9
reading time
Online events offer a unique opportunity to attend an event from anywhere in the world, without leaving home. However, this form also involves a lack of direct contact between the sender of the message and the recipient, which in a way takes away the opportunity to assess the degree of user involvement. It is this low level of activity that is one of the biggest concerns for online event organizers. This is where gamification comes to the rescue. Introducing gamification elements increases the motivation to actively write in the chat, complete the profile and interact with other participants, making virtual events vibrant, and allowing organizers to gain high engagement rates and satisfied participants.
Let's face it - from an attendee's perspective, online events are not as engaging as in-person events. Virtual users, especially those without profile pictures or descriptions, seem distant, what discourages others from seeking contact with them, while sending messages in general chat for some means lack of response. Networking from behind a screen does not seem natural for everyone. The problem of low engagement is sometimes caused by a lack of familiarity with the available functionalities of the platform and sometimes by the mere lack of motivation for virtual activity. So what can be done to increase participants' engagement?
Gamification is the use of mechanisms known from games in other seemingly unrelated areas. Elements of gamification can be found in areas such as recruitment, sales, marketing or education. Through mechanisms such as showing a progress bar, earning points or storytelling, gamification increases the user's involvement in the tasks, which can help raise their productivity and activity.
On the Gridaly platform, gamification has taken the form of competition between participants. It is based on the number of tasks to complete, which encourage users to try out the platform's functionalities and to network with each other. For completing each task, a participant gets a certain number of points, so, for example, for completing a profile with contact information you can get 5 points, while for initiating a video call with another participant as part of networking - 13 points. While at the event, each user can see not only their list of completed tasks and the number of points earned, but also progress bars and a continuously updated ranking of the most engaged participants. How does gamification increase participant engagement on the platform?
Psychology distinguishes between two types of motivation: internal and external motivation. Internal motivation is activated when the motivator is the activity itself, either because it is pleasurable, satisfying or it fulfills in a person a sense of connection with others. So in the case of online events, internal motivation for involvement can be rooted in the sincere pleasure of meeting new people or even belonging to a group.
External motivation, on the other hand, occurs when the motivator is any external factor, such as gaining a reward or avoiding punishment. At a virtual event, an external motivator might be the appreciation of others gained after an interesting statement in a chat room, networking with a person who may become an important contact, or writing down material in a folder that we will actually need at work.
By introducing scoring and competitive elements, gamification affects the external motivation of participants to engage in an event [1]. By offering satisfying rewards in the form of completing a progress bar or climbing up the leaderboard, gamification satisfies participants' psychological needs, such as the need for recognition, status or success. It also appeals to the right motivational elements because, surprisingly, not every type of reward motivates. Studies show that an extrinsic reward unrelated to a task can even negatively affect the level of task completion, however, a reward that directly relates to the activity one is doing influences greater satisfaction and better performance in the future [2]. The reward in the case of gamification on an event platform are points and a place on the podium - so it is directly related to competition with other participants, which, according to researchers, in certain situations is a more motivating factor than cooperation [3]. Competition in gamification is uniquely motivating due to its form, which is definitely closer to fun than direct competition.
In order to find appropriate ways to increase engagement, Gridaly's team conducted a detailed analysis of participant behavior based on data collected at events that had been hosted on the platform in the past. The analysis showed that participants were particularly active within specific platform functionalities and spaces, while they showed low activity in other areas. Such patterns may have resulted from a lack of awareness among participants about what the platform offers, and a lack of motivation to explore and try something new. There was not really a surprise here - after all, when confronted with the immensity of functionalities and options, a new user can be overwhelmed and overstimulated, causing them to lose interest and resources to explore new modalities. It was quite a challenge to solve this problem, however Swiss cheese, or more precisely, the Swiss Cheese Method, originated by Alan Lakein [4], came to the rescue.
The Swiss cheese method is a method used in psychology to increase motivation in accomplishment. It is a piecemeal approach to a given endeavor - instead of taking on the whole cheese at once, we make small holes that lead to the cheese eventually disappearing. Big goals are broken down, making the task seem easier and more exciting. Therefore, gamification on the platform has taken the form of 5 thematic paths: First Steps, Interaction with Others, Speakers, Partners, Profile.
These paths were further divided into smaller scoring tasks. For example, in the Profile path, a participant can earn 3 points for completing a biography, and 5 points for adding links to their social media channels. This way, the mission of completing a profile turns from a big goal, for which there is a lack of motivation, into a pleasant imitation of a game, where each step brings satisfying rewards.
Will the use of gamification at one's event result in the organizer having only engaged participants? This is not known, as there are many factors behind the level of engagement. However, we encourage you to experiment with gamification, combine it with other activities and functionalities, and most importantly, edit the content of tasks for the specifics and purpose of your event in such a way that the motivation of participants to engage is as high as possible.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}