Governmental Service Gamification

Abstract

The introduction of gamification of governmental services is a topic of interest to policy makers and gamification researchers and practitioners alike. Nonetheless, governmental gamification still remains an understudied area, despite the practical governmental gamification initiatives already taking place, facing increased implementation risks from the lack of guiding implementation principles. Such risks and lack of unified guidelines for governmental gamification necessitates the examination of governmental gamification from the perspective of existing knowledge to synthesize key knowledge fathered on its implementation. This article examines existing research in order to provide guidelines for applying gamification in government services. By using a combination of research on gamification in civic engagement and the Gamified Service Framework of Klapztein and Cipolla, the article creates a basic roadmap for recognizing factors that need to be considered when applying gamification techniques and methods in government services and the public sector in general.

Gamification and Interdisciplinary Scientific Research: Scientific Text Mining

“…The search has been carried out based on the materials published from 2010 to 2019. On the whole, our results have confirmed the conclusions of the previous research that scientific articles on gamification have appeared in the scientific discourse since 2010 [Hamari, et al, 2014;Vanolo A., 2018;Harviainen J. T., Hassan L., 2019;Koivisto, J, Hamari, J., 2019]. The search results for the period previous to 2013 are characterized by single publications in both Russian and World scientific spaces and disaffect the overall view.…”

Participation, for Whom? The Potential of Gamified Participatory Artefacts in Uncovering Power Relations within Urban Renewal Projects

“…The fun and psychological fulfilment individuals derive from gamified participatory artefacts stimulates civic engagement [2,6,8]. Even though a serious activity may demand significant involvement, the gaming aspect triggers positivity from an individual, thus realizing increased engagement that further leads to action.…”

“…According to Gaventa and Cornwall [1], a 'good' participatory planning process should (1) act as a platform for raising awareness on specific topics, knowledge redistribution on said topics and increasing consciousness among actors involved in urban renewal projects and should (2) argue extensively for the connection between knowledge and power and the maintenance of the strategic structural relationships between power and the knowledge monopolies. Gaventa and Cornwall [1] stress that the concepts of knowledge, action and consciousness are intertwined in any successful participatory process, which means successful from the perspective of politics.…”

“…Games are increasingly put forward as tools to support such 'good' participatory planning processes as they arouse interest, motivation, and engagement by connecting personal attributes with real-world scenarios making the voices of 'others' heard in the planning process [2]. City governments started adopting serious gaming-games designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment-as a strategy to increase the quality and functionality of participatory planning processes ever since the 1950s [3][4][5].…”

“…Through devoted immersion, games provide individuals with required aspects of meeting objectives as set out in government goals and include their voice and everyday experiences of space in the planning discourse. According to the theoretical analysis in line with other related definitions, Harviainen and Hassan [2] describe games as environments that make appropriate use of motivational factors that often add value within the planning process. Kapp [6] refers to games as systems 'in which players engage in an abstract challenge, defined by rules, interactivity, and feedback, that results in a quantifiable outcome often eliciting an emotional reaction' while he considers that 'gamification is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game-thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems'.…”