The mopei phone-swing device is ingeniously depressing. It is a cradle for smartphones that rocks back and forth when it is plugged in, and it is designed to cheat fitness apps into believing that you are on the move. If you have a step counter, this phone shaker can gull it into thinking you have taken 8,700 paces in an hour. “Ideal for those people who don’t have the time or energy to get your recommended steps in,” boasts the product blurb.

mopei手機擺動裝置巧妙地令人壓抑。它是智能手機的搖籃，插上電源后可以前后搖晃，它的設(shè)計目的是讓健身應(yīng)用誤以為你在運動。如果你有一個計步器，這個擺動設(shè)置可以讓它誤以為你在一小時內(nèi)走了8700步。該產(chǎn)品的宣傳語吹噓道，“對于那些沒有時間和精力按照推薦的步驟去做的人來說，這是一個理想的選擇” 。

Such cheating is pointless but not uncommon. Blog posts run through ways to trick a Fitbit into recording exercise, from strapping it to your children to swinging it on a piece of string. Strava is an app for runners and cyclists to record their times; becoming the fastest rider on a course segment is a lot easier if you use a motorbike. Players of Pokemon Go, a smartphone game, are supposed to walk a certain distance in order to hatch virtual eggs; taping your phone to a Roomba, an automated vacuum cleaner, is the couch potato’s alternative.

這種欺騙行為毫無意義，但并不罕見。博客文章遍布著介紹各種欺騙Fitbit運動記錄的方法，從把它綁在你的孩子身上，到用一根繩子搖晃它。Strava是一款讓跑步者和騎自行車者記錄自己時間的應(yīng)用; 如果你在途中某段使用摩托車，成為最快的騎手是很容易的。智能手機游戲《精靈寶可夢Go》的玩家需要走一定距離才能孵化虛擬蛋; 把你的手機貼在自動吸塵器Roomba上，是那些懶人的替代選擇。

This behaviour is a predictable side-effect of a ubiquitous digital phenomenon: gamification. Adding game-like elements to non-game activities is part and parcel of app design. Streaks encourage users to log into products each day. Achievement points reward them for completing tasks. League tables add the spice of competition.

這種行為是無處不在的數(shù)字現(xiàn)象——游戲化——的一個可預(yù)見的副作用。在非游戲活動中添加游戲類元素是應(yīng)用設(shè)計的重要組成部分。 計數(shù)器鼓勵用戶每天登錄產(chǎn)品。成就點數(shù)獎勵他們完成任務(wù)。排名表增加了競爭的趣味。

Such features are powerful, even if their effects often fade over time. Just as gamification can lead some people to cheat, it can help others stay motivated in pursuit of a goal they find difficult to stick to. When Duolingo, a language-learning app, went public in 2021, its prospectus was clear about the importance of game-like features in keeping its users engaged. Streaks, virtual currencies, leaderboards and a hectoring cartoon owl called Duo are all designed to encourage people to keep learning. On October 26th the firm launched a new mathematics app that relies on similar techniques.

這些功能是強大的，即使它們的效果往往會隨著時間的推移而減弱。就像游戲化可能導(dǎo)致一些人作弊一樣，它也可以幫助其他人保持動力去追求他們覺得難以堅持的目標。當語言學(xué)習(xí)應(yīng)用“多鄰國”在2021年上市時，其招股書明確指出了游戲類功能在保持用戶粘性方面的重要性。計數(shù)器、虛擬貨幣、排行榜和名為Duo的“嚇人”的卡通貓頭鷹都是為了鼓勵人們不斷學(xué)習(xí)而設(shè)計的。10月26日，該公司發(fā)布了一款新的數(shù)學(xué)應(yīng)用程序，它依賴于類似的技術(shù)。

But as “You’ve Been Played”, a thought-provoking new book by Adrian Hon, a game designer, makes clear, firms should be very careful about how they gamify experiences. Mr Hon argues against slapping the generic paraphernalia of rewards, points and badges onto activities without thinking hard about the context. Get gamification wrong, and you can annoy three types of stakeholder.

但正如游戲設(shè)計師阿德里安?霍恩發(fā)人深省的新書《You’ve Been Played》所指出的那樣，公司應(yīng)該非常謹慎對待游戲化體驗?；舳鞣磳υ跊]有認真考慮具體情況的情況下，就把獎勵、積分和徽章等泛泛之物強加到活動上。如果游戲化出現(xiàn)問題，你可能會惹惱三種類型的利益相關(guān)者。

One is the customer. The obvious dangers—badgering people with endless notifications about streaks, say, or demotivating them by showing how low down a leaderboard they sit—are not the only ones. Gamification can work with the grain of a product, or against it. Apps that are designed to encourage people to save money can happily use gamified features like totalisers and money jars to track progress: the technique fits the product snugly. But some activities really don’t need added “fun”. One reading app offers to unlock animations if users hit certain reading landmarks; if you present reading as a chore, a kind of mental flossing, you are telling readers they have the cultural hinterland of a tapir.

一個是顧客。最明顯的危險是，用沒完沒了的關(guān)于計數(shù)器的通知糾纏著人們，或者顯示他們在排行榜上的排名有多低讓他們失去動力，但這并不是唯一的危險。游戲化可以順應(yīng)產(chǎn)品的本質(zhì)，也可以與之背道而馳。旨在鼓勵人們省錢的應(yīng)用程序可以愉快地使用游戲化功能，如累計器和存錢罐來跟蹤進度: 這種技術(shù)非常適合產(chǎn)品。但有些活動真的不需要額外的“樂趣”。一款閱讀應(yīng)用程序可以在用戶到達特定的閱讀地標時解鎖動畫; 如果你把閱讀描述成一種苦差事，一種凈化心靈的過程，這就仿佛在告訴讀者，閱讀就像做噩夢一樣讓人難熬、痛苦。

The second stakeholder, and a new one to worry about, is the regulator. Gamification is meant to encourage people to do more of something. If that something is learning Japanese, great. If that something is eating lard, less great. Worries about how gamified financial-trading apps might lead investors to undertake more transactions than is good for them have prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission (sec), a markets regulator, to look at what it terms “digital engagement practices”. Firms are already changing their behaviour as scrutiny intensifies. Last year Robinhood, one of the apps now in the sec’s sights, felt compelled to get rid of a confetti animation which showed when a customer made their first trade.

第二個利益相關(guān)者，也是一個值得擔(dān)心的新利益相關(guān)者，是監(jiān)管機構(gòu)。游戲化意味著鼓勵人們做更多的事情。如果是學(xué)習(xí)日語，那太好了。如果那件事是吃豬油，那就不太好了。由于擔(dān)心游戲化的金融交易應(yīng)用可能會導(dǎo)致投資者進行過多的交易，而非對他們有益，市場監(jiān)管機構(gòu)美國證券交易委員會開始關(guān)注其所謂的“數(shù)字參與實踐”。隨著審查的加強，公司已經(jīng)在改變他們的行為。去年，美國證交會盯上的應(yīng)用程序之一Robinhood覺得有必要去掉一個顯示客戶進行第一筆交易時間的五彩紙屑動畫。

The third group is employees. Turning repetitive work into video games is a technique that Amazon has reportedly used in its warehouses, by representing workers’ progress at picking and boxing items in a racing-car format. Firms that sell employee-engagement software offer the usual armoury of points, leaderboards and virtual currencies.

第三類是員工。據(jù)報道，亞馬遜在其倉庫中使用了一種將重復(fù)性工作轉(zhuǎn)化為電子游戲的技術(shù)，該技術(shù)將工人在拾取和裝箱物品時的進度以賽車的形式呈現(xiàn)出來。售賣員工敬業(yè)度軟件的公司通常提供積分、排行榜和虛擬貨幣。

These ideas are likely to backfire. Forced rankings incentivise some people and stress others out. GitHub, an open-source coding platform, withdrew its streak feature after concerns were raised that it was prompting programmers to work every weekend. And as Mr Hon observes, games are a lot less enjoyable if you have no choice over whether to take part. Manufacturing fun can work, but only if it is taken seriously.

這些想法很可能適得其反。強制排名激勵了一些人，也給了另一些人壓力。開源編碼平臺GitHub取消了“計數(shù)器”功能，因為有人擔(dān)心該功能會促使程序員每個周末都工作。正如霍恩先生所觀察到的，如果你無法選擇是否參與游戲，那么游戲的樂趣就會大大降低。制造樂趣是可行的，但前提是必須認真對待。