Gamification, Iconization and Tangibility.

Gamification, Iconization and Tangibility

Those are some crazy words. They’re fun and I like saying them. But what do they mean?

My history

I have always enjoyed looking at things as a system. It was only relatively recently that I realized that was what I was doing. it was so natural and innate that I didn’t give it much thought. Previous to giving it that name, i thought I was just gamifying things—but that’s a different thing.

Seeing things as a system is passively viewing what is in place to understand the interconnectivity between the moving parts. It is understanding the system in plce and how it works.

Gamifying is taking a system, a process, a procedure, and then making it a game. Many years ago I created two pen and paper role playing games, designed, molded an d produced three 12 sided dice to handle skills and combat.

Gamifying is typically taking something in real life (usually something you want to accomplish, or something that’s mundane) and making it fun. You can gamify anything from getting your kids interested in doing chores, to creativity, to motivating employees, to exercising and losing weight.

Making a “game” out of something does not mean you disrespect the underlying seriousness of what you are trying to accomplish. On the contrary, gamification can be used for some of the most serious things in life. It is a way to enlarge texture, to see things more clearly, and to give things a shape that otherwise would have none.

Iconization

This may not be a word, but it is now. iconization is my term for taking something and literally making a recognizable icon out of it. Sure, the icon for the messaging app is a speech bubble, the icon for file manager is a manilla folder, and the icon for TikTok is a musical note.

But what’s the ‘icon’ for autism?

You’re just talking about logos, Mark

Well, the puzzle piece came to be a representation of autism, as the person who originated it said it was a “puzzling affliction.” But that doesn’t go over too well with a lot of those in the autism community.

But what about anxiety? Depression? Hypersensitivity? Not everything has a symbol or an agreed-upon symbol. And some of the symbols are over-complicated and rely on a specific color (or colors).

My cafe epiphany

I was at a cafe and noticed the girl behind the counter had a semicolon tattoo on her wrist. “Oh is that a writer thing? Are you a writer?”

She explained that it is the symbol for those who have been affected by suicide—whether personally or knowing someone who went through thoughts on the subject or who took the ultimate permanent solution. I was taken aback in my blissful ignorance.

It was a way for her to be reminded, comforted, and was a talking point for those she interacted with.

But not everyone gets a tattoo. So I got to thinking… What if there was a way for you to carry a tiny reminder of something like that with you? What if you could be reminded and comforted? What if there was something that you could look at that told you it was ok to be different, that your sensitivity to sound might not be shared or understood by others and it would give you more stamina to be tolerant? What if it reminded you that with the downs eventually come the ups? That your ADHD gives you a million ideas but picking one might be a challenge, and that’s OK.

Enter Psych Charms

So I created little colorful charms that you can put on your keychain. They range from Anxiety to ADHD to Dyslexia to just being a very positive person. And yes, I included the semicolon.

Some of these psychological states of being either don’t have an icon that goes with it, or has a symbol that is too complex or color-dependant or don’t have one at all.

So I invented a few. And I’ve created them in different colors, which is one of the advantages of not having a color-dependent symbol.

The Charms series

I’m going to focus on one for each episode. I have touched on some of these states of being in the past, but this will be a series that you can follow along with.

I hope you enjoy the episodes, the charms, and truly feel that you are seen.

Because you are.

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