Gamification is more than just tech talk

by Mayank Agarwal, Co-Founder and CTO, Hubilo

Source: Hubilo. Agarwal.

Borne out of necessity rather than convenience, technology has transposed events to the virtual space to mitigate the risks that come with unpredictability. In doing so, organisations have discovered a virtual medium in which to express their creativity to connect people and deliver memorable experiences, albeit from the convenience of home.

This renaissance in event planning creativity has also resulted in more awareness of the impacts that event tech can have in a broader strategic sense beyond just the number of attendees and audience satisfaction. With the advent of event tech, organisations are beginning to harness the data that comes from tracking every click and chat on the event and distilling meaningful insights that drive revenue, demand generation, and brand growth while fighting disengagement.

Among the many solutions, gamification stands out as an ultimate fatigue buster, fundamentally addressing the problem that plagued virtual and hybrid event organisers for months – disengagement.

Since 2020, attendees reported that they were only engaged part of the time. In fact, research has showed that the majority of respondents had left a virtual event early.

To combat virtual fatigue, event creativity and gamification features must meet in the middle to boost attendee engagement and interest.

The most creative event organisers don’t just rely on event technology to engage audiences. They also meticulously plan out a range of challenges, from live quizzes and polls to scavenger hunts, selfies, caption contests, and more. They enable attendees to create teams, compete in fun challenges, earn points, and potentially win prizes.

Technology is a tool, not an end in itself

The central idea of gamification is the understanding of the attendees’ desire to compete and win. It works on the principle of reward and reinforcement, relying on the dopamine hit when an attendee climbs up the leaderboard or claims a reward.

More importantly, it encourages a deeper understanding of the intrinsic motivation of attendees, thereby ensuring they actively seek the behaviours and the engagement that the organisers intentionally designed.

This is where event tech is an advantage as organisers have deeper, more nuanced behavioural data that enables them to design better data-driven event experiences for the future. Only with a robust understanding of what truly engages the attendees can event organisers create the immersive technology that enhances the event experience with more authenticity and enjoyment.

There is much research work needed in the process to make a great gamified experience. Event organisers must understand the type of gamification that can improve the customer experience while achieving the goals and aligning with the overall tone of the event.

It is also important to make sure that gamification features and activities are relevant and engaging, not distracting, and the tech that is involved should fit the scale of the event, budget, and the ability of the team to manage and effectively utilise.

This is how technology will be the means to an outcome that truly satisfy both attendees and event organisers.

Reimagining the tech stack

While having a proper software and technology stack gets you good mileage to develop a range of gamification features and elements, the design thinking behind is what will differentiate the experience and contribute to its overall success.

Having user-centred methodologies anchoring these processes will allow event organisers to develop gamification strategies that truly help connect people and engaged them in unique and special ways.

The outcome also has a much longer runway when actions are driven by the attendees themselves who want to engage. Through photos and selfie contests, attendees can create user-generated content that allows event organisers to collect insights that could measure and track the success of the event.

Such gamification data will also help event organisers to innovate by running more tests to ensure that the right gamification tool is stuck with the audience. These practices in turn drive event ROI as the data insights set the engagement benchmarks for new and improved events.

Through gamification, event organisers can unlock a variety of gamified elements such as live stream, donating of prizes, incentives, and rewards on social media platforms that create channels for sponsorship and branding.

The opportunities and possibilities for gamification are endless but outcomes are only guaranteed with approaches that are carefully planned and thought through. A well-designed gamified experience focuses a lot on understanding the customer journey, which goes beyond just incorporating tech solutions.

There is a pressing need for event organisers to deliver unparalleled value to attendees in the world of virtual and hybrid. Hence, there is a push for many to start learning to keep the audience engaged through the gamified experience. Knowing how to integrate technology seamlessly in the designing of the user experience will be a potent force to curate an innovative, one-of-a-kind event experience.