The past few years I have become fascinated by video game psychology. What makes video games so compelling, and how can we apply that addictive concentration to more practical uses? If we can figure out how to make work and education as fun as video games, it would greatly accelerate our learning and improve our dedication towards progress.
Video games are already educational, although in unintended ways. When we were little, was there any need to count above 100? Not really. Math isn't too useful to a kid outside counting toys and pennies. But most video games are based on numbers. My little 5 year old is rapidly learning to read and identify numbers in the thousands, why? Video games. Buying items with game credit, scores, hit points... all teach numbers. He is also very focused on learning to read, and I have no doubt video games are part of his motivation.
A major factor of video game psychology is motivating people on a long-term basis. What makes people play World of Warcraft or Call of Duty so religiously year-after-year? A sense of progress. Levelling up, completing quests, unlocking more quests, gaining a range of customized equipment, badges, backgrounds and other benefits. And all of this makes the gamer feel pride & prestige. Feels good to have badges, no matter what they are. Some achievements are extremely difficult, making them even more prestigious.
Facebook has made a game out of social interaction, and people are addicted to it. The corporate world has been chasing the holy grail of teamwork and productivity, a corporate social network. But they fail to focus on what makes workers happy. A happy worker needs to feel like they are a valued part of the team. They want clear defined metrics so they know how to succeed. And they want to feel a sense of progress. I think they if they looked more closely at video game psychology, they could find their motivation. Give employees "experience points," define levels and benefits of each level. Give badges of achievement and in-depth metrics that show they are progressing. In many video games, they show stats of all different types making it hard to say who "won." Did you win by having the most experience points? The most achievements? Being part of the team who completed their goals? And did everybody have a chance to see the stats?
My current employer has a rough grasp of this concept. We have several profile pages and a forum to socially interact. They give out badges in the form of buttons. And I definitely saw a lot of motivation amongst coworkers to acquire those badges. And I'm sure it will continue to evolve in decades to come.
In the future, I imagine school as massive interactive games designed to teach a wide range of skills. But let's not call it "educational" as that implies tedious work. This game would require math, science, history, etiquette, grammar and a wide myriad of educational fields. The final levels of the game would be the tests. Metrics would be gathered real-time, and the game would intelligently alter it's mechanics to focus on areas of improvement. Kids would be so addicted to their education you'd have to tear them away from it. Parents would be yelling at their kids "Quit doing your homework all day!" And by graduation, there would be detailed stats on their grades and skill levels which could then be used in the job career... continuing the game.
A resume would show scores and achievements in various areas. And clans would form among coworkers that got along well.
I'm a level 80 project manager, level 50 customer service and level 15 in sales. My achievement badges I'm most proud of are in designing corporate wikis, leading major software upgrades and improving out-dated processes. Looking for a clan of focused geeks focused on changing the world.
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