Start the Game: Increasing User Experience of Enterprise Systems Following a Gamification Mechanism

“Hi dear, how was your day?” In the rarest of cases the responded would answer: “I had so much fun when entering the customer data into our Enterprise Systems.” However, the usage of Enterprise Systems is nowadays for many employees a key element of their working activities. Therefore, their motivation to use these systems consistently is essential for organizations to ensure transparency and process accuracy. While today most software products have a high usability, they lack in positive user experiences such as fun. One trend having the potential to solve this issue is Gamification. Using mechanisms of traditional games such as achievements or rankings is successfully implemented in private applications such as social networks (e.g. Facebook) or online traveling portals (e.g. tripadvisor). These mechanisms motivate individuals to perform certain activities they would otherwise not do. Gabe Zichermann – a visionary of Gamification – explained this phenomenon as following: Games are the only force in the known universe that can get people to take actions against their self-interest, in a predictable way, without using force. The principle of Gamification and its potential in organizations is presented in this book chapter.