What does gamification actually mean?

When people talk about gamification, they usually mean taking a piece of content and turning it into a game. A lot of us have sat through instructional classes with Jeopardy incorporated. That’s what many think of when they hear gamification: learning by playing.

Gamification certainly is that, but it’s also so much more. It has less to do with the games themselves and more to do with data. It’s generating data about our employees and using it for other purposes.

Today’s guest is Frank Nguyen, Vice President of Learning & Performance at Sears Holdings Corp. As Frank explains, when you picture gamification as a way to generate data, things start to get very interesting.