Some of the best ideas are the simplest. Kevin Richardson came up with one of those ideas to encourage motorist to obey the speed limit. It’s called the speed camera lottery.
Motorists who speed past a designated point get a speeding ticket and fine. Motorists who pass this same location while obeying the speed limit are entered into a lottery with the winners receiving a share of the speeders’ fine money.
The experiment was tried in Sweden with much success. Almost 25,000 cars passed the “lottery” location over a three-day period. The average speed at this location BEFORE was 32 kph while, during the 3-day period, the average speed dropped to 25 kph. 
It would be great to see if such a program would work in New York.
The above idea is an example of gamification and shows that fun and games (as opposed to punishment and rules) is an effective motivator. Gamification is the process of making software fun or game-like. It encourages more frequent and longer engagement.
Another instance of gamification are earning a badge or “mayor” status on the social media Foursquare. Yet another example is when a hybrid car displays a plant on its screen and the more you drive ecologically, the more leaves the plant “grows”.
Gamification expert Gabe Zichermann describes the speed camera lottery experiment as
game-thinking in its “purest form”. Specifically, it takes a big negative re-enforcement loop and turns it into a small incremental positive re-enforcement loop.
What software or other processes do you have in your business that would benefit from being gamified?
1 Comment. Leave new
I don’t agree with the big brother mentality of the government anyways! IMHO, those
cameras are simply unfair, especially if you get nabbed due to a faulty setup. So if you
just can’t afford that expensive ticket, you can always try a photo blocking spray (where legal).