Drop and give me 20...points!

In the era of smartphones, we’re all more likely to do anything if we can get points for it. We’d race to wash the dishes, take out the trash, or any other menial task if a scoreboard on Facebook boasted that we were #1 at it.

We’re still unlikely to get online credit for doing our chores, but lately I’ve seen a flurry of fitness apps that let you track your workout and share it on social media, like RunKeeper. We all know exercise is good for our health, but if that isn’t motivation enough apps like RunKeeper let us tell all of our friends just how good we are at working out. Personally, I joined Fitocracy, a social network that lets me log my workouts and gives me points for each exercise I do. One hour of yoga means more than just relaxation and flexibility on Fitocracy—it means 188 points! Since it’s a social network, other users can follow you and gets updates on just how many pounds you’re lifting these days.

When I settled into my spinning bike for a forty minute class last week gleefully thinking about how many points I’d get from the workout, I had an epiphany. Those catchphrase-coining experts at the ESOMAR conference were right! When a task is somehow made more fun, we put much more thought into it. I enjoy working out, but logging workouts is another story. I never did it before I began receiving points for it. Fitocracy is the perfect example of gamification, and researchers who depend on participants keeping diaries of any sort should adopt this playful approach.

Exercise in itself is gratifying, but exercise that makes you climb up a leaderboard is even better. What activity would you do more often if you got points for it?

Sully Moreno, Strategy Intern Spring 2012