Before we can go too far down the road on any journey, we first need to be clear about where we are trying to go. This is where business objectives come into the picture. Although games are about fun, and gamification is about generating positive emotion without losing sight of the business objectives, gamification is a serious business.
Organizations spend millions of dollars every year on information technology. Consistent and steady investment in information technology is expected to bring a return on that investment in the way of improved business process flow. It's meant to help the organization run smoother and easier.
Gamification is all about "improving" business processes. Organizations try to improve the process itself, wherever possible, whereas technology only facilitates the process. Therefore, gamification efforts will be scrutinized under a similar microscope and the success metrics that information technology efforts will. The fact that customers, employees...