I don’t know about you but the Fun days of Saturday Morning Cartoons, playing in the yard, and the occasional recess has faded away. It’s been replaced by responsibilities, work, and economic depression. This is just a question, but have you EVER thought “What Happened to the FUN?? It’s a question that many of us think about heavily in our day to day endeavors. So much that I recently took an entire day to sit down and reflect upon that remarkable word: WHY?? I have found that most of us have lost our passion, adventure, and creativity when it comes to having FUN. We no longer have time for video games, nor activities that we once drew an escape from the real world.

The problem is that we are trying to find ways to escape social disasters, instead of applying innovative tactics to solve the issues right in front of us. As a designer my instinct is to learn and analyze problems, find an ideal solution or theory and test it, then study the data to adjust my theory and implement it for a better outcome. I love that process and now I feel our world needs it more then ever to solve issues instead of masking them.

The Fun Theory [@TheFunTheory] is a website dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better. And the video that you just watched proves that to be true. It’s the winner of a contest in which Volkswagen decided to create, and create a unique initiative for social change. The idea took something in which we all loathe and complain about, and reward drivers who actually obey and respect the law. I think that’s the special sauce honoring and rewarding the percentage who abide by the rules. We often get overlooked and ignored by doing the right thing, and the designer Kevin Richardson [@K_Richardson] posed a question: “Can we get more people to obey the speed limit by making it fun to do??” This was the question Kevin’s idea answered and it was so good that Volkswagen, together with The Swedish National Society for Road Safety, actually made this innovative idea a reality in Stockholm, Sweden.

I love what Gamification can do for everyday world problems, and I am in my chair, sitting down thinking of unique ideas to help social and economic problems. A few may be great, others may be just down right ridiculous; but ultimately what matters is that I am trying to make a difference. My generation has grown up with social media and digital technology. It comes to us as second nature, and what’s even more important is that the next generation will know only technology. I feel it’s a duty and a responsibility to change our views on change and focusing how media can do just that!! Please leave a comment on your thoughts with this video, gamification, and transmedia!

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