Landers on Gamification in San Antonio Report

Gamification can significantly impact residential conservation. In a San Antonio Report article, “San Antonio’s utilities are gamifying conservation- and it’s working", Richard Landers explains that  gamification is “applying game-design elements and game principles to non-game contexts in an effort to motivate human behavior.” Much of gamification can be understood through the psychology of goal setting - goals can help people understand what they are capable of and then reward them for achieving those goals. That sense of achievement can in turn make the work required to achieve the goal feel more enjoyable. 

Richard Landers, PhD, John P. Campbell Distinguished Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of Minnesota.