
When designing games, focus groups may playtest and offer feedback to designers. The goal, of course, is to create the most meaningful and fun experience possible for the end users: the players. But what about educational games?
What Kids Say About Games & Can We Listen? was the subject of a panel at South by Southwest Education (SXSW EDU) this March, moderated by Games for Change’s president Susanna Pollack. Panelists included iCivics’ Louise Dube’, middle school teacher Steve Isaacs, and myself—Matthew Farber, an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado.

Harnessing Student Voice… Read the rest
We don’t give our daughters pocket money. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is a concern about their understanding of the value of money. This is especially true for our eldest daughter who has dyscalculia. This means she struggles with, among other things, understanding magnitude.
This, added to the fact she is 11, means that money is a very abstract concept for her. As soon as she has it, it needs to be spent. This is not much different from any other kids if we are honest, but it is particularly bad for her … Read the rest
I have spoken a great deal about looking carefully at the needs of a project and exploring what the real issue is that you are trying to solve. The aim has been to get you to consider the Why of a solution more than that What or the How!
I wanted to give you one more way to consider this question, I just can’t stress how important it is for the gamification industry as a whole for us to get better at answering it!
When you are doing your research, you will discover and analyze the needs of … Read the rest
How to use Gamification to Influence Your Friends You can usually tell when someone is trying to persuade or influence you. However, I actually like the idea of being influenced or persuaded to do things that I want to do. Is this true for you? In general, it feels good to be included in interesting, … Continue reading How to use Gamification to Influence Your Friends
The post How to use Gamification to Influence Your Friends appeared first on Yu-kai Chou: Gamification & Behavioral Design.
Author: Erik Mechelen
Source: http://yukaichou.com/behavioral-design/how-to-use-gamification-to-influence-your-friends/… Read the rest
Note: this post was written by Jun Loayza. Ok… Juniper will nap from 9:30am to 10:30am. When she wakes up, I’ll feed her and then we’ll quickly jump in the car and drive to story time at 11:15am. After story time, we’ll head back home for lunch and then playtime until her next nap. During … Continue reading How to use Jedi mind tricks on your wife to get things done
The post How to use Jedi mind tricks on your wife to get things done appeared first on Yu-kai Chou: Gamification & Behavioral Design.
Author: Jun Loayza
Source: … Read the rest
I recently wrote a blog for Motivait, the poor people who employ me, all about the future of loyalty. It got me thinking about the nature of loyalty, something I have not really thought about since my 2015 talk at GWC.
Rather than looking into the future though, my thoughts turned to where do people’s loyalties lie. More specifically, are they loyal to your company or to your loyalty card?
If I look at two loyalty programs, you may see what I am getting at. The two are Nectar and Tesco.
Tesco Loyalty Card
The Tesco … Read the rest

“Progress isn’t guaranteed. It’s not inevitable. It’s something that has to be fought for.” —President Obama
On a chilly DC December day, a ragtag crowd of developers, researchers, artists and producers shuffled through secret service and made their way to the Indian Treaty Room to attend the first VR for Social Change Summit at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). They had one thing in common; all were specifically working to leverage VR and AR to advance social change.
The event was the definition of last minute, nearly an after-thought. At OSTP we were in the … Read the rest