When it comes to learning, organizations are dealing with a series of problems like driving a learning culture, improving learning effectiveness, dealing with the low attention span of employees. In this context, companies are turning to different tools, one of which is gamified learning, which has been linked with improved employee engagement. According to a research by Pluralsight, around 90% of organizations are implementing gamification in India and close to 80% find gamification relevant and unique. However, a report suggests that 80% of the gamified applications will fail to meet business objectives.

A simple reason for this discrepancy is that while designing a gamified learning program, organization fail to identify key business problems they are looking to solve. Additionally, before implementing gamification as a solution one should understand the challenges and implications attached to it. And these challenges can vary from organization to organization.

Here are the key challenges you should be cognizant about before implementing a gamified learning program:

Technology Challenges: Not all gamified learning modules contribute to learning as much as they ought to, and people using them feel they haven’t learned much out of them. A gamification system must function smoothly, but this is not always the case – owing to the technical glitches.  The level of complexity involved in both designing and managing the entire gamification system is immense. There needs to be attention paid to the user experience and modules must be frequently tested before they are made live. Otherwise, roadblocks hinder usage and can cause the opposite effect towards learning.

Vendor Challenges: When vendors have a high turnaround time for fixing issues that arise out of gamified learning modules, companies or individuals become less inclined to use these tools. Additionally, issues related to costs have been a concern especially in the context of designing games that need to be tailored to meet specific learner purposes. Many challenges related to vendors are rooted in finding a reliable, committed and a trustworthy vendor.

People Challenges: Some employees may be disinterested in gamification-based learning. Attitudes and perceptions are never easy to change and sometimes employees see new approaches to learning as infective. Alternately, people also see gamification as a tool for entertainment and relaxation and may not adapt to using it for learning. There are also cases where senior employees find it difficult to understand gamification as they are not used to these learning mechanisms. 

Nevertheless, gamification has emerged as a learning tool that can deal with various challenges like low-attention span, engagement, motivation and collaboration with other learners and instructors. In the current scenario, the scope of gamification has widened and it is proactively being utilized for other functions like hiring and onboarding.