CITT News

Gamification is an increasingly utilized method of building engagement and motivation across learning and workforce environments. This three-part series explores gamification in freight, policy, and workforce development and will help to further inform discussions for the International Urban Freight (I-NUF) Conference.

Gamification is a fast-growing field that employs elements of games to build engagement and motivation in the workforce and educational settings. Last month’s article in this three-part series explored the use of gamification in the supply chain industry, and how cash incentives and efficacy tracking have been integral elements of bringing about increased compliance and engagement. Rewards and tracking are however only a couple of examples of “gamification” elements that can be employed to build more engaged and motivated workforces. One 2018 research study posited that there are four types of gamers:

• Killers, who are competitive and points-driven;
• Achievers, who are action-oriented;
• Socializers, who are team-oriented; and
• Explorers, who are mission-oriented.

This article’s focus is on the use of gamification in public policy, which tends to rely more heavily on socializers and explorers due to their preference for group activity and interaction.

A unique element that gamification brings to the workforce is its ability to build and increase motivation. In Part One, we discussed the difficulties with maintaining motivation among industry workers. While many people think of motivation as a static factor or even a personality trait among individuals, in fact motivation can be adapted, honed, harnessed, and strengthened through targeted intervention and workplace adjustment. Basic psychological theories of motivation can help to increase drive and engagement with the work involved while also mitigating potential resistance. For example, a 2014 study by Oprescu, Jones, and Katsikitis describe how orienting any gamification process toward the individual can help increase feelings of self-efficacy and promote an internal locus of control, which is the ability to see yourself as an agent of change. When individuals have a strong internal locus of control, they become more empowered to make changes in their own behavior to improve their outcomes. In public policy efforts this often manifests as individuals making an effort to speak up in support of their community and voice their opinions.

Public policy has many moving parts and is impacted by constituents, policy makers, lawmakers, and contract workers who implement policy changes. As such, the ability to control a “workplace” environment through gamification efforts is not possible in the same way that it would be in more traditional workplace settings. However, lawmakers have experimented with including gamification elements into public policy efforts with surprising success. Hawaii’s State Government website underwent a major overhaul in recent years in an effort to “gamify” its web page. The website is organized into a number of app-like functions where users can click on the department that they are seeking, which will direct them to the information that they need. The single-sign on layout allows the webpage to be a “one-stop-shop” for all things state-related for constituents, including vehicle registration, local events and elections, business registration, travel, and much more. The webpage has won multiple awards in recent years for its user-friendly layout and ability to engage residents and limit confusion and compliance issues.

Often, public policy work involves seeking input and feedback directly from constituents. This is especially true when considering urban development. Getting a diverse set of constituent feedback that ensures community needs are being met through mindful city planning is often a challenge for policy makers. In response to these challenges, city planners have begun experimenting with gamification models that allow constituents to directly engage with urban development problems. Community Planit, a gamification platform developed by Emerson College, has been used in cities across the U.S. and internationally to address this exact problem. The platform allows users to address local issues such as youth unemployment, sustainability, and carbon emissions. Community Planit incorporates several elements of gamification, including the use of coins that users can earn by completing “challenges” that involve learning more about the issues being addressed in the community -appealing to “explorer” gamers. Users can then give coins to each other for comments and ideas that they like, endorse platforms that may be exchanged for real money for “winning” ideas, and promote most popular comments and issues. The goal of the game is for the community to come together and agree upon a solution for the problem at hand through collaboration and communication, which may be most appealing to “socializer” gamers.

Public policy plays an intrinsic role in day-to-day life, yet residents are often woefully under-informed about and lack opportunities to provide their own feedback on policy decisions. Gamification platforms offer a unique way to build engagement with communities and receive direct feedback on areas of need, growth, and development within neighborhoods and cities. Models like the Community Planit can create opportunities for constituents to get more directly involved in the changes that their cities may be experiencing, while platforms like Hawaii.gov incentivizes constituent compliance and facilitates residents’ efforts at self-development through things like business registration, access to public services, and more. Combining elements of both models may help increase constituent engagement. This could include offering coins or incentives for engagement on government platforms, creating spaces for more organic public comment on city planning proposals, and offering incentives for increased engagement, which may bring in more of the “killers” and “achievers” who are not always part of public policy discussions. These efforts would bring in multiple techniques used within gamification like points and teamwork which may help increase constituent interest and work towards more equitable city planning models.