…Extrinsic motivation isn’t fun, that’s Pavlov…
Elísabet Grétarsdóttir, at SIME2011 explaining that the real Fun is in intrinsic motivation

My brain is Twitter not Facebook

The neuroscientific reasons for keeping things simple and easy. By my favorite neurologist Almira Osmanovic-Thunstrom.

So, what can be turned into a game?

If the activity can be learned

If the player can be measured

If the feedback can be delivered in a timely fashion

Daniel Cook

Game mechanics; 3 mobile fitness apps that get it right

This article is 90% failure and 10% accidental.

There are a lot of game mechanics to choose from: rewards, quests, status, levels, the list goes on and on

None of these are game mechanics.

The article does touch on a real game mechanic however. Social Proof, basically social recognition tied to achieving something ingame. In this case cheers from facebook friends when you’re out running with NIKE+.

The reason why I wanted to share this article is because the guys at Bigdoor are selling snake oil, and the only example of real gamifiction in the article is the app that doesn’t claim to based on game mechanics by Nike.

How the world turns.

The hardest part of software design is neither software, nor design—but culture.

Aza Raskin (via jayrobinson)

The same is true in games. But not gamification, since gamification relies on cognitive functions and not psychological.

If you’re in Sweden or the north of Europe and interested in Gamification I’ll be speaking at Social Business Conference 2 in early spring.