The term “gamification” refers to the technique of adding gameplay elements to something that’s not actually a game. Gamification is built-in to video games, of course, so you wouldn’t say that a video game is “gamified,” because it already is by nature. But when gaming elements are added somewhere unexpected – like to a bank’s website, an amusement park or any non-gaming context — the term “gamification” applies.
What’s the point of gamification? To capture the attention of visitors by getting them to play and promising awards for completing specific tasks. A visitor who may have not clicked to a different page of your website or signed up for your newsletter could be encouraged to if they’ll get points of some kind. Of course, once they take that action, it’s up to you to have compelling content that will hold their interest, but that’s for another blog post.
