For the Win - Likewise Book Reviews

"A great commentary on workers rights and workers unions. Super nerdy, but an intriguing way to introduce young adults to the concepts of fighting for fair treatment of workers. "

"This book is a page-turner and a half. "

"This book contradicts itself.<br/><br/><b>Contradiction 1:</b> The authors repeatedly say that intrinsic rewards are more important than extrinsic ones and that the out-of-the-box method of gamifying things by adding points, badges, and leaderboards (PBLs) will not build deeper engagement with your product. Yet the overwhelming majority of examples they provide are examples of PBLs and other extrinsic rewards. When mentioning how gamification can fulfill the basic sources of intrinsic motivation outlined by Self-Determination Theory, they emphasize the extrinsic motivators of points (providing feedback on competence) and badges (promoting social relatedness).<br/><br/><b>Contradiction 2:</b> They limit the context of gamification to behaviors that can be modeled through a set of algorithms (p. 47), seeming to presume that gamification must be automated, not moderated. “Gamification runs on software algorithms” (p. 90). Yet, later they write that “gamification doesn’t require technology, any more than games do” (p. 100).<br/><br/><b>Contradiction 3:</b> The authors conclude a chapter by advising that gamification be implemented in a socially beneficial way (p. 68) and then shortly thereafter they write “no one said that badges need to be socially responsible” (p. 74).<br/><br/>They use unconventional terminology arbitrarily, for example calling a persona "the avatar of a typical player" (p. 93) and then proceeding to describe this "avatar" with all the traits of a typical usability persona.<br/><br/>They view gamification as a structured process and assume that applying its principles to unstructured play, such as a picnic, would be counterproductive (p. 44). I’m inclined to disagree with this; if you can find people’s motivations for attending a picnic, you can apply basic psychological principles (such as those that make some games fun) to the picnic to help them enjoy it more. For example, if many people go to show off their cooking skills to their neighbors, you could initiate a best-dessert competition. <br/><br/>Some slightly more useful things this book says are:<br/><spoiler><br/>*They define gamification as “the use of game elements and game-design techniques in non-game contexts” (p. 26)<br/>*“Your players aren’t there to escape from your product into a fantasy world; they are there to engage more deeply with your product or business or objective” (p. 29)<br/>*They define a game as voluntary choices with feedback occurring in a Huizingan <i>magic circle</i> (p. 38-9).<br/>*Game elements fall into three categories: dynamics (high level concepts), mechanics (things that lead to the dynamics), and components (the in-game manifestations of these) (p. 80).<br/>*It’s necessary to determine business objectives, target behaviors, target users, and activity cycles before deciding upon the concrete mechanics of the gamification (86).<br/>*If gamification is tied to real-world salaries, it is no longer voluntary, and thus no longer a game (p. 115).<br/></spoiler>"