Game mechanics work, even in the most unlikely places. I’ve written about using game mechanics in software to incent participation and encourage and align positive behaviors. I was reminded of this fact at my son’s school Science Fair last week. The school wisely gave us a “Science Fair” Passport as we walked in. The passport listed all the science projects next to the student’s name and symbol, with a blank space for us to collect a matching stamp from each. Instead of randomly wandering around the different project displays, I was amazingly motivated to get all those stamps on my passport, double checking before moving from room to room to be sure I had collected all the stamps in that room.
Contrast this experience with the “Art to Wear” fair I went to a few days later. Much like the science fair, there were many rooms with many exhibitors, talented artists showing their wares. We were given a list of the exhibitors at the entrance but that didn’t motivate me the same way. I worked my way through the various rooms and the crowds, but it was tiring, and I am sure I missed seeing many of the exhibitors.
I am not a gamer. I don’t play board games, facebook games or console games, unless I am talked into it by my kids. So why did the Science Fair Passport work? Perhaps a simple incentive like stamps on a paper provides some low-overhead organizing principle – one less thing to think about. But I did not feel I had to go in order, I was just motivated to collect them all. I should note too that there was no prize, nothing to “win” – it was just to collect the stamps. But it made it easier and more fun for me to perform the desired behavior – visit all the science fair posters.
