Honestly, just WTF is going on with the world today? Achievements in a mobile app for ordering coffee, like this is some sort of weird mobile game you play. Is this what we are looking forward to in our future?
Honestly, just WTF is going on with the world today? Achievements in a mobile app for ordering coffee, like this is some sort of weird mobile game you play. Is this what we are looking forward to in our future?
They do it because it works. Not only does it lead to more direct sales, but the app is scraping data that can be further used to generate sales, either to the user directly or sale of their data to third parties. And people who don’t like their habits being gamified will simply not install the app.
How many people are going to say “I refuse to go to Dunkin because they went too far gamifying their rewards program in their shitty app I never use”? Probably close to zero. So, the cost of doing it is whatever they pay their offshore contractors, who probably can’t afford to come visit the US, much less go to Dunkin for awful coffee every day.
It’s the gamification of everything. I work in education; and because the teacher shortage is so “emergency hires” are trained on child care through one hour online lessons that have game like elements to keep them engaged. I’m happy to have anyone helping in the schools at this point but it takes years of higher education to really be effective in education. (not saying everyone) But the online trainings are just their so the schools can shift liability. A one hour gaming session on recognizing self harm in children isn’t enough! But this is what our culture has come down to. Rewards programs, swipe dating, and gig work. It’s all mini games but the prize is a big middle finger.