Using Gamification in Survey Research

Here’s an interesting application of gamification: Using gamification to take the monotony out of answering surveys.

Gamification.co published the op-ed Magazine Question Hunt: Using Gamification in Surveys for Children by Betty Amadou of ResearchThroughGaming. Ms. Amadou’s quest is to turn the survey-taking experience into a fun experience.  In her op-ed, Ms. Amadou describes the outcomes of a survey that she created for children using gamification principles.  The results were beyond expectation.  Her client wanted 500 responses from children ages 7-10 years old in two weeks.  Her result? 700 responses in 7 days!  From kids, no less.

Sounds like an interesting idea.  Would you be more inclined to complete a survey if it engage you like a game?

[Remember our post on Manipulation?  If gamification is used to make a survey more engaging to coerce… er, motivate you to fill it out, is this manipulation? And is it wrong to do it?]