Gartner: Gamification will ... gamify 50 percent of companies by 2015

Boy, there sure are a lot of folks looking at 2015 already, huh? The hype train known as the gamification movement (thanks, Foursquare) has officially left the station now that Gartner, technology research and advisory company, foresees the game layer blanketing at least 50 percent of companies in just four years.

Gartner analysts also see gamification becoming as important to companies' marketing departments as Facebook, Twitter, eBay or Amazon. Some might see the idea of the game layer as over-incentivizing human behavior or replacing feelings of inspiration and ambition with an overwhelming carrot-on-the-stick mentality.

Who knows, they could be right, but it's comforting at least that non-game environments such as innovation, marketing, training, employee performance, health and social change [will be affected]," said Brian Burke, an analyst at Gartner. The firm was even so kind as to provide tips for developers to drive engagement through gamification.

    Gartner identified four principal means of driving engagement using gamification:

    1. Accelerated feedback cycles. In the real world, feedback loops are slow (e.g., annual performance appraisals) with long periods between milestones. Gamification increases the velocity of feedback loops to maintain engagement.

    2. Clear goals and rules of play. In the real world, where goals are fuzzy and rules selectively applied, gamification provides clear goals and well-defined rules of play to ensure players feel empowered to achieve goals.

    3. A compelling narrative. While real-world activities are rarely compelling, gamification builds a narrative that engages players to participate and achieve the goals of the activity.

    4. Tasks that are challenging but achievable. While there is no shortage of challenges in the real world, they tend to be large and long-term. Gamification provides many short-term, achievable goals to maintain engagement.

Well folks, this is it. These people are serious about changing the way in which you live, for better or worse. Whether you gel with the idea of your interactions with not only brands, but services and ultimately people being, well, gamified is worth some thought. Because, believe it or not, the game layer is already here (Zynga and RewardVille, no?) and--if Gartner's right--there's plenty more of it around the corner.

[Via VentureBeat]

[Image Credit: VentureBeat]

Are you a fan of gamification already with apps like Foursquare and SCVNGR? Where do you see the game layer going, and does that excite or worry you?