Gamification	in	
Agile
About	me
• 2013	Made	my	first	game	“‫	بدون‬
‫	”كالم‬
• 2014	began	studying	Gamification	
• 2015	Gamification	bootcamp	with	
Engagement	Lab	in	Boston

Became	Certified	Scrum	Master	
• 2016	Cofounded	Agile	Arena	

Started	Agile	‫	بالعربي‬
• 2017	I	am	here	talking	about	
Gamification	in	Agile
2
Mona	Shokrof
Agile	Coach	and	Trainer
About	this	session
• Figure	out	ideas		
• Explore	options		
• Experience	game	design
3
How	to	make	agile	adoption	better	through	gamification
Agenda
• What	is	Gamification	
• What	is	Agile	
• Gamification	in	Agile		
• Drawbacks
4
Our	game
What	is	gamification
6
Learning from games
What	is	gamification
7
To Address
Real World
Challenges
What	is	gamification
8
Applying	game	elements	and	game	design	
techniques	in	non–game	context
Nike Plus
Zombies Run
Where	do	you	spot	gamification	
everyday	?
11
Stack overflow
Linked	In
13
Why	Gamification	works	?
Sense	of	achievement		
Mastering	
Competition		
Leveling	
Winning		
Fun	
Team	work	
Surprise	
Recognition
14
Exploring		
Imagination	
Role	Playing	
Collecting
Round	1	Winner
15
Is	our	game	fun	?
16
Types	of	fun
	Easy	Fun	-casual	simple	
	Hard	fun	–	challenges,	problem	solving	
	People	fun	–	socializing	
	Serious	fun	–		meaningful
17
Motivation
Intrinsic	vs	extrinsic	motivation			
Engagement	Loops	

motivation	-	action	–feedback	
18
How	can	we	improve	our	game?
19
What	is	Agile	?
Agile	is	a	Mindset
21
	Welcome	Change	
	Failing	Early	
	Build	Feedback	loops	
	Inspect	and	adapt	
	Continues	Delivery	
	Value-Driven	Development	
	Learn	through	Discovery
Modern	Agile
Agile	Methodologies	
23
Scrum
Kanban
How	can	we	improve	our	game?
24
Progression	Loops	
onboarding – progression –mastery
How	can	gamification	used	in	
Agile	?
25
Physiological Safety
26
Shared	belief	held	by	members	of	a	team	that	the	team	is	safe	for	
interpersonal	risk-taking.
A	sense	of	confidence	that	the	team	will	not	embarrass,	reject	or	
punish	someone	for	speaking	up
It	describes	a	team	climate	characterized	by	interpersonal	trust	and	
mutual	respect	in	which	people	are	comfortable	being	themselves.
Physiological	Safety
	Equality	in	distribution	of	conversational	turn-
taking.	
Average	social	sensitivity
27
Covered	Ideas
Learning	new	ideas	and	mindset		
Continuous	improvement		
Encourage	experiments		
Learning	Frameworks	
New	team	behaviors		
Team	Motivation
28
Introducing	New	Ideas
Greeting	Cards	Exercise		
http://tastycupcakes.org/
29
Continuous	Improvement
Retrospectives	
Talking	about	problems
30
Continuous	Improvement
Rewarding	Actions	for	improvement
31
Encourage	Experiments
Hackathons		
Innovation	Program	as	a	game
32
Learning	Frameworks
33
New	Team	Behaviors
34
How	can	we	improve	our	game?
35
New	ideas	for	gamification	in	
Agile
36
Drawbacks
Not	fixing	real	problems		
Team	think	they	are	manipulated		
Using	the	wrong	game	or	game	mechanics	
No	fun
37
Limitations
Behavior	Changes	are	not	simple		
Differs	for	different	players		
Requires	experiments.	
Players	may	feel	out	of	control
38
Dangers
Players	doubt	your	intentions	
Players	get	used	to	receiving	rewards	
Rewards	become	boring	
Rewards	Can	demotivate
39
Tips	and	Tricks
Focus	on	intrinsic	motivation	
Focus	on	Players	(goals	-	values-	control	)	
Focus	on	Fun	
Watch	and	iterate
40
What	did	you	get	out	of	this	
session	?
41
Game	Winner
42
References
• https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/articles/2015/august/gamification-of-
retrospectives
• https://weave.conteneo.co/a/innovationgames/1
• http://scalingupexcellence.com/
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-
quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html
• http://modernagile.org/
• http://www.agile42.com/en/training/kanban-pizza-game/
• http://www.agile42.com/en/training/scrum-lego-city/
• http://tastycupcakes.org/
43
Thank	you
44
mona.shokrof@agilearena.net	
www.shokrof.com
www.agilearena.net
Blog:
Website:
Email:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/monashokrof/LinkedIn:

Gamification in agile