Gamification Expert Series: Deepa Prusty, Team Lead of Gamification Design at FocusU
We are back with another exciting line-up in our Gamification Expert Series ❤️
Deepa Prusty, an L&D professional, deep-thinker and a wonderful storyteller, is sharing her gamification journey both as a partner and end-user. Read on to know more…
Deepa is one who practices what she preaches. Constantly learning, innovating and sharing her experiences as an L&D professional, and now, as the Lead in the Gamification Design Team at FocusU, which garnered the prestigious Brandon Hall Award in 2024 for a project gamifying an onboarding program.
Deepa also facilitates programs in behavioral topics such as Psychological Safety, Accountability, Stakeholder Management, Diversity & Inclusion, Growth Mindset, Change Management, Leadership Development. As an NLP practitioner, she lives by the principle that every behavior has a positive intention.
We are privileged to have Deepa here with us today. Welcome Deepa!
About Deepa...
Gametize: Tell us one fun fact about yourself!
Expert: I imagine this is not unique to me. Like a lot of people, often ideas for gamification come to me when I am doing something other than work. It could be cooking or doing the dishes or tidying up the house!
Gametize: What games do you play?
Expert: This was a question that I was dreading, because the answer might seem unexpected! I do not play computer/ video games. In fact, the only games that I have ever played were Mortal Kombat, a road racing game, the name of which I do not remember, Solitaire, and Candy Crush. Other than Candy Crush, the three other games that I listed, I played them in my teenage years when we got a new computer and internet speeds were really, really slow! I would love to play some fun card games or board games but somehow haven’t had too many chances to play those either.
Gametize: What do you do in your spare time?
Expert: I have dogs, currently 2, but my husband and I feed several other street dogs. This keeps us occupied and needless to say, fills our life with immense joy. My husband and I love spending time with my dogs–Mia and Pepper. I love to read and while I consider myself a beginner, I spend considerable time reading. And lastly, cooking, which I find extremely gratifying.
Gametize: Other than this interview, what are you up to today?
Expert: Well, I have a few meetings lined up. I am reading and researching about my next piece of work on cross-cultural sensitivity. So that’s what is keeping me busy.
Gametize: Can you tell us more about what you do, and how you got to where you are today?
Expert: I’ve had a few roles, including a couple of stints in L&D, prior to joining FocusU, my current organization. I joined as a facilitator at FocusU. But the Covid pandemic of 2020 was a significant turning point. FocusU was pivoting to delivering behavioural training without reducing the impact or the engagement of the training. The leaders at FocusU were quick to re-prioritise goals to ensure we keep doing great work, even if it has to be virtual. One of the verticals was Gamification. And so it happened–my journey towards gamification started.
Gametize: What keeps you engaged in what you do?
Expert: The width and depth of what can be achieved through gamification and its untapped potential is what keeps me going. There’s so much that can be done. For instance effective use of Gamification can increase scalability of training and reach. I’ll give you an instance from the early days of 2020–the year of pandemic. One of the biggest FMCG organizations had a very unique requirement–they had their annual sales conference coming up but unlike other times, the sales staff was beyond disinterested. This wouldn’t be the typical much-revered annual offsite. They would have to shun the beautiful beaches of Goa or the vibrant energy of Rajasthan (famous holiday destinations in India) and would have to settle for a virtual sales annual conference. Where’s the fun in that?!
So, the client gave us a requirement of creating “something” gamified, something that can be done from the comfort of their homes, something that brings people together, but without them having to log in to a virtual conference (Zoom fatigue was becoming the new normal), something for over 500 people, something that generates the same level of energy and excitement (minus the booze, of course! Oh wait! Can there be some cocktails?!)
A few weeks later, 500+ players were enrolled to a project on Gametize for a 5-day pre-conference engagement activity with the activity feed buzzing with dance videos and talent shows and quirky cocktail recipes, with players unlocking subsequent levels and scoring points, and finally closing with an award ceremony–all of this done in a self-paced mode. Yes, this engagement was not learning focused, but it was the year 2020–in the thick of a pandemic–a time when people needed some semblance of normalcy.
I was happy to have been able to bring smiles to many many faces. Oh! And the sales conference was a huge success and the client attributed some of the success to the pre-conference buzz that we managed to create.
Deepa’s Gamification Journey...
Gametize: How did you get started on gamification?
Expert: The first time I encountered gamification, and honestly at the time, I did not know that I am getting into gamification. It was a time when FocusU got a deal for a sales training for one of the global tech giants. Essentially the problem that the client was trying to solve was to get their employees to utilize the vast literature that they already had for enabling sales of their various tech products. But considering that the SOPs and the flowcharts and the workflows were so elaborate, the employees would simply NOT read it. So our task was to make the SOPs and flowcharts accessible, such that the employees know exactly which folder or which sub-folder to access when they are faced with a sales problem. This would obviously, in turn, aim at streamlining the sales process and making it effective so all employees speak a unified language to their customers. So, I had only recently joined FocusU and was still in the training/ onboarding period. I had a lot of time in hand and so, I was put into this project. Of course, there were several other colleagues as well.
I’ll cut to the design. So we did a phy-gital workshop. Part physical – part digital. So while the content was available on tablet PCs given to every team, the workshop was organized in a huge conference hall. We had redecorated the space with the help of vendors to look like an amphitheater with gaming arenas on each of the 4 corners. The content was designed to have clues and questions that nudged the participants to actually go to their SOPs to find the answers. With every question that the participants solved correctly, they were rewarded with passes to the gaming arena. Now was this a reward and a “challenge” disguised as a reward is something that could be debated (hehehe!) And that’s how in about 2-3 hours, all participants at least got to look at some parts of how useful the SOPs are and not be overwhelmed by it. There was competition amongst the various teams, collaboration within the teams to win a coveted prize, time pressure, unpredictability and some deliberate chaos–but hidden underneath all was a simple trick to get the participants to navigate to the SOPs/ workflows to understand their sales process better.
Gametize: What is gamification to you?
Expert: Gamification to me is creating an experience for the learners in a way that takes the facilitator to the background and puts the learners to the foreground. Somehow tapping into the experience and the wisdom that the learners already possess to spark a discussion and deliberation among the learners. Obviously, points and a leaderboard are good to have features but creating an experience wherein the learners don’t think about the leaderboard but rather are focused on solving a problem together. Needless to say that all of this can be done in a self-paced method as well, and hence somehow facilitating asynchronous discussions is vital too.
Gametize: What makes you interested in gamification?
Expert: People learn best when they are involved and even though instructor-led sessions can be discussion-oriented, people still want to “do” something and want to feel like they ”solved” something during the time of a workshop. This is where gamification comes in handy. So the real challenge is how do we create problems that learners need to solve without dumbing down the content.
Challenges you face in your job role...
Gametize: What are some challenges you face as part of your job role?
Expert: The problems are mostly 2 fold. I’ll start with the obvious one. When designing a gamified content that needs to be run as a self-paced mode, several people do not log in. They require nudges and reminders and often it ends up reducing the overall experience as was intended. The second problem–and this is a big one–is often to do with the mindset of some clients. The word gamification has taken on a meaning of being gimmicky at best and superfluous and superficial at worst. So, how we get clients or project sponsors to move beyond points and leaderboards and see the value of deep discussions while it being self-directed, is the big question.
Gametize: What’s your approach in tackling these challenges?
Expert: Sometimes a project showcase helps. That’s perhaps the most effective way of getting our clients to see the value of gamified solutions. I also create case studies that can be shared with the clients for them to understand the overview of what was a problem that we were trying to solve, what possible options were considered and what was the option (solution) that was eventually delivered, and of course the impact of it.
Project Showcase: Share with us one project that you're proud of...
Gametize: We know you’ve worked on many projects. Could you share one with us you’re particularly proud of?
What inspires & motivates you?
Gametize: Wow, that sounds like you put a lot of thought and effort into making your project a success. Where do you get your ideas from?
Expert: I start with a checklist of what the client wants, who the learners are, how much time would the learners be willing to spend, how many learners are we looking at for one workshop, the mode of delivery, etc. These questions act like a starting point to get into the concept designing.
What does the future hold for you?
Gametize: We can’t wait to see what else you are working on. What else can we expect from you in the near future?
Expert: I, along with a member of the team, am working on developing a card game. The idea will be to look at scenarios and pick options from the cards in your hand that best suit the scenario. It will be similar to a game of Uno wherein the end goal will be to lose all your cards to be declared the winner. I am trying to build this for 3-4 behavioural competencies to start with, but the idea is to be able to simply change the scenarios and options to accommodate more competencies without altering the game mechanics.
Gametize: Sounds exciting – can you share a sneak peek of the project?
Expert: This is still in the works and I am in the initial stages of conceptualization. So, I can’t showcase anything at this time. But let me attempt to explain the concept in words to the best of my ability:
UNO-Vation is a team-based card game inspired by the famous game UNO, but designed to develop and showcase four key competencies: Collaboration, Integrity, Innovation, and Critical Thinking. The game involves players responding to real-world scenarios by selecting the best course of action using their “Option Cards” and navigating challenges on the “Scenario Board.” The objective is to encourage discussion, decision-making, and strategic thinking, while also being fun and interactive. The goal of the game is to be the first player to either get rid of all your cards or have the fewest remaining cards when the game ends. The game also encourages players to collaborate, innovate, think critically, and act with integrity while resolving scenarios.
- Collaboration (Blue)
- Integrity (Green)
- Innovation (Red)
- Critical Thinking (Yellow)
Option Cards:
These cards come in four colors (matching the scenario board) with answers or possible actions that players can take for each scenario.
Each card will have responses related to the four competencies, which players will need to justify when playing the card.
Your thoughts on the future of gamification..
Gametize: What are some trends that you predict, and/or would like to see in the gamification industry?
Expert: I feel Gamification is here to stay. More and more companies and industries will start using gamification. My only hope is that organizations don’t limit themselves to points and leaderboards. It’s a shallow way of looking at Gamification and poses a potential hindrance to learners in achieving their full potential.
Gametize: What’s on your gamification wishlist?
Expert: Might sound ironic, but I don’t have a personal wishlist. I’d like to believe that I am a person who is driven by what I want to do, so if I want to do something, it could be anything such as exercising regularly, taking breaks from screen-usage, I would rather do that–without having to depend on external factors of accountability buddies on a tracker.
Gametize: What about Gametize – what would you love to see from us to make your game creation experience even better?
Expert: My Wishlist can be long! So are you ready? Peer reviews, fluidity in the way the platform looks, so be able to move the cards (challenge and flashcards) around, have flip cards, be able to restrict people to view only a certain number of flip cards, journey mapping, language translation.
Gametize: Before we go, any words of wisdom for people starting out in gamification or even those who already are familiar with gamification?
Expert: Gamification is a journey and like every journey, the experiences that you will encounter will be different. You might also face resistance. But if you believe in your design, the chances are that you will be able to influence others to see the merits of your design.
About FocusU
FocusU Engage is one of India’s foremost names in the field of Learning and Engagement. Since 2010, FocusU has been on a mission to transform corporate training in India. The inspiration behind FocusU is a line from Walt Disney that says “Laughter is no enemy to learning”.
Today, 600+ customers across India swear by the FocusU experience when it comes to workshops around Leadership, Innovation, Team Dynamics, Team Engagement and HR Solutions. With offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Mauritius, FocusU today has amongst the largest pool of Facilitators with International experience in the Experiential learning methodology. We run around 600 experiential workshops (physical and virtual) every year that touch the lives of 40000 people on an average.
To learn more about FocusU Engage, drop in at: www.focusu.com