Researchers from West Virginia University have conducted a study showcasing that people perform better at monotonous assembly tasks when they’re turned into games.
Their research focused on “gamifying” manufacturing tasks to enhance workers’ well-being and productivity. The results suggest that workers on assembly lines can be more productive, engaged, and motivated when repetitive tasks, like assembling parts, are turned into games with incentives such as competition or rewards.
The researchers highlight how gamification has become a part of daily life for many. Examples include fitness tracking challenges for wellness and rewards programs for shopping in marketing.
Gamifying work
To test their idea, they set up an experiment using a toy Lego set to simulate a typical production assembly task. Participants were split into two groups: one group had the task gamified, while the other served as a control. Both groups had to assemble the same Lego model of a telehandler (an agricultural vehicle) multiple times. However, the gamified group had their productivity measured and rewarded using game-like elements such as progress bars and badges.
Transforming the task into a game notably increased the productivity of the gamified group, especially by the time they reached their 15th build of the Lego kit. The researchers suggest that the significant improvement in completion times for the final attempt might have been driven by participants’ last-minute endeavors to achieve a new personal record badge. The gamification may also have increased participants’ stress levels, however.
“We expected gamification would lessen participants’ perceived workloads,” the researchers explain. “Instead, it increased the frustration, effort, time pressure, and mental and physical demands they reported experiencing. Participants in the gamified group performed better than those in the non-gamified group, but they believed they did worse.”
Psychologically involved
This psychological load might not be as bad as we think, as it encourages people to be mentally engaged in whatever task they’re working on. The key is to keep stress levels in check so they don’t get too high.
“There has to be some kind of risk or motivation keeping people engaged during repetitive assembly tasks,” the authors continue. “When tasks are too monotonous, mistakes happen and workers ‘bore out’ or silently quit. If we introduce the risk of losing a game into those tasks, then they feel a sense of urgency that drives productivity and quality.”
The key seems to be to understand the individual personalities of each employee, and particularly their patience and persistence when it comes to harder tasks so that the gamification can be used successfully.
“Every individual has their own threshold for what level of challenge and stress is helpful, and pushing employees past that point can lead to high turnover and sick leave,” the authors conclude. “When it comes to gamification, workers need to be in that sweet spot between boredom and overwhelm.”
