A gamification tip, and a challenge for 2014

There’s a location only a few steps from my house and I go there primarily to grab an Americano, but there’s one thing I look forward to at Red Rocket far more than the coffee, and it’s something I do not especially look forward to anywhere else: the giving of gratuities.

It’s not that the service or the staff at Red Rocket are better than any other Toronto coffee shop (though they are nice). It’s what they use to collect the gratuities. To call it a “tip jar” would be a misnomer, because it’s actually a scale. Not a digital scale; the old-fashioned kind consisting of a T-like structure with small bowls on either side, which rise or fall based on how much is placed on one or the other. Every week, the Red Rocket staff place a small image above each bowl, which are based on some kind of theme or which are associated in some way. This simple approach gamifies tipping, without any electronic technology whatsoever, and serves as a game design challenge for Canadian researchers.

A few months ago, for example, you could leave coins on the “Mr. Dressup” side, which showed a head shot of the late, great, Ernie Coombs, or the “Mr. Rogers” side, which showed Fred Rogers in his trademark red cardigan. (When I visited that time, Mr. Dressup was winning by a landslide.) As we got into December, you could choose between a Jewish menorah in recognition of Hanukkah or a Christmas wreath. A few days before Christmas, “Miley” (as in Cyrus) was losing badly to “Hermey” (as in the character in the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie).

It’s difficult to overstate how well this kind of gamification works. If you’re new to Red Rocket, you’re probably engaged based on the novelty factor. If you’re a regular like me, you walk in possibly wondering what you’ll be voting on with your gratuity this time. And you’ll walk away thinking about your choice, the choice of the majority, and what other options could have been featured.

Why does it work? Because it takes a desired user behavior — the giving of a gratuity — and places it in the context of a pop-culture debate that resonates instantly with its most likely target demographic. The game element has nothing to do with Red Rocket’s products or services but communicates everything about its brand and the kind of culture it is inviting its customers to experience. It’s also possible to participate in a way that is collective and anonymous, which may be overlooked as a means of engaging those normally reluctant to play.

Here’s the game design challenge for Canadian researchers in 2014: do better than this. Harness what this does well and extend it to digital experiences that will be a foundation for the gamification market expected to be worth US$2.8 billion this year. And if you’re successful, consider celebrating at Red Rocket, and leave a particularly good tip.