Can You Hear Me Now

It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.

Mickey Mantle

I worked in high tech jobs for over 40 years, but I am not a high tech person. I don’t need to stay current with the latest and greatest gadgets and this has been especially true with cars. For many years my new car has been a 2012 Toyota Prius and my old car has been 2007 Toyota Corolla. Both have been highly reliable, low maintenance vehicles that always got me to where I needed to go.

They are also cars of another generation. Neither one has cameras, driving sensors, USB outlets, or touch screens and compared to today’s automobiles, they are dinosaurs — dented, scratched, and dated dinosaurs.

All that changed last week with the purchase of a practically new (only 6000 miles) 2023 Toyota Prius Prime. In case you aren’t familiar with the Prime, it’s a plug-in electric hybrid that’s fully electric for the first 40 to 50 miles before switching to hybrid electric/gas mode. Since 99.9 percent of our household driving is well under 40 miles a day, I now essentially own an EV.

After getting over the hump of figuring out all the unfamiliar buttons and gadgets, I quickly noticed how my driving habits were changing. For example, I set out on my first real trip and noticed that the EV range was 42 miles. As I drove, I watched how the Prime’s dashboard informed me of how my driving was affecting power consumption. The faster I accelerated, the more power I used and consequently the quicker the EV range decreased.

As a cost conscious engineer, my frugality kicked in and I started paying close attention to the relationship between my foot on the accelerator pedal, the dashboard’s power scale, and the EV range. This turned into a game where my goal was to stay in the green ECO zone in order to reduce the Prime’s electric consumption — all while driving safely, legally, and responsibly.

I was immediately rewarded with seeing the odometer miles go up much faster than the EV range miles fell. I would drive two, three, or four road miles and the EV range would only fall by one mile. It felt the same as when I squeeze several more blobs from an “empty” tube of toothpaste. In the case of my driving, I was similarly thrilled by how many extra miles I could eek out of the Prime’s battery. In the end, I finished my errand with far more electricity than expected.

Truth be told, I enjoy driving fast, but seeing how less speed and smoother accelerations become gratifying numbers on my car’s dashboard turns out to be a lot of fun, too. I may not be a traditional gamer, but I have a competitive streak and my EV game made me feel like a winner.

Gamification

Way back in 2017, I wrote Game On — The Gamification of the Contact Center for NoJitter. I explained how software vendors were adding gaming aspects to their customer care systems to help employees become more productive, improve teamwork, and have more fun on the job. Quoting the article:

The results of these competitions goes beyond simple badges. Agents no longer feel isolated from the rest of their team. Even those who aren’t participating in a challenge can take pleasure from the horse race. Plus, rather than having to wait for a supervisor’s feedback or an end-of-day/end-of-week report, Debbie, Claire, and the rest of the agents get instantaneous updates as to how well they are doing.

If these methodologies work to better the life of a contact center agent, why can’t they improve the lives of folks at home? Given the fact that smart technology is everywhere, I started thinking about other ways to add gaming into my daily life. Here are a few examples:

• My energy company knows the amounts of natural gas and electricity I use in my house. How about running friendly, anonymous competitions with my neighbors on who can be the most efficient? Every house receives daily leader board updates that show where each household ranks.
• I would love it if my refrigerator displayed how many times it was opened and how much energy was wasted by me standing at the open door deciding if I was hungry or not. Acknowledge me for thinking instead of mindless grazing.
• In addition to enticing me to drive more responsibly, my car could reward me by recharging at off-peak times and/or through the use of renewable energy sources.

Every one of the above would become a game that offered everything from digital badges discounts to cash rebates. I know that my behaviors would noticeably improve with positive recognition and expect that others will respond the same.

It’s important to note that gamifying life is not the same as the wagging finger of shame. This is a carrots without sticks approach of enabling positive behaviors and changes through fun. Shaming or belittling is not the point.

This is also not totally new. My Apple Watch already digitally rewards me when I meet calorie, exercise, and stand goals. It even allows me to compete with friends and family by creating challenges. Additionally, my old Prius provided rudimentary (i.e. manual) tools that allowed me to monitor my driving habits.

I am suggesting that we push this even further by adding gamification to all the digital-enhanced gadgets that are being integrated into our daily lives. And with the advent of powerful AI, these devices could offer timely suggestions when they recognize patterns that could use improvement. For instance, in addition to showing me my EV range, I would love it if my car displayed or spoke messages like, “You will improve your mileage by XX by setting the cruise control to YY. Would you like me to do that for you?”

I am sure that there are people who will call this The Nanny State and I get that they don’t want to be told how to run their lives. Personally, I don’t mind creative hints and suggestions, but if that’s not your style, turn off the gaming and let me win all the prizes.

Your Turn

If you made it this far and are on the same page as me, I would love to hear your suggestions. Better yet, if you are still working in industries that can make these things happen, take action. Adding games that put fun into positive change is a win for people and the world around us.

Thank you for reading.

These are not blocks of stone
freshly quarried
ready to be cut and hewn
waiting to be shaped eternal
these are not immovable objects suspended in place and time

These are lives
malleable and foregone to change

These are the faces of you and me
ephemeral spirits
forever in flux