Developing Our Women:
A Gamified Leadership Journey
LDT 867 · Gamification in Education Plan
Project Description
This project explores how gamification can make corporate leadership development more engaging while giving learners meaningful opportunities to practice their skills.
I designed a gamification plan for a women's professional development program that would help participants build confidence as leaders and expand their professional networks. I was especially interested in moving away from the traditional training model, where learners progress through a series of modules but may have few opportunities to apply what they have learned.
Rather than building the experience around points and badges, I envisioned a leadership journey in which participants could explore different professional identities and make decisions in realistic workplace situations.
Learners would choose one of three leadership archetypes: The Connector, The Strategist, or The Disruptor. Each pathway would offer challenges connected to the capabilities participants wanted to develop.
I also wanted to recognize that not everyone enjoys competition. Participants could choose between a more competitive pathway and a relaxed, supportive experience. Both would provide meaningful learning opportunities, but learners would have greater control over how they participated.
The proposed program would combine branching scenarios with collaborative activities and an ongoing learning community. Participants could share experiences, learn from mentors, and even contribute their own workplace challenges to the program.
Key Design Decisions
One of my most important decisions was to make learners active participants in shaping the experience rather than simply moving them through predetermined activities.
The leadership archetypes were intended to provide more than an interesting theme. I wanted women to have opportunities to explore professional roles they might not yet hold in their organizations. Someone who had never led a strategic initiative, for example, could experiment with the decisions and challenges associated with that responsibility in a safe environment.
I also wanted to create space for different personalities and motivations. While competition can make a learning experience exciting for some people, it may discourage others. Offering a more relaxed pathway was my way of acknowledging these differences without reducing the rigor of the learning.
Another design decision was to bring learners into the creation of the program itself. I proposed opportunities for participants to submit real workplace situations that could become new scenarios. This would help the experience remain relevant as participants encountered different professional challenges.
Finally, I wanted learning to continue beyond the individual game activities. An online community would allow participants to maintain relationships and learn from one another throughout their leadership journeys.
Learning Theories and Course Ideas in Practice
One of the most influential readings for me was Ian Bogost's (2015) critique of superficial gamification. His argument challenged the idea that adding points or rewards automatically makes an experience more engaging or educational.
This was an important reminder as I began designing my own program. I wanted participants to feel motivated because the challenges were relevant to their growth, not simply because they could earn another badge. This led me to put greater emphasis on realistic decision-making and meaningful choices. Although the design includes traditional game elements, I wanted them to support progress rather than become the main purpose of the experience.
Shaffer and colleagues' (2005) work on situated understanding helped shape the leadership archetypes and scenario-based challenges. I was especially drawn to their discussion of how games allow people to explore identities and ways of thinking that may not yet be available to them in everyday life.
This idea felt particularly relevant to women's leadership development. A participant might be preparing for a management role without having many opportunities to practice the decisions that role requires. Through a gamified scenario, she could step into that position and explore how different choices might influence the outcome. I wanted the experience to help learners imagine themselves as capable leaders while developing practical judgment.
Gee's (2005) principles of effective game-based learning influenced the structure of the challenges. His discussion of well-ordered problems helped me think about how participants could gradually develop confidence before encountering more difficult situations. I also appreciated his idea of challenges being pleasantly frustrating. A task should require effort, but it should not be so difficult that learners feel defeated.
Because participants would enter the program at different career stages, this principle reinforced my decision to offer varied pathways. It also encouraged me to design scenarios that require learners to bring several leadership skills together, much as they would in a real workplace situation.
Gee's concept of co-design was equally meaningful. I wanted participants to feel some ownership over their learning experience. Allowing them to contribute scenarios from their own professional lives would make the program more responsive to their needs and give them opportunities to learn from one another's experiences.
Another idea that particularly influenced me was Squire's (2022) discussion of coziness in games. I found it refreshing to consider that a learning experience could feel welcoming and comfortable while still offering meaningful challenges.
This inspired the relaxed, or cozy, pathway in my design. I imagined a space where participants could experiment without feeling that every decision was being judged or compared with someone else's performance. This seemed especially important for leadership development, where trying an unfamiliar behavior can make people feel vulnerable.
The course also expanded my understanding of learning communities. Ito and colleagues' (2018) work on affinity networks helped me consider how people with shared interests can support one another's growth beyond formal instruction. I wanted the program to encourage lasting connections, not simply temporary interaction during a course.
One of my favorite discoveries in LDT 867 was the educational potential of gaming broadcasts and livestreams, discussed through Taylor's (2018) work on Twitch. This inspired my idea for Leadership Development Streams.
In these sessions, a mentor or participant would work through a difficult leadership scenario while explaining their reasoning aloud. Others could observe and discuss the decisions being made. I liked the idea of making the thinking process visible, particularly because leadership often involves weighing imperfect options rather than identifying one obvious answer.
I was also inspired by Garcia and Mirra's (2023) work on speculative pedagogies. Their ideas encouraged me to include an activity in which participants imagine what leadership might look like in the future. Rather than simply preparing women to succeed within existing organizational structures, I wanted them to question those structures and consider how they might lead differently.
These readings helped me understand that games can offer something much more valuable than entertainment. Thoughtfully designed, they can provide spaces where people explore possibilities and practice responding to challenges they may not yet have encountered in real life.
Personal Reflection
This project significantly changed the way I think about gamification.
I have always been interested in making learning more enjoyable, especially in corporate environments where training can sometimes feel like another obligation. Before taking LDT 867, I tended to associate gamification with rewards and progress indicators. Those features can certainly have value, but the course helped me see how much more games can contribute to learning.
One of the experiences that stayed with me was playing the Diffusion of Innovations game. I was surprised by how much I learned through making decisions and observing their consequences. Reading about an innovation spreading through a social system is one thing; trying to influence that process yourself creates a different level of understanding. The experience made me think about how similar approaches could help managers practice complex leadership decisions.
I also became more aware of the responsibility that comes with designing game-based experiences. Competition can be motivating, but it can also create anxiety. Social participation can make learning more meaningful, yet it requires thoughtful community guidelines. Accessibility matters as well. I proposed different ways for participants to complete activities so that the experience would not depend on everyone being comfortable with the same format.
If I were to develop this concept into a functioning program, I would begin with a small pilot. I would want to learn how participants experience the different pathways and whether the challenges help them feel more confident applying leadership skills at work. Their feedback would be essential to understanding what should be refined.
Perhaps the most meaningful lesson from this project was that play and serious learning do not have to be opposites. A thoughtfully designed game can invite people to take risks they might avoid in their everyday professional lives. It can also help them see new possibilities for themselves.
I find that especially exciting in the context of women's leadership development. My hope is to create learning experiences where participants do more than prepare for their next professional role. I want them to have opportunities to imagine the leaders they could become—and begin practicing how to get there.
References
Bogost, I. (2015). Why gamification is bullshit. In S. P. Walz & S. Deterding (Eds.), The gameful world: Approaches, issues, applications (pp. 65–79). MIT Press.
Garcia, A., & Mirra, N. (2023). “Always a war story”: Speculative pedagogies and breaking the narrative of multicultural education possibilities. In A. Garcia & N. Mirra (Eds.), Speculative pedagogies: Designing equitable educational futures. Teachers College Press.
Gee, J. P. (2005). Learning by design: Good video games as learning machines. E-Learning and Digital Media, 2(1), 5–16.
Ito, M., Martin, C., Pfister, R. C., Rafalow, M. H., Salen, K., & Wortman, A. (2018). Affinity online: How connection and shared interest fuel learning (Vol. 2). New York University Press.
Shaffer, D. W., Squire, K. R., Halverson, R., & Gee, J. P. (2005). Video games and the future of learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(2), 104–111.
Squire, K. D. (2022). From virtual to participatory learning with technology during COVID-19. E-Learning and Digital Media, 19(1), 55–77.
Taylor, T. L. (2018). Twitch and the work of play. American Journal of Play, 11(1), 65–84.