Game Thinking: An Epic Win for Associations

I hear you. “Games, yes! It’s about time we looked at games.”

And I hear you too. “Games? You can’t be serious. Not at my association.”

Full disclosure, I’m not a gamer, so this is all a bit foreign to me too. I first started paying attention to games two years ago at a TEDx conference where I heard an IBM game designer talk about using games for training and education. Ever since I’ve been intrigued by the idea that game thinking can help associations deliver a better experience.

I’m not the only one. Game dynamics was the topic of last week’s #assnchat.

It’s tempting to dismiss any consideration of games by saying members are serious professionals and wouldn’t go for those shenanigans, but they do.

Games are the most downloaded apps. 72% of households play computer or video games. The average gamer is 37 years old. 42% of gamers are women. 55% of gamers play on their phone or hand-held device.

Here’s what I’m wondering: how can we leverage the principles of game design to make the membership experience or professional development journey more meaningful, or encourage online community participation?

Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, says, “All games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation.” Associations offer voluntary participation and rules, but do we identify membership goals and provide feedback?

In her presentation, Beyond Gamification: 7 Core Concepts for Creating Compelling Products, Amy Jo Kim, an online community and social game designer, identifies core concepts of game thinking that can be applied to any experience.

Players and motivations

First, Kim says, “Know your players – design for their personal and social needs.” We design programs for our members’ professional needs, but are we ignoring their personal and social needs and behaviors?

Game designers “embrace intrinsic motivators, like power, autonomy and belonging.” Daniel Pink would add mastery and purpose to that list. Intrinsic motivators lead to much deeper engagement than extrinsic motivators, like badges, points, titles and levels. Extrinsic motivators push participants to complete tasks, but they’re not enough to ensure lasting engagement. We need to build extrinsic and intrinsic motivators into the membership, online community and conference experiences.

Three stages of membership

Kim advises designing experiences for the “three key stages of the player life cycle — novice, regular and enthusiast. A good game takes a player on a journey.” How often do we think of membership or professional development as a journey?

She tells us what we already know, but maybe it’s time we look at a member’s experience through the games lens: “Novices needs onboarding – welcome, goals, progress and achievable rewards. Regulars need fresh content, activities and challenges. Enthusiasts need exclusivity, recognition and impact.”

The F words: flow, feedback and fun

Gamers have options: play alone or with others, with a group of four or four hundred, competitively or cooperatively. Do associations generally have one path (ladder) for involvement, or do we design experiences with multiple paths to participation – paths that leverage different personality styles?

Popular games have a low barrier to participation. You can get started quickly because they’re easy to learn. But, Kim says, “as players progress, increase the challenge and complexity.” We’re most engaged when we’re in flow — not bored, challenged just enough, but not so much we get frustrated and give up.

Games give players the opportunity to acquire, test and master skills. Kim suggests applying game mechanics by providing progressive goals, clear feedback and community awareness of a participant’s status or progress.

Most importantly, “build fun, pleasure and satisfaction into your core activity loop.” I once heard a new association president complain to his fellow leaders, “We’re not that fun anymore.” The year ahead was full of serious challenges, but he was determined to bring the fun back, and he did. 

What have you learned from playing games that you can apply to the membership, online community or conference experience?


Deirdre Reid, CAE is a freelance writer with very limited video game experience, but exceptional kakuro skills.