Gamifying Information Systems - a synthesis of Gamification mechanics and Dynamics

Trying to take advantage of the growing passion for games, Gamification is a trending phenomenon that aims at motivating people by applying elements common to games in different contexts. While first applications of Gamification exist in finance, health, education and entertainment, utility of Gamification in various contexts has not been sufficiently explored. Aiming to understand how Gamification can be applied to information systems to increase end-user motivation, we performed a systematic literature review to identify game elements used in Gamification. Our study yields a synthesis of mechanics and dynamics in five clusters – system design, challenges, rewards, social influences and user specifics. While our study reveals that Gamification has potential for motivating information system end-users, we also discuss the potential risks. Future research should analyse concrete implementations of Gamification in information systems contexts and investigate related long-term effects. From a practical perspective, we present Gamification as an innovative approach to enhancing end-user motivation to utilise information systems and illustrate the various options that can be applied to design Gamification applications.