Recently I have spoken a lot about Ludic Spirit and of course my most recent re-obsession “Perfection in Simplicity” It will come as no surprise then that these two philosophies can be linked together into one over arching philosophy. But first, let’s just break down the key concepts from each philosophy individually. Perfection in Simplicity: True excellence often resides in stripping away unnecessary complexities and focusing on the core elements. Rather than over-engineering, we enhance this core with elements that genuinely improve it. The elegance of simplicity ..read more

I’ve had a motto for many years, dating back to my clan-running gaming days: ‘Simplicity is Perfection.’ It was intended as a philosophy for my gaming clan and also for my martial arts. The full quote was ‘Simplicity is Perfection, but perfection is never simple.’ It meant that we needed to strip back all the rubbish and keep it simple, be it tactics in Call of Duty, martial arts techniques, or even my day-to-day work as a web designer. A Change Cometh Now, many years later, I realize this wasn’t really the right way to phrase the motto. It implies that there can be no perfection in complex ..read more

Take the Ludic Spirit Player Type Quiz Play is essential for development. There is a wealth of information about this especially for childhood development. Cognitive Development: Play contributes to the cognitive well-being of children and youth. It stimulates their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength¹. Physical Development: Active play is crucial for physical development and health. It helps children build strong bones and muscles, control their body, and maintain a healthy weight¹. Social and Emotional Development: Play is an opportunity to promote the so ..read more

So here I am again. Another player type categorisation another quiz ? The Ludic Player Type Quiz It’s a simple 10-question quiz and at the end of it you will be given one or more player types and a nice little image like this my ludic player type Just as a reminder, the player types are Adventurer: These individuals embody curiosity and a thirst for discovery. They find excitement in pushing boundaries and uncovering what lies beyond. Their fearless exploration enriches their lives with new experiences and perspectives. Creator: Creators thrive on imagination and the act of making. Whether i ..read more

In my new world, I focus on optimisation a lot in the realms of e-commerce performance. Testing, personalisation etc. It has taken a very long time for me to realise that my new world is almost identical to my old world of gamification. At their most basic, they both rely on 4 key pillars to succeed as they are both focused on behavioural change. I wanted to just explore those briefly here with you, as much as a way of consolidating the thought process as much as anything else!! The four pillars are. What do you want to change? Why do you want to change it? How are you going to change it? Ho ..read more

One of the key issues facing gamification as it moves defiantly into its mid-teens is a lack of consistency and interoperability of the language used to describe it. The first and most obvious example of this is the lack of anything resembling an agreement on a definition of gamification. Wikipedia seems to change pretty regularly, and almost every gamification expert out there has their own version. Very few like the Wikipedia version either; “The use of game elements in non-game contexts” being the most popular. Don’t get me wrong; I love Sebastian Deterding, and the definition fits the ori ..read more

We’ve all been there. You stop at traffic lights, and a frenzied delivery cyclist swiftly zips in front, ignoring the light. Perhaps you’re at KFC, jostled by a swarm of Deliveroo and Uber Eats drivers, all clamouring and gesturing at order numbers on their phones. Or maybe you find yourself unable to access your driveway because a colossal white van obstructs it, while an Amazon delivery person leaves £300 worth of electrical goods on your neighbour’s doorstep in the pouring rain. Whatever your story, you’ve likely fallen victim to the gig economy and how it incentivises undesirable behaviou ..read more

I appreciate a well-structured typology, but only if I find it useful. So, it was a bit of a battle to justify yet another one to myself. But I managed, and so I present the Ludic Spirit Players! Based largely on observation of my own kids over the last 16 years, as well as other work in the field of play by those such as Bernard Suits and Bob Hughes, these “types” are specific to the way I am forming this Ludic Spirit stuff and Play – not Games or Gamification, so it is not an all-encompassing list of play types or types of player! Also, keep in mind; that no one is one type in any taxonomy ..read more

That may well be the oddest title I’ve ever written. Look, I’ll keep this short. If you want to write content, be it personal or professional, that resonates with people – don’t talk about yourself all the time! If you read your content out loud and it sounds like this Or Then you are not speaking to or about your target audience – you are just talking about you and they will get bored very very very fast. For those who didn’t want to watch the clips they went “I, I, I, I, I, I” and “We, We, We, We, We” Cheers my dears ..read more

I want to keep this Ludic Spirit idea going as it is now shaping how I view pretty much everything in a way that gamification never really did. It is a much simpler way to improve the world around me that does not rely on the sorts of reward frameworks that gamification often needs you to design. Obviously, I am still using RAMP (Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose) to help me break down how I am applying Ludic Spirit-related elements and concepts. However, for now, I am focusing on me, the person, not me the product designer – sometimes you have to shift focus back to you! Relatedne ..read more