Rajat Paharia on Influencing User Behaviour through Game Dynamics

Rajat talks about how designers can address fundamental human needs and desires (like status, achievement, reward, competition, self-expression) to make experiences both compelling and satisfying.

He talks about how game designers have known for years on how to incentivise and motivate players by addressing these needs through the use of mechanics like points, levels, leaderboards, virtual goods, challenges, and real-time feedback. He covers the migration of these mechanics out of the gaming world and into the world at large, including destination sites, devices, productivity applications, corporate intranets, and the professional networking platform, LinkedIn.

About Rajat Paharia

Rajat Paharia is the founder and Chief Product Officer of Bunchball. He created the world’s first gamification platform for brand engagement, Nitro, in 2007. Rajat’s skill set combines a unique expertise in technology, design and human behavior that he developed while working at the design firm IDEO, and through his masters in computer science with a focus on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) at Stanford university.

Bunchball’s clients include Fortune 500 companies like NBC, Warner Brothers, Comcast and Hewlett-Packard, who are helped with crafting gamification strategies that engage customers, partners and employees.

Related Links

Rajat Paharia on twitter: @rajatrocks
Bunchball website
Bunchball on twitter: @bunchball