Each game has moments where all the action takes place and then there are moments where it looks as if nothing is happening and it allows for breathing space and reflection. I would say the analogy to life as a business owner is similar, sometimes you have a lot of things to juggle and then there are times where you sense it may all be a bit too slow for your liking but it allows you to catch up with the work that had less urgency or just simply a break.
In our gamification design, we also want to allow for this. Especially when creating designs that aim to achieve productivity or reaching of goals, we want deadline counters but at the same time we would also want to have reflection zones. Reflection zones can come in the form of analytics of your activity, benchmarks and also actively looking for a reflection on activity through learning points and what would you do differently next time requests.
Successful athletes would review competitions and analyse where they can gain and tweak actions for further improvement. In their situation, it may be the difference between winning a medal or being number 4, who works just as hard but goes home empty-handed. In my view, it should be part of all courses, projects and work in general to reflect what you are taking away as great working practices and what you will change and attempt in a different way next time. Incrementally setting yourself up for better levels of success.
What are you doing to build in breathing space in your gamification design?
