Green Gamification

Device with a Twist

At my company’s new year kick-off everyone got a present which at first sight does not have much in common with our daily work: Creating rich intranets based on SharePoint. It might be even seen as a pure geek gadget: a DIN A4 sized solar panel and a rechargeable battery. The solar panel is used to charge the battery. And the battery then can be used to charge for example your mobile phone.
But now comes the twist. Changers, the company behind it, has created an online community which allows you to upload your CO2 savings by charging your devices with solar energy. And this community provides multiple incentives to regularly use your device. You can
  1. Track how much CO2 you have saved by charging your mobile devices with solar energy.
  2. Track how many watt-hours of energy you have created.
  3. Earn badges by achieving certain energy saving levels
  4. Start a green energy competition with your peers, e.g. colleagues or friends.
  5. Earn credits and redeem those at partner shops.
  6. Post about your achievements into your social networks.
  7. and more
All of the above incentives are typical for gamification. By making the path to the environmental objective use green energy more enjoyable the founders of Changers bait you into this direction.

Drive Engagement

A similar strategy is used by many online communities and social networks. They aim for an increase in user numbers as well as a high engagement rate of existing users. The Microsoft Developer Network for example has an extensive Recognition System which covers many areas of community interactions. From points , over bronze, silver and gold medals to achievements you there are many ways to reward you. The overall objective: User engagement.
Something comparable can be achieved with SharePoint 2013’s Reputation System. The Reputation System allows to reward users for their contribution to a community. And consequently the engagement and the quality of the SharePoint community sites should increase. But before you begin, you should definitely check the default settings which activities are rewarded. Because otherwise you might end-up with unwanted user behavior of due to wrong incentives.

Heavy Cloudy with a Chance of…

Looking out of my window I realize that the sun is still hiding somewhere behind clouds and the weather forecast for the next days is not much better. I am pretty much on the verge in building my green energy credit empire. So let’s hope for sunny days.

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