CricketCommunications is the seventh-largest wireless-communications provider in theUnited States. Founded in 1999 to make wireless phone service more affordableto more people, Cricket offers economical, pre-paid, unlimited voice-and-data-rateplans that do not require a contract.
Today, Cricket Communications serves more than 5.8 million wirelesscustomers in the US, nearly double its subscriber total in 2006. Third-partyagreements with Walmart and Radio Shack allow it to serve customers in areaswhere it does not have stores. In 2011, Cricket introduced MUVE Music andbecame the first US wireless carrier to offer customers unlimited music as partof a rate plan.
Challenge
Cricket Communications was seeking improved and more innovative ways toreach the sales professionals working in its retail locations by introducingmobile-enabled learning games to their existing platform.
The initiative, coined Mobile Cricket University (or “Mobile CU”),launched in summer 2012. John Moxley, Cricket’s director of leadershipdevelopment, spearheaded the launch. John is an avid mobile-device and app enthusiast.He has 20-plus years of experience implementing next-generation organizationaldevelopment and sales training programs across a variety of industries. He isalso heavily involved in the evaluation and use of popular content authoringtools and methods for producing mobile-friendly courseware to supportuntethered learning communities.
The central learning objective for Mobile CU was to deliver and measurethe effectiveness of product, service, systems training, and professionaldevelopment without requiring Cricket’s sales professionals to leave the salesfloor. Cricket’s leadership team also believed that introducing game mechanicswould improve representative engagement and knowledge retention, and reinforcekey principles and behaviors. The gamification platform was CellCast, createdby OnPoint Digital. This platform has the tools and incentive features learnersneed to quickly complete assignments, gain points, and advance their status inan ongoing competition.
Gamificationsolution
Learnerscomplete assignments across a wide range of ever-changing products, pricingplans, and wireless innovations. The game awards points associated with thelearning assignments and tests at the most basic level of play (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: A listingof active games, learning assignments, and course materials are available fromthe mobile device
Pointsearned for completing certain formal learning assignments are called“completion points.” Finishing other formal learning assignments delivers“bonus points” calculated according to the score attained on an associated quizor module-level assessment.
Learnersalso receive “acceleration points” for completing assignments within a definedtime period. This incents them to complete their learning tasks earlier tobenefit the organization and customers by compressing the time to proficiency.
Earnedpoints serve as the overall performance gauge for each game-enabled learningprogram. The system tracks progress for each individual learner in a database. Aninteractive leader board accessible within the Mobile CU native app, as well asdashboards accessible to all managers, supervisors, and learning administrators,shows a dynamic listing of the top five learners (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Severaldifferent types of leaderboards are available so learners can compete at the levelwhere they feel most comfortable; they range from individual to group
Achievementlevels depend on the aggregate number of points attained, or for completingspecific formal-learning assignments or informal learning interactions. CricketCU awards digital badges for attaining each pre-defined level, and digitaltrophies to each of the top point earners at the end of the game play.
Agroup-based leader board displays the overall score of each individual retailstore (e.g., Store 213 in the Las Vegas region). The overall score for a storeis the total of the points earned by every individual learner assigned to thatstore.
The systemalso awards tangible prizes to leading finishers who place in the top threepositions for each competition based on the combination of completion,retention, and acceleration points earned during the game period. Typicalprizes are gift cards and gift certificates.
Allparticipants can see individual progress within a game via the various leader-boardoptions as well as via automated messages delivered when they attain specificachievement levels. These message streams serve as a “call to action” orreminder to all participants by encouraging them to stay involved and tocomplete their assignments. Cricket defined all game mechanics inside the gamificationplatform.
Learning impact
Cricketconducted the inaugural game-enabled learning program in late fall 2012 and theL&D team conducted a survey of participants to measure their new approachand offering. Survey questions measured reactions to the game-oriented learningapproach, how easy it was to launch and understand the various game elements,and how effective the process was for sellers. When asked, “What was the MAINmotivation to complete the game,” participants responded as follows:
- 42.2 percent: “I want my store andmarket to win”
- 18.18 percent: “I wanted to be on the leaderboard”
- 39.39 percent: “I wanted to see what Iremember from the training”
- 0 percent: “I wanted to please mymanager”
Whyit works
The CellCast platform provides methods help to make learning motivational and the use of points,badges, and friendly competition provide the means to easily measure and rewardprogress. The game elements motivate learners to move through the material andto obtain mastery of the content they are learning.
Conclusion
A mobile gamification platform allows thelearner to access the content from anywhere and provides a portablegamification experience that learner’s access when convenient. The combinationof mobile and gamification is helping to educate sales professionals withoutpulling them from the all-important job of selling.
Editor’sNote: This is the third and final article in this series highlighting theimpact gamification can have on organizations from a learning and developmentperspective. These case studies were gathered by Karl Kapp as he researched hislatest book, The Gamification ofLearning and Instruction Fieldbook: Ideas into Practice. The series illustrates real-world application of gamification and theresulting business impact.
