way, users who put in 10 hours a week into the app won't be compared to users who put in one hour a week.

Be cautious when using leaderboards that contain sensitive or private information — for example, sports or dieting stats. Not all users want such data to be displayed publicly.

Loss aversion

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Loss aversion is a cognitive bias that describes why losing something valuable is more painful than gaining that same thing. In other words, people prefer not to lose $20 than to find $20.

Designers need to consider loss aversion when asking users to make vital decisions. What would be a better motivation to continue a quest? Keeping the top leaderboard position is more motivating than getting extra points for completing the quest (unless the gain is really high).

Loss aversion is one of the reasons for free trial conversion. Once users have the product, they assume its ownership, and the prospect of losing it is intimidating. Instead, they extend the subscription and buy it.

The loss aversion effect is often used in marketing. When people are offered a coupon that expires in a few days, they're likely to use it because they fear losing the opportunity forever.

Loss aversion is closely related to the sunk cost fallacy. The sunk cost fallacy is the tendency to stick with an activity we have already invested time and resources in, even if it's not worth it anymore. In-game environments, these resources can be money, points, lives, etc.

🧠 Pro Tip: Understand how user psychology, UX design, and UX writing work together in the Psychology of UX Writing lesson.

Badges

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Badges visually represent users’ achievements and symbolize their value. Usually, users get badges for collecting a certain number of points or completing particular activities.

Badges have several functions:

  • Showing users’ progress
  • Guiding and motivating users to take part in certain quests and challenges
  • Socializing by marking community membership with other users owning the same badge type
  • Bringing the satisfaction of owning a symbol of success

🧠 Pro Tip: Make your badges visually appealing — aesthetics is another reason users strive to earn badges.

Constraints

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This might feel counterintuitive, but adding constraints can make your product more fun. Adding time limits or restricting the use of certain tools creates psychological tension. Doing this also motivates users to react faster, take action, and be more productive.

However, remember that time limits can be incredibly stressful for people with anxiety. Either avoid setting unrealistic time limits or allow users to switch the timer off or adjust it to their needs.

Epic meaning

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Epic meaning is a game mechanic based on the idea that players are motivated if they have a bigger purpose. A compelling storyline adds meaning to user journeys beyond gaining points and badges.

From early childhood, we enjoy fairy tales and stories. Adding fictional stories to a product can, therefore, inspire and motivate users.

The Zombies, Run! app is an excellent example of adding epic meaning to the product. Being chased by zombies motivates users to run faster or longer. The slowly unfolding plot encourages users to continue running day after day.

Try to find a story you can tie to an important action within your product or service. This will make users believe they are a part of something fascinating, awe-inspiring, and bigger than themselves.

The need for social relatedness

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The need for social relatedness reflects the human desire to be connected to others and be a group member. It benefits our mental health, boosts self-esteem, and eases stress, anxiety, and depression. Game elements like communities and teammates allow users to develop these close relationships. A meaningful story that inspires users to work together toward a shared goal can also foster the feeling of companionship.

Chats, reactions, and comments on Instagram or TikTok give users a feeling of belonging to a group of like-minded people. This provides emotional support, which is especially crucial during tough times. Keep in mind that social media communication isn't a substitute for face-to-face contact. In case of excessive usage, it can even lead to increased loneliness.

Blissful productivity

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Blissful productivity refers to the mental state of complete focus and total involvement. Gamers experience this sense of flow when a game offers a gradual increase in difficulty as players' skills improve. In the gamified environment, blissful productivity can be achieved through levels.

There are several things to remember when developing the level hierarchy. Users' anxiety increases when they face a task requiring skills they don't have yet. They also get bored if the task isn't challenging enough.

When designing onboarding tasks, start with the simplest activities and then progress to more advanced ones. For example, the onboarding can begin with "Introduce yourself" or "Select your topics of interest" and end with "Create your first blog post."

In the end, gamification isn’t just about adding game elements to products; it's about tapping into the human desire for progress, connection, and purpose. It reminds us that with the right approach, even the most ordinary tasks can evoke excitement and fulfillment. As designers, the challenge lies in striking a balance — creating experiences that feel playful yet purposeful, engaging yet ethical. When done right, gamification can transform the way people interact with technology, not by manipulating their behavior, but by inspiring them to achieve, connect, and grow in ways that resonate on a deeper level.

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