Smart Gamification, or Gamification 2.0, is a concept promoted by Amy Jo Kim, CEO of Shufflebrain.
In this talk she discusses how to enhance gamification beyond the simple task-and-reward system by thinking more in terms of a comprehensive experience, where players are ‘taken on a journey’. This new form of gamification is explained through seven steps, called the ‘seven core concepts for smart gamification’. Interestingly, there is still a strong background from psychology and behaviourism, which seem to underlie the discourses around gamification (either, so to say, 1.0 or 2.0). Positive emotions can be channelled into a predictable (and addictive) system, and this allegedly is what makes, in Kim’s words, good game design. Another interesting premise is that not being challenged equates to boredom, rather than, for example, freedom to experiment. The Theory of Flow seems to be one of the key models of the promoters of gamification. This, probably not surprisingly, is still used to create platforms where to attract customers. How could we think about gamification outside of these models of user experience and for reasons which are not, strictly speaking, selling something to someone else?