By Andrew P. McCoy and Fred Sargent
Published On April 15, 2023
Changing the Training Game: Learn wireless lighting control systems through gamification
In case readers don’t know, gamification transports elements of game-playing—like scoring points and comparative ranking—into other areas of human endeavor.
In case readers don’t know, gamification transports elements of game-playing—like scoring points and comparative ranking—into other areas of human endeavor.
The term “gamification” was coined in the 21st century and has rapidly spread, but it represents a basic understanding of human behavior that was alive and well in the early 20th century, long before the introduction of the digital technology that powers today’s notion of it. Let us explain.
What’s gamification?
In 1896, the Sperry & Hutchinson Co. originated “S&H Green Stamps,” which retailers handed to their customers based on their purchases. Customers dutifully pasted their Green Stamps into pocket-size booklets and, when finished, exchanged them for items listed in a catalog showing the number of stamps required to redeem them. Indeed, S&H Green Stamps were reportedly so popular in the 1960s that, in some years, more of them were issued than U.S. postage stamps.
S&H Green Stamps popularly introduced a sort of “game” for retail customers. If you find any, you can still redeem them today.
In the meantime, the Boy Scouts of America introduced “merit badges,” complete with a broad sash to recognize individual achievement. Continuing today, Boy Scout merit badges cover 135 categories of learning experiences. The Girl Scouts have also employed badges to display achievements and experiences. Analogously, one of the fundamental components of gamification for occupational training today is the awarding of “badges.”
So, too, in gamification, there is routinely a “leaderboard” displaying achievement levels and progress bars. Gamification crops up in many industries and forms, including “rewards” for customers’ purchases, the coded score a cashier immediately receives for the speed of a checkout or badges awarded on a smart watch for exercising.
What caught our attention recently was the extraordinary way that one leading company has, in a short number of months, created a great deal of excitement by applying gamification to a training program on wireless lighting controls for electrical contractors.