Optimizing Flow in Simulated Environments for Worker Productivity

The challenge of motivating employees to be productive while maintaining their satisfaction level remains a significant issue in the workplace. Previous research on immersive experiences and gaming suggests that the individual’s state of mind is essential to creating a greater level of engagement. The most frequently studied state of full engagement is referred to as a “flow experience”. This paper reviews significant prior research on flow experiences and computer-based gaming. That background is used to develop a new model of the factors that may impact an employee’s engagement in business-related workflow tasks. An experimental approach is proposed to demonstrate the efficacy of the paper’s conceptual model. The outcomes of this study will offer important guidelines to user interface designers and managers about the factors that should be incorporated into modern workflow systems to heighten employee engagement, motivation, and satisfaction.

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