Gamification

The Client: Our client is a leader in the global marketplace and among the top 10 technology firms in the world. As one of the pioneers in India’s emergence as a software powerhouse, they have added real value to global organizations through domain expertise plus solutions with proven success in the field and world-class service. The Business Need: Faced with the need to enhance the quality and effectiveness of its employee training, the client decided to transform its learning content, delivered so far through the classroom and traditional e-learning mode, to high quality game-based learning. This

“gamification”

initiative

is

intended

to

achieve

several

objectives:

Offer a wider range of delivery modes for learning content that allows learners to choose their preferred mode and stay current in terms of knowledge and skills required in their jobs. Improve the “pull” factor in learning content. Better engage and motivate younger employees to develop new skills within their shorter attention spans. Enhance the ability of employees to take accurate, on-the-job decisions faster and in a risk-free virtual environment.

The client determined that its BFSI business, and in particular its Mortgage Processes business, should benefit first from a pilot of this gamification initiative. Accordingly, source content on the Mortgage Foreclosure process was identified for transformation into a game. They chose Edutech’s proposed solution after a rigorous selection process centered on the fit of the proposed solution to the business need and Edutech’s proven expertise and experience in delivering cutting edge, technology based learning solutions. The Solution: Edutech’s instructional, visual, and technical design experts discerned the key learning goals, nature of the chosen process and the technical environment for delivering the game over a series of deep-dive meetings with the client’s key stakeholders in the Mortgage Processes business and the domain learning team.

Highlights Client Among the top 10 technology firms in the world One of the pioneers in India’s emergence as a software powerhouse Business Need Gamification of existing e-learning on Mortgage Processes to improve the “pull” of learning content and motivate younger employees to enhance core job skills Enhance the ability to take accurate, on-the-job decisions faster and in a risk-free virtual environment Solution Game structure with virtual stages that mapped closely to the Foreclosure process and its variations in a key market “Days in the Life of” strategy with virtual avatars, scenarios, multiple decision nodes and massive branching Graded decision options at each virtual stage with virtual score and calendar associated with each Game summary with actual path and optimal path to facilitate remedial training Randomised paths and decision options to offer a unique game session for each learner and for each attempt

From these meetings and the source content, Edutech designed a game structure with virtual stages that mapped closely to the Foreclosure process and all its variations for a key market.

Overarching Game Strategy “Days in the Life of” --- at the beginning of the game, the learner is required to choose one of two avatars of a young financial forensics expert who’s a rising star at a fictional BFSI company.

This avatar is assigned to a team of virtual executive avatars who are monitoring the account status of a fictional high net worth individual (HNI) based in a state in the USA.

Based on the type of foreclosure process the HNI customer’s state follows, the learner must make critical decisions across stages to advance the case as quickly as possible to foreclosure sale.

Rules of the Game Each stage of the virtual foreclosure process consists of a scenario and multiple decision nodes. Each node presents viable alternative decision options. Each option at a node has virtual points and virtual calendar days associated with it. Better decisions win more points and move to foreclosure sale faster; poor decisions delay foreclosure sale proportionately.

The learner applies their knowledge of the foreclosure process gained from other training sessions to make the optimal decision that will move the case forward fastest and reduce future hurdles. At each stage, the team of virtual executives (avatars) comments on their perspective on the status, the aptness of some options, likely outcomes, and the key concerns of the business.

At the end, the mentor summarises the decisions made by the learner at each stage.

Key Graphical Elements: The learner chooses an avatar for himself/herself; other avatars are pre-defined. Avatar designs are styled like clay animation figures. Scenarios and decision screens are enhanced using animated graphics, action sounds, and professional voice-over for multiple characters. Intuitive interactivity and icons are used. The learner avatar reacts visually to feedback from the mentor or the points/days outcomes of their decisions at the end of each stage. Detailed Help content, accessible from every screen, aids the learner in navigation on different types of screens.

The Challenges: The design and development of this game involved the following challenges: Defining the part of the foreclosure process that offered the potential for an engaging game Determining the key alternative decision points and trade-offs at each node in a stage that could lead to potential failure or success in moving the case forward quickly Structuring the deep-dive branching combinations and permutations that would give the game its engaging, immersive nature These aspects, coupled with key structural changes required after formative review by client stakeholders, provided some of the toughest challenges Edutech’s team of expert learning consultants, media and technical design experts, and project managers had faced in an assignment of this nature. Edutech’s team met the design challenge through a combination of the following: Brainstorming and mind mapping techniques helped crystallize key structural aspects such as the key foreclosure processes to be used, the scenarios at each stage, gradation of decision options in terms of scores and days for execution, types of avatars, relevance of avatar comments to decision nodes and game summary structure. Rigorous flowcharting helped create a visual big picture of the game, elements such as the game’s branches, the points and days’ progression, the common and unique occurrences of executive avatar comments, and fail/success paths for each type of foreclosure process. Randomisation of states helped ensure that no two learners would see the same path or progression even if they played simultaneously. The project management team evolved a dynamic plan that allowed for simultaneous development of multiple paths in the game and then developing the common screens that would be used in all paths.

Highlights Challenge Defining the critical part of the foreclosure process that offered the potential for an engaging game Structuring the ‘deep-dive’ branching combinations and permutations and creating hundreds of unique paths for each learner and for each attempt Benefits Powerful, massively branched assessment tool to test the learner’s ability to act in diverse scenarios and achieve desired outcomes Succint, stage-wise game summary to enable the training facilitators to analyse results and customise refresher or advanced training for categories of learners

The Benefits: The solution that evolved from the multiple meetings between stakeholders is a massively branched game that allows learners to proceed without being guided to an optimal decision at each stage. It allows them to play in a risk free environment, but turns on a few critical decisions, allowing them to arrive at an epiphany regarding the optimal paths and outcomes of each choice they make. The randomisation ensures that no two learners can take the same path and the same learner plays different paths on multiple attempts, thereby maximizing the ability to handle different scenarios and outcomes every time. The game summary consisting of decision paths taken by the learner across stages and optimal paths is used by our client’s training facilitators to design refresher or advanced training for specific candidates. Edutech is a leading provider of education solutions. By facilitating knowledge enrichment and skills’ enhancement, we enable academic institutions and corporate organisations to improve performance. As “learning specialists”, we assist academic institutions, companies and governments in creating an environment that fosters a community of continuous learning and improvement. An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company

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