Ski season ended back in May and so I have been riding my bike to get my daily exercise. When I am home in Utah, there is a loop I like to ride that I call the "Prison Run." It is a 14-mile loop that happens to run by the the prison which is where it gets its name. One side-effect of doing the same ride over and over is that I can compare my ride stats to see if I am getting better or worse.
For the past several years I have been averaging 16 miles per hour (MPH) on the loop. That sounds pretty slow until you factor in the 1500 feet of climbing over the short 14 miles. When I hit the long section of the climb, my speed drops from 20 MPH down to about 10. I used to try to keep in the double-digit speeds and thought that was great. However I have recently lost about 35 pounds and that has really helped my climbing ability.
A few weeks ago I noticed that I had my fastest average ever at 17.9 MPH. That got me excited about my cycling ability. The next time I went out, I did better with an 18.2 MPH average. Now each time I go out I am trying to do better than the previous ride. Last week I clocked in an amazing 19.0 MPH. I didn't think that was beatable until I went out yesterday and averaged 19.2 MPH. I keep getting better and better.
What does this have to do with computers and technology? Well that is the idea behind gamification. While I am always trying to do my best, there is something that makes me want to do better when there is a measurable score associated with my effort. When I take notice of that score, I can't help but try harder. Now it is time to get on my bike and see if I can't do better than a 19.2 MPH average. Wish me luck.
Showing posts with label gamification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gamification. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2015
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Gamification
I have been hearing a lot about gamification lately. For those that don't know, gamification is using ideas from games in non-game context. The classic example is adding a typing speed display inside a word processing program. Then you can see how fast you are typing and it spurs you to get faster and be more accurate.
This last week I started the Global Corporate Challenge with a group of people from work. When we signed up, they sent us a backpack, a pair of socks, and 2 pedometers. The idea is to walk 10,000 steps every day for 6 weeks. If you decide to swim or bike, you can enter those distances and it converts them to equivalent steps. The GCC takes a page from gamification in that you compete with other teams around the world. Every day you enter the number of steps along with any biking and swimming and you can see how you stack up against other groups. There is also a virtual trip from London all the way around the world and you can see your location every day, which is another gamification idea.
When I am in the office in California, it is easy to get the minimum number of steps. I have the 4 mile ride each way to work. Also any time I want to get food, I walk. I can hit the 10,000 step mark sometime after lunch. At home it is a whole different story. I only end up walking about 4,000 steps in a day. My office is only 30 steps from my bedroom. The kitchen is half-way between the two.
As I am working from home this week, I had a very difficult time getting my 10,000 steps yesterday. Thursday was easy as I did a 15-mile bike ride, which came close to the 10,000 step requirement all on its own. But yesterday it was raining and I didn't want to ride in the rain. At lunch I took the dog for a walk and cracked off 2,500 steps. Towards the end of the day, I was still another 2,500 miles short and so I started doing laps around the kitchen. My wife told me to take the dog for another walk and that is how I was able to get my minimum steps for the day: walking outside in the dark with the dog.
Once again it is raining and so I am not about to take a bike ride. I'm thinking about connecting the pedometer to a paint shaker to help me get the required steps. That is probably cheating though. Besides the whole point of of the program is to get some daily exercise and watching a paint shaker doesn't count.
This last week I started the Global Corporate Challenge with a group of people from work. When we signed up, they sent us a backpack, a pair of socks, and 2 pedometers. The idea is to walk 10,000 steps every day for 6 weeks. If you decide to swim or bike, you can enter those distances and it converts them to equivalent steps. The GCC takes a page from gamification in that you compete with other teams around the world. Every day you enter the number of steps along with any biking and swimming and you can see how you stack up against other groups. There is also a virtual trip from London all the way around the world and you can see your location every day, which is another gamification idea.
When I am in the office in California, it is easy to get the minimum number of steps. I have the 4 mile ride each way to work. Also any time I want to get food, I walk. I can hit the 10,000 step mark sometime after lunch. At home it is a whole different story. I only end up walking about 4,000 steps in a day. My office is only 30 steps from my bedroom. The kitchen is half-way between the two.
As I am working from home this week, I had a very difficult time getting my 10,000 steps yesterday. Thursday was easy as I did a 15-mile bike ride, which came close to the 10,000 step requirement all on its own. But yesterday it was raining and I didn't want to ride in the rain. At lunch I took the dog for a walk and cracked off 2,500 steps. Towards the end of the day, I was still another 2,500 miles short and so I started doing laps around the kitchen. My wife told me to take the dog for another walk and that is how I was able to get my minimum steps for the day: walking outside in the dark with the dog.
Once again it is raining and so I am not about to take a bike ride. I'm thinking about connecting the pedometer to a paint shaker to help me get the required steps. That is probably cheating though. Besides the whole point of of the program is to get some daily exercise and watching a paint shaker doesn't count.
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