Gamification

"Gamification" is apparently the term used to describe applying game elements to non-game settings. Natasha Singer's piece for the New York Times says:

Companies like Recyclebank, for example, use game incentives, like points and rewards, to prompt consumers to perform eco-friendly activities. Other businesses offer awards like virtual badges to induce their employees to embrace corporate goals and increase productivity. Meanwhile, a number of well-known retailers and brands, including Samsung and Warner Brothers, are employing point reward systems as a way to engage customers more deeply.

[links omitted]

It's all about games, so it must be harmless, right? Well, this is corporate America we're talking about. What do you think?

“Why not call it a new kind of analytics?” says Professor [Ian] Bogost, a founding partner at Persuasive Games, a firm that designs video games for education and activism. “Companies could say, ‘Well, we are offering you a new program in which we watch your every move and make decisions about our advertising based on the things we see you do.’ ”

And as for in-house use?

“We used to provide incentives to employees by means of compensation and benefits,” like raises and pensions, he says. “This seems to be a move to use these no-cost incentives.”

Now, it needs to be noted that Prof. Bogost is the only critic of gamification cited in the article. Still, when was the last time you heard corporations giving away stuff they couldn't afford, or acting in your best interests rather than theirs?

Gamification is all about playing games with the consumer, or maybe the employee. That was pretty obvious to me, but judging by the number of people who have responded to the efforts cited in the article, what's obvious to me isn't obvious to a lot of others.