Gamification Mechanic Monday: Inside a quest
I have been working on designing a quest for managers to be ready for new starters. The quest starts with the question: “Are you ready for your new starter?” and then a quest invitation “Press start to find out if you are ready.” The manager can opt in or not, so voluntary participation, because some will know the process so well they may find taking a quest unnecessary, but others will welcome the check for re-assurance or to assist them with the process. We are tapping into their curiosity and at the same their confidence of having done it right.
The quest targets a very specific problem, namely not every manager will hire every month and may forget essential steps, which have knock on effects on practical items not arriving on time and a lot of fumbling around for the new employee on day or week 1.
The aim of the quest is to go from red progress to green progress and to have the endorsement badge of “New starter ready” with the message you are ready to welcome your new employee. I used the 3-2-1 go analogy because it fitted the number of steps in the process, so the first 3 items to complete are red, the 2 following orange and the final step is green. The progress bar is shown on every screen, so at any given time the manager also has a visual enforcer with the traffic light analogy, which empowers them to choose actions and also encourages them forward all in one place. Each progression step includes a number of actions and at the end a positive message to keep engaged in the process, some are badges for initial mile-stones and others simple high fives.
In fact the gamification mechanics used are as follows: quest, progress bar, visual enforcement, badges, and high fives. The ultimate outcome is to have managers prepare well, so the new starter doesn’t have to wait for essential equipment or in the first few days feels like they took the organisation by surprise with them showing up.
What else have you seen inside quests that worked for the users?
