Skills Norway – Buddy
Can games and gamification motivate you to increase basic skills?
The Ministry of Education and Research commissioned Skills Norway to give all adults in Norway opportunities to test the level of their own basic skills. We helped them create Buddy, a game where participants get to do just that.
Basic skills refer to things like being able to read, write, count, express oneself orally and handle the digital world well enough to be able to participate actively in working life, community life and education. Studies have indicated that up to 800,000 adults in Norway don’t have strong enough basic skills to maintain a lasting connection to their working life.
Another way of saying they have “weak basic skills” may be to say they “lack in adaptation competence”. Our world is constantly changing, and requires all of us to change with it. So those who lack adaptation competence are vulnerable, at risk of being left behind by society. And the pace of change is only increasing. Strengthening basic skills is therefore extremely important, both for the people affected and for society in general. It’s about being able to participate in society and working life. At base, it’s about human dignity.
Buddy – a game for training and evaluating adaptation skills
In close collaboration with Skills Norway, through in-depth interviews and prototyping, we developed a game that motivates and educates the target group. The solution is a six level game with a comprehensive story. You solve puzzles and collect stars. In addition to the levels, you can go into the task bank and practice any specific skill you want.
“Buddy will be an enrichment for adult education, especially for those who aren’t Norwegian”
Male, 31 years old, attending adult education
“You can definitely learn something from this game”
Female, 44 years
“I’m not that far behind the target then! That feels good.”
Clearly proud woman, 69 years old, after two straight correct calculations
Do you want to play?
Register at http://kompis.kompetansenorge.no
Method / instrument: Games and gamification, app, campaign, qualitative method, target group analysis, user testing