Gamification and Soft Skills Assessment in the Development of a Serious Game: Design and Feasibility Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: The advent of new technologies has had a profound impact on the labor market, transforming the way we work and interact with each other. With the rise of digital tools and platforms, gamification has emerged as a powerful technique for enhancing productivity and engagement in various fields, including human resource management. In particular, gamification has been found to be effective in developing and assessing soft skills, which play a critical role in determining the success of individuals, teams, and organizations. OBJECTIVE: We present a serious game that identifies the most sought-after skills in the job market and offers feedback, and we provide a set of guidelines for the creation of serious games. METHODS: We present the serious game Among the Office Criticality (AOC). The AOC game structure involves a set of sequence analysis techniques, which is known as process mining. RESULTS: The pilot study findings indicate that the game is both engaging and beneficial to subjects, suggesting that the results align with current theoretical perspectives. Furthermore, the study suggests that the obtained data can be extended to the broader population. CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates a serious game structured according to the needs of the labor market and developed to put the user at the center, using evaluation techniques consistent with the literature, with the aim of constituting an interdisciplinary approach suitable for adequately assessing users and creating value for them.