Aaron Dignan: How to Use Games to Excel at Life and Work

Real life isn't always satisfying, but games almost always are. So how can we take the principles that make Angry Birds so addictive and apply them to work? Games researcher and author Aaron Dignan schools us at the 99% Conference.

Play is nature's learning engine, says games researcher and author Aaron Dignan. In other words, we're hardwired to enjoy games - they're addictive, skill-building, and satisfying. So the question is: How can we integrate game concepts into our work lives to help us push ideas forward? In this talk, Dignan walks us through the principles of creating a great game and suggests ways that we might use them to overcome email exhaustion, spice up workaday meetings, and more.

Aaron's first book is Game Frame: Using Games as a Strategy for Success.

To further explore games and how to incorporate them into your life and work you should check out Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers and the master thesis of the genre Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.