-{-_-}-

Datadumbration - E2E.LT


Following on from 'predicting the future' blog post, let’s look into end to end life tracking (E2E.LT):
  • Clear feedback
You remember when we all went to school and university. It was pretty good having that instant feedback from everything you did comparatively to all your peers. You knew exactly where you stood in terms of achievement and progress. E2E.LT brings back this clarity and transparency.
  • A sense of progress
Throughout all the years of school and university when you’re continuously being graded and tracked you can clearly see how you’re doing over time. This is another important aspect E2E.LT makes possible throughout life. Not only that but when generations before you have complete LT you are able to compare yourself to them and clearly set benchmarks.
  • The possibility of success
With the above two points personal success becomes more tangible. Life aspirations now become more visually defined.
  • Satisfy your curiosity
How you have managed to achieve in the past can be clarified, how you got there and how you can keep consistent.
  • Chance to solve a problem
If you want to inflict more pleasure or deflect pain this is where you can, from looking at the previous points and solving any issues that the data has highlighted.

When E2E.LT is operating this information will clearly be very powerful, regulations will therefore need to be constructed to protect it.
Getting a little bit more philosophical with E2E.LT there’s a great book entitled Finite and Infinite Games that states there’re two ways to approach everything, firstly as a finite game that can be won or lost, or as an infinite game, entering into things with a sense of curiosity and playfulness. I found this to be very thought provoking and following a glance at E2E.LT I’ll leave you with a passage from the book.
Infinite players cannot say how much they have completed in their work or love or quarrelling, but only that much remains incomplete in it. They are not concerned to determine when it is over, but only what comes of it.
For the finite player in us freedom is a function of time. We must have the time to be free. For the infinite player in us time is a function of freedom. We are free to have time. A finite player puts play into time. An infinite player puts time into play.


Here’s a widespread list of some steps towards E2E.LT to explore: 
Fitness - Nike +
Adding scores, challenges, trophies, and competitions to what would otherwise be just a running self-tracker.

Health - Health Month
Let‘s you set up rules for your own health behaviour for one month, and then win loose points and badges (and cheer and be cheered by others) based on those rules.

Finance - Mint.com
Allows you to set yourself financial goals and track your progress towards them.

Sustainability - My Leaf
Allows you to compete with other drivers regionally as well as globally on how energy efficient you are driving your car.

Entertainment - Club Psych
In the media industry, companies try to make their online properties more sticky and engaging by adding minigames, challenges,(redeemable) points and leaderboards to them, as in the case of the USA Network show Psych.

Shopping - Barcodehero
In retail shopping, companies like BarcodeHero bring the concept of ‘checking in’ from Foursquare or Gowalla to stores or products in stores, again complete with points, leaderboards and other game elements.

Productivity - Play Nice.ly
And even in the productivity space, several companies have set up services to add game elements to work tasks, as in the case of Play Nice.ly, which gameifies software debugging with points and badges earned for the number and quality of bugs you report.

Service vendors and agencies - Bunchball, BigDoor, Badgeville and GetGlue
Finally, a couple of service vendors and agencies have sprung up that offer game elements (points, badges, …) as a service layer to integrate into your site, as well as gamification design.

“Live long, prosper and thoughtful”

Categories:

Leave a Reply