While the concept of task-directed reward systems is far older than electronic games, the idea of “achievements” is rapidly becoming part of many social constructs. You’ll even see it on this website, in the next incarnation of my blog. Achievements are distinct from the “points” earned with frequent shopper cards by the following:
- Earned achievements are public, or shared with a select group, and afford some bragging rights. (For this reason, they’re most strongly associated with social networks or groups: think Scouts and Lions).
- The visible nature of achievements causes participants strive harder: if I can see that person X has an achievement that I don’t, I will work to gain it.
- Achievements relate to activity, rather than purchases. You cannot earn achievements by paying for them.Achievements abstract effort into “badges”, some of which can be quickly earned, and others that require significant amounts of work to gain. (The distribution of achievements has become a vital skill for game developers. Requiring too much activity to gain a reward – the notorious “grind” – results in participants giving up, while making achievements too easy to gain reduces their perceived value).
Games – most especially MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and casual networked games like Farmville – have used achievements to build community and earn billions of dollars. My modest proposal is to take that same activity and turn it into something useful: saving carbon emissions, rather than clicking on virtual cows.
Most people can’t consider their effect on the environment: it’s too complex, and far too overwhelming, for most of them to think about. Few even know where their electricity comes from, or how much they are using, short of the monthly statement they receive in the mail. But increasingly, smart monitoring systems are making fine-grained data from individual outlets available wirelessly. Retrofit every home in a small city or several neighborhoods with such devices, and you start to gain several interesting possibilities to make positive change:
- Imagine that each month your electricity bill contains not only a statement of your usage but also the average of your street or neighborhood, allowing you to understand where you personally stand in watts consumed. Do well, get a badge, or a discount.
- Further, imagine each neighborhood receives an overall rank based on the number of kilowatts used that month, with rewards given for being in the top 10 (that is, the fewest average watts used per house). Neighborhoods would compete to achieve the highest rank; as they joined the program, so would cities.
This concept can be extended to many areas. Health services in the US are using data from clients to inspire and motivate. The same could be done on a broad basis by distributing devices such as WiScales into homes, which measure weight and BMI wirelessly. Participation in community garden programs, having your pet neutered, driving fewer miles in your car: human beings have shown that if it can be measured and reported, we will compete over it. Doing so invisibly, making citizen’s everyday activities contribute data to a National Happiness Index that we could all take pride in, would result in a better world.
Until that happens, I encourage everyone to contribute what they can… and if you desire recognition for your achievements, maybe buy and display one of these more tongue-in-cheek merit badges, some of which are shown in the banner image above.