Fun is the Future: Mastering Gamification

Gabe Zichermann, author of Game-Based Marketing and chair of the Gamification Workshops and Summit, gave this Google Tech Talk in 2010. He argues that gamification is fundamentally rewriting the rules of engagement for product design and marketing.

From Foursquare to Farmville and from Nike to the Navy, game mechanics such as points, badges, levels, challenges, rewards and leaderboards are being used more and more. Zichermann looks at what this means for traditional marketing and UI/UX, and how to use the trend in an engagement strategy.

The discussion also covers how to measure success, and why he expects every company to have a Chief Engagement Officer within a few years. Many of the mechanics he names, including achievements, levels and leaderboards, are documented as patterns in the UI-Patterns.com library.