Gametize's 6D Playbook & Scorecard

Introducing the Gametize 6D Playbook, our new and complete guide to gamification strategy. The transition from the 5D Framework to the 6D Playbook charts two main changes. Firstly, we have included the 6th D, Diagnose, in the post-game environment. In this phase of the Playbook, we advocate the gamification practitioner to be critical in the way one assesses and reviews the creation. There is often a tendency for the creator to “not see” aspects of their own work simply because they have spent so much time on it that they are either blinded or desensitized to any shortcomings. In their head they might have the best intentions, but what comes out at the end may fall short, and the consequences could be dire. Problems may have occurred during the pre-game planning stages (the first 4 Ds) or during the design phase (the 5th D). What we are now offering is a systematic approach, through a checklist and our very own Gametize Scorecard, to checking our own work objectively.

At a more fundamental level, calling it a Playbook, rather than a Framework suggests a more holistic approach to gamification strategy to encapsulate the entire process. We believe it needed to be extended to the post-game environment because the review and refinement process after feedback is equally critical to the game creation. There is also that change from a framework to a Playbook because it is a playbook to devise plans to counter challenges, craft strategies and employ tactics or plays to stay on top of the game.

Note: We use Playbook, capital P when used as a proper noun, when referring to the 6D Playbook. We use playbook, small p here because it is used as a common noun to describe a generic playbook.

We hope you’ll find the 6D Playbook as useful to you as it is to us. We use this to run our GCD sessions. You can see example of GCD here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cOki9DMXNoLFc5kYABTJnEhWTPr62qSyQv4ZhWzoBg4

Let's begin with this basic checklist...

(Though if you are already a Gametize 6D ninja, just skip this altogether and go straight to Gametize Scorecard below).

1. Define your Problem
2. Determine your goals
3. Decide target behaviours and emotions
4. Describe & profile your players
5. Design your mechanics and process
6. Diagnose and analyse your content

1. Define the problem

Let’s get real here: what’s bothering you that you think gamification can help with? Are you able to draw a fishbone diagram so you can figure out what are the root causes of the problem?

Examples of Problem Statements:

Retention of knowledge is 10% after every workshop.
Root causes: The digital platform is disengaging, and there are no followups
E-learning completion is 30% and the dropout rate is high
Job candidates still don't know much about our company in the interviews
Awareness on diversity is rock bottom in my company
There are no conversations, and people don't know their biases
Nobody is talking about my brand, and a lot of money is spent on advertising
We have loyal customers but they are't talking about us
We are spending too much time generating our own content for marketing

*Side note: Let’s call a spade a spade. Don’t fall into the trap of “I don’t have a problem, I just want to make something better”. If you don’t have a problem, you are actually looking to solve nothing…you may as well put your money under your bed instead – you’ll instantly get a better ROI a year from now! Being realistic and honest is the first key step to creating a meaningful gamification campaign. You definitely aren’t doing this because it is fun or you want to make the world a better place.

Defining the problem is a critical step, and sets the tone for the entire design workflow. Don’t worry, you can always revisit and redefine it, so don’t let this intimidate you. At the same time, if the problem suffers from hygiene issues (e.g. poor retention of product knowledge because your product is designed for rocket scientists, or nobody is talking about your brand because your brand is really really bad, then maybe you should be looking to change your business!)

2. Determine your goals

Once we have identified our problems, we need to seek out end goals: goals create focus and maps out the path for your strategy. Let’s talk about quantities here. Don’t fuss too much on this, and determine some numbers here that would make you a very very happy person. Make sure they are achievable!

Examples of Goals:

Retention of knowledge is 50% after every workshop
E-learning completion is 70% and the dropout rate is significantly decreased
9/10 job candidates know our company well before the interview
9/10 employees in the company say they are interested in promoting diversity
There are 1,000 mentions of my brand on social media on a daily basis
90% of our content is now generated by our customers

3. Decide your target behaviors and emotions

Target behavior is more qualitative and defines the types of behavior we want to see players carry out. Take for instance, exercise: when we develop a positive attitude towards exercise, it can help kick start a rewarding regime, enabling better health. What are the behaviors that can help you solve the problem, conquer the root causes, and get to the goal above?

Examples of Target Behaviors:

Users are doing challenges to compete with each other
Users are collaborating to help each other get past the level
Users are having conversations about diversity offline, and taking selfies to promote the awareness
Job candidates can answer quizzes to learn more about the company
Customers are posting reviews about the product, good or bad
Customers are referring other customers

Examples of Target Emotions:

"This is a rewarding game where I can win surprise prizes!"
"I never thought this new skill I'm learning is so useful!"
"The company makes me feel recognized and exclusive"
"I could actually improve other people's lives by contributing in this game"
"I know much more about myself now"

4. Describe and profile your players

This is a sample set of questions that can be adjusted to fit your context. First step for profiling is to shout out a name, say “Tony” in this case – our tribute to Ironman 🙁 (we love you 3000)

Why did Tony join the company? Why not other competitors? What sets this company apart?
What does Tony look forward in his daily tasks, and what motivates Toni in life generally?
What games does Tony play, on desktop or more the phone?
Why does Tony play these games? To compete, to socialize, to explore, or to earn a sense of accomplishment?
Which websites does Tony visit in his free time, and what content does he consume?
What apps does Tony use on a daily basis, and on a weekly basis?
Is there a reward Tony wants that “money can’t buy” in the company? e.g. lunch with CEO?
What rewards that “money can buy” would motivate Tony? e.g. Movie tickets? Coffee Vouchers? Books?
What may lead to Tony leaving the company? Lack of recognition? Lack of opportunities?
If Tony can design a game of his own, what would it be?
If Tony can meet anyone in the company, who will it be?
How often does Tony get to learn new things in his work? Does he enjoy learning? If yes, why? If not, why?

Repeat this for 2-3 profiles. Next up, establish the Player Type:

This is a general profiling of your target audience. Describing your players enables you to create appropriate content for your game. Ask yourself: Who are these players? What are their player types and what motivates them?

(We’ve based this off Richard Bartle’s Taxonomy of Player Types, which you can read more about here.)

Examples of Profiles:

Alice is a Killer who enjoys competition
Billy is motivated by socializing and being in a community
Charlie likes discovering content and learning new life hacks
Alice uses Instagram everyday to post new photos of her healthy lifestyle
Billy loves discounts, even though he is a high-income earner

Want to learn your Player Type? Take our personality quiz!

If you’re absolutely burning with curiosity to find out which Player Type you are, take our quiz.

*Side note: Do not proceed if you haven’t tackled these questions. Otherwise, well done! Now that you have these pieces of information, let’s go on to design the Gametize experience, based on the following scorecard. You don’t have to hit a perfect score, but these are questions that you should keep in mind.

5. Design your gamification strategy

The next step involves creating an actionable plan to bring about a desired experience. Gamification is use as a tool to educate and advocate certain behaviour, which would be transformed into habits over time. We need to be clear on what we want to achieve, be laser focus and develop a zest for exploration. This sets the motivation needed to be achieved.

Gamification is the adoption of game mechanics into non-game context, increasing motivation through rewards. However, for it to be truly effective, there has be strong intrinsic motivations. Gamification is an influence that promotes positive behaviour and direct attention to a cause in a good way.

Designing your gamification strategy will be based on:

Visual style (The Style List guide below will be a great help)

Narrative

Tone of voice

Interactive elements

6. Diagnose and analyse your content

The final step to creating your gamification plan is by diagnosing your content. Once you have crafted your game, the most important thing you can do is to review it. If possible, get beta players to test-drive your game and see what works and what doesn’t. This allows you to gain a deeper insight into your game.

With all the feedback and data you have collected, you should then proceed to analyse them.

What did you get wrong?
What did you get right?
Was there just a small detail missed that could have elevated your project to the next level?
Did you make use of gamification accurately and effectively?

By analysing and making sense of these details, you are now able to refine your product for your users. Make use of the data you’ve gathered to create fresher content, a more experiential interface, and bring greater benefits to your work.

Another thing that needs diagnosing is the overall experience you had. Similar to the content portion, you should take the time to reflect and look back on the process of creating your gamified project. Were there areas that you struggled in? What did you do to resolve those issues, and what steps can you take to learn from them? When diagnosing and analysing is done correctly, it not only makes for a better game, but teaches you important skills as a creator.

Most importantly, remember that the 6D Playbook is an iterative process; there’s no such thing as a perfect gamification strategy! So if you find, for example, that your initial player profile isn’t accurate – go ahead and pivot, adjust, reiterate.

Visual style & Narrative

Looks are important (at least for your gamification campaign) – additionally, having a great narrative creates cohesion and helps with immersion for your players. Take a look at Gametize’s Style List that we’ve compiled for some inspiration.

Style List

Gametize Scorecard

The Gametize scorecard is designed to measure the success of your gamification strategy. Score each of the questions out of 10, with 10 being the best score.

Step 1: Use the 6D Playbook

Has the problem been defined, or an overall objective been identified? E.g. lack of motivation for training, implementing a long-term loyalty and contest platform
Have the goals been determined? E.g. Increased knowledge, interests, conversion of sales
Have the target behaviors been decided? E.g. Players will do quizzes weekly, encourage each other, work together as a group to complete challenges
Have the players been described & profiled? E.g. Unmotivated, avid mobile user, likes & dislikes

Step 2: Game Structure & Elements

Start fleshing out the basics of your game.

How clear are the objectives of the games for the players? __/10 (Do players know what to expect? Do they know what the rewards are?)
How attractive are the rewards to the described players (monetary or non-monetary? __/10 (For Enterprises, avoidance of penalties can be a form of rewards, too, e.g. do a dance in front of the office)
Are there any “wow factors” or surprise discovery of rewards in place? __/10 (If so, are your players somewhat aware, and how easy can the early rewards be discovered?)
How focused are the games? __/10 (Is the game too broad? Are the challenges/theme specific and consistent?)

Step 3: Challenges

Determine the format of your Challenges.

Will there be fresh challenges rolled out? If so, is the schedule well-designed? __/10 (Also, are the players aware of new challenges periodically?)
Are the challenges relevant to the objectives/goals/problem (i.e. not random)? __/10
Are the challenges easy to understand? __/10
Is there a good number of challenges? (i.e. not too little or too much) __/10

Step 4: Feedback & Competition

Think about the type of feedback you will offer to your Player.

What can the 6D Playbook & Scorecard be used for?

The 6D Playbook & Scorecard can be applied to a diverse set of use cases, from setting productivity goals to social relations.

Here are some examples of what we’ve used the 6D Playbook for:

Employee orientation & onboarding
Conferences and exhibitions
Talent acquisition (i.e. recruitment)

And here are some examples of what we’ve seen our clients and workshop participants use the 6D Playbook for:

Encouraging employees to recycle more
Encouraging employees to adopt healthier lifestyles
Quiz nights (ask us more about this!)

If you want to learn more about how to successfully implement a gamification strategy in your organization, head on to cheatsheet.gametize.com where we have a bunch of resources for you such as demo games, case studies, and other useful stuff.

Happy gametizing!