Volkswagen has found an ingenious way of getting people to change their way of doing things: with fun! The theory behind this method is that if you make something fun, then people will try it.
In a subway in Stockholm, Sweden, a staircase was transformed into a musical keyboard. A team of people set the system up overnight. Each step had a trigger, so that when someone stepped on each of the stairs, a piano note would play.
The step was then covered with a board that looked like piano keys. The premise behind all of this was to see if people would take the stairs instead of the escalator.
With video cameras set up, commuters opted for the fun way reach the top of the platform. It was recorded that 66 percent of the travelers took the stairs as opposed to the escalator.
There have been other experiments that Volkswagen has tried, and all with the same result: if something is fun, then people will try it, and their behavior will change. The theory is that even the most basic behaviors can be made more fun while improving effectiveness.
Kerry Patterson, the author of Influencer, says that changing a person’s behavior verbally rarely ever works. People need to find personal motivation to change. She writes, “instead of asking ‘How can I motivate people?’ we should be asking ‘How can I create the conditions within which people will motivate themselves?’”
Worcester Polytechnic Institute did a study on “Gamification,” which is, “ the act of changing human behavior by making activities more enjoyable by making them more game-like.” In other words, having fun. The whole idea is to motivate people to change for the better without any material rewards. Usually the fact that someone had fun playing a game is reward enough.
If there is a material reward, it is hard to tell if a person is doing the activity for fun or for the reward, which kind of negates Gamification. A successful Gamification is one where at least one person continues the encouraged behavior long after the Gamification is ended.
The experiments that Volkswagen used were some great examples of Gamifications. There was no material reward, just the fun of running up and down the musical stairs. And if that action encouraged a few people to use the stairs to get a healthier lifestyle, all the better.
So, engaging people emotionally and motivating them through games and having fun is quite possibly one of the most promising strategies to achieve behavioral change. The changes can be small, but in the long run, they can make a huge difference in people’s lives.
Have you played yet today?
-The Alternative Daily
Sources:
http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-042914-114258/unrestricted/Gamification1.pdf
http://johnstepper.com/2013/02/02/applying-the-fun-theory-at-work
