Hello Reader! What’s up? Before starting this blog, let us ask you a question, have you ever heard the term Gamification in IoT before? Well, IoT stands for ‘Internet of Things.‘ Right now, you must be reading this blog on a device like your smartphone, tablet, Laptop, or any desktop computer connected with the internet.
The Internet of Things (IoT) means taking all the connectable devices in the world and connecting them to the internet. IoT is at the center point of the digital transformation revolution that is changing the shape of business, enterprise, and people’s lives. This transformation influences everything we manage and operate our homes to automating processes across nearly all industries. But wait a minute! What’s the connection between IoT and Gamification? aren’t these two poles apart concepts??
IoT and Gamification are two contrasting terms and belong to different leagues BUT surprisingly they have a lot of mutual connection and common interests. How? Carry on reading this blog till the end.
Gamification is the method of using game mechanics and game thinking in non-gaming contexts to engage users and solve problems. Gamification in IoT doesn’t restrict to the specific place or website but allows for integrating it with everyday life and associating it with habits thus building continued and genuine engagement.
Major Application of Gamification in IoT Products
The Internet of Things (IoT) is almost a new paradigm that is transforming our society and our life. IoT is the concept of intelligent sensors or IP-enabled devices, denoted as “smart objects” interacting with one another through an online connection. Gamification in IoT is not new, nor is it unique to IoT user experiences. Based on what we know of the highly interactive, responsive, and personalized nature of IoT products and services, gamification promises to be one of the most compelling IoT concepts to apply to eLearning environments, healthcare services, home appliances automation, smart water management system, transportation industry, and renewable energy.
How Gamification And IoT Works Together?
Mostly, gamification is used to push behavioral changes. Let’s say for example you desire to start exercising more and get into better shape. You can buy a Nike+ (activity tracker sports kit) that can track your workout performance & transmit the data to your Phone. Your Phone then gives you feedback on how well you are performing. You can also compete with your peers or friends on how many miles you run in a week and how many calories you have burned in total. In the starting, you run one kilometer a day. Then you go up to two kilometers a day and so on and all the progress (Progress Map) you are making is recorded for a year. At the end of the one-year duration, you will have enough data that reveal how things worked using gamification in IoT.
How Gamification Improves Customer Engagement?
It’s a proven fact that engaged customers are the primary ingredient of every business. An increase in technological trends guarantees exceptional customer experience. While many tools can help you achieve the task, gamification is something to be highly considered. Gamification lets you elevate customer engagement by introducing game-like features to brands or products. Using engagement patterns seen in games, gamification has improved customer experience and customer engagement across different industries. Gamification has the capabilities to make anything more engaging and fun. It pushes customers to tap into their competitive nature, using game elements to make tasks engaging and interactive.
How Can We Maximize Customer Engagement Using Gamification In Iot?
Encourage Real-Time Interactions:
Real-time interactions are appreciated using data- and location-driven insights from customer activities. This customer activity can be tracked and inspected in real-time with any IoT device’s sensor. Based on these real-time data, a gamified dynamic can be built to engage with customers through instant notifications, feedback, and rewards or scoring as responses to their behaviors.
Enrich Social Engagement:
Social engagement is key for enhancing customer experience. When we share our experiences, we are enjoying that sharing moment. So, if we can share our experience with any IoT device, we would be enjoying our use of that IoT device. For example, Fitbit encourages you to share all your challenges and achievements with your Fitbit, and you can even pose Fitbit challenges to your friends and see how each one is performing. This sharing also makes Fitbit, and the fun other people have with it, visible for customers that do not have one yet. Thus, social sharing is also a way to promote any IoT devices showing the engagement they create in current users (Social Proof).
Reward Customer Loyalty:
Finally, rewarding customer loyalty is a powerful way to maximize customer engagement. Any good CRM system rewards continued purchases or uses of the service. There are different types of rewards, ranging from discounts or special offers like Starbucks’ program. Customers are, to different extents, competitive by nature, and they like to earn rewards and recognitions for their actions and efforts.
CASE STUDY of CleAnweb Gamified Energy Disaggregation (ChArGED)
According to 2017 data collection, energy consumption in public buildings was 40% greater than that in domestic buildings, while only 30% of non-residential buildings are public. Apart from refurbishing & retrofitting older buildings to improve their energy efficiency, altering the consumption behavior of occupiers in public buildings is considered a pivotal factor that should be properly addressed, because “buildings don’t use energy, people do.” Moreover, employees in these buildings are mainly preoccupied with their daily job tasks and are generally averse to any loss to their individual comfort at work.
CleAnweb Gamified Energy Disaggregation (ChArGED) developed a gamified framework project that aims to change occupiers’ energy-consumption behaviors and decrease energy wastage in public buildings. By purchasing low-cost IoT devices (NFC/BLE), multi-channel smart meters, & smart plugs, they improve prior energy disaggregation mechanisms and identify energy wastages at the device, area, and end-user level. At the same time, they employ a serious game approach, accessible through a mobile app, to engage & motivate consumers to save energy. This game involves team competition with digital rewards and life simulation with the evolution of a virtual tree according to the accomplishment of team members in energy-saving or energy-awareness challenges.
Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5855919/
WRAPPING UP!
We have IoT smart devices everywhere, from our fitness tracking wearables to beacons in stores or to any other kind of sensors that we can interact with. Beacons, which are an intrinsic part of IoT, enable real-time and location-based interaction, making the process more involving. Since they are able to gather and analyze data, they can tailor the gamification-related matters (tasks, rewards, etc.) to boost customer engagement.
