gamification in 2017 - how to engage users with game-like features

Growth by Gamification in 2017

Prepared for a talk a Dojo Bali Co-Working, Bali Indonesia – March 13th 2017

with Peter Knudson

Who am I?

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~10 Years Gaming: Wizards of the Coast, Zynga, ActivisionCurrent: Consultant for Adrian Crook & Associates

Peter Knudson – Product Manager

Gamification

is the practice of applying features and elements found in games to non-gaming activities.

WhyGamifiy?

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Games are 16 out of the top 25 Grossing Apps Framework to build daily user Ability to keep price at $0 for highest adoption

Revenue Engagement Growth

PresentationAgenda

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1. User Life-cycle: Thinking about what a user experienced over time

2. The Pillars of Game Design: The human behavior behind game design

3. Gamification Feature Examples: Applied Game Design to Non-Gaming Apps

4. Live Example: Let’s build a game together!

Engagement = Growth

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Higher Retention through well executed engagement features means a high user base after 90+ days.

UserLifecycleDesign

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New User DiscoveryWhat is the aspiration shown to potential customers?

Early UserOnboardingWhat is the core-loop of the game?

MidgameProgressionWhat is the player working toward every day?

Elder PlayerEnd GameWhat drives long term engagement of a product?

Experience PhasesOf a Game

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Experience PhasesSkyrim

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Experience PhasesMyFitnessPal

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Phase #1 OnboardingLinkedIn

Good gaming onboarding experiences:

• Incentivizes the main behaviors you want them to do daily

• Rewards engagement with rewards and progress immediately

• Introduces the main aspiration through narrative or showcases what the “end game.”

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Phase #1 OnboardingLinkedIn

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Phase #2 ProgressionProduct Hunt

Good gaming progression experiences:

• Clearly shows how actions lead toward win-state

• Rewards regularly along the way

• Milestone Achievements are celebrated

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Phase #2 ProgressionProduct Hunt

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Phase #3 Elder PlayerClash of Clans

Good gaming elder player experiences:

• Community driven user generated content

• Meaningful replay-ability and multiple win-states to explore

• Social status rewarded for the best players

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Phase #3 Elder PlayerClash of Clans

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Player Life CyclePutting it all together.

Filling in this Mad Lib-like framework will help to see if a game hits all these notes:

In this game, I: <Core Loop> (Plot plants, Track Calories)

In order To: <Short-Term Progression> (Purchase buildings, Lose Weight)

That helps me: <Medium-Term Goals> (Unlock new areas, Look + Feel Better)

That lets me: <Aspiration> (Have the best looking farm, Get a six pack)

Source: http://www.deconstructoroffun.com/2014/12/how-kim-kardashian-hollywood-made-a-list_19.htmlJoe Traverso

Key Takeaway #1: Think about your product as multiple experiences, treating users and players differently depending on where they are in their

lifecycle.

Principlesof

Game Design

Game Design Principles

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1. Core-Loop & Progression: Incentivizing the basic game actions

2. Resources & Completion: Resources, collection mechanics, and timers.

3. Ownership & Autonomy: Instilling emotional attachment to in-app thigns

4. Social Pressure & Belonging: Creating a social network to impact user behavior

Core Loop +

ProgressionClassical conditioning

is the affect of teaching that a certain action achieves a particular responses or reward

Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus in order to produce a behavioral response known as a conditioned response. The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus.

Core Loop + AchievementFeatures Ideas

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1. Core-Loop: Identify what the main actions we want to drive in the app (Farmville, Reddit)

2. Rewarding progress through Milestones: Give players periodic rewards for invested use in the product (Upwork, LinkedIn)

3. Unlockable Content: Make some features only available to those who invest time into the app (Duolingo)

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Core-loop + ProgressionGamified: Clash of Clans, Reddit

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Core-loop & ProgressionGamified: Upwork, LinkedIn

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Core-loop & ProgressionGamified: Duolingo

Key Takeaway #2: Identify the behavior you want to drive is. Then incentivize that reward

consistently and make sure the user feels they are progressing.

Resources &

ScarcitySkinner Box: A mouse is given a lever that releases a pellet of food at various intervals.

Continuous Reinforcement: Response rate is SLOW. Extinction rate is FAST

Fixed Ratio Reinforcement: Response rate is FAST. Extinction rate is MEDIUM

Fixed Interval Reinforcement: Response rate is MEDIUM. Extinction rate is MEDIUM

Variable Reinforcement: Response rate is FAST. Extinction rate is SLOW

Scarcity & ImpatienceFeatures Ideas

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1. Time as a Resource: Create an appointment mechanic (Spotify, MyFitnessPal)

2. Exclusive Invite Only: Showcasing exclusivity through rolled release (Mailbox)

3. Implement a Scarce Resources: Too much challenge, and it leads to anxiety. Too little challenge, and it leads to boredom. (Tinder)

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Scarcity & ImpatienceGamified: Spotify

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Scarcity & ImpatienceGamified: Mailbox

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Scarcity & ImpatienceGamified: Tinder

Key Takeaway #3: User crave to be smart. Have them decide how to spend their time and resources

which will bestow on them a sense of agency.

Ownership +

AutonomyEndowment Affect is

the hypothesis that people ascribe more value to things merely because they own them. Kahneman (1990) found that the amount

participants required as compensation for the mug once their ownership of the mug had been established ("willingness to accept") was approximately twice as high as the amount they were willing to pay to acquire the mug ("willingness to pay").

Possession + OwnershipFeatures Ideas

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1. Avatar Design: Players feel attached to an avatar they designed (BitMoji)

2. Collection Sets: Trying to catch them all (Pokémon, McDonalds)

3. Loss Avoidance: Impulse to avoid losing progress (Farmville, Tamachi)

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Possession & OwnershipGamified: BitMoji

vs

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Possession & OwnershipGamified: McDonalds

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Possession & OwnershipGamified: FarmVille

Key Takeaway #4: Give the user something that they can love and cherish, so that will be more

likely to stay with your product rather than move to a competitor.

Solomon Asch (1951)

Social Pressure

Classical conditioning is the affect of teaching that a certain action achieves a particular responses or reward

Solomon Asch (1951):

75% Conformed to incorrect answer when in group<1% Gave a wrong answer in the control group

Social Pressure Features Ideas

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1. Leader Boards: Showcasing how your compare against friends (Strava)

2. Status and Rank: : Create a “super user.” (Foursquare, Product Hunt)

3. Group Achievements: Social pressure to engage (Clash of Clans, Kickstarter)

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Social PressureGamified: Strava

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Social PressureGamified: Foursquare

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Social PressureGamified: Kickstarter

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Social PressureGamified: oPower

Top 5 grossing game for 4+ years since

launch

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Social PressureGamified: oPower

$300MM in savings over 5

years

Key Takeaway #5: Integrate a social element for your most engaged users, so they can gain a sense

of belonging to your app, website, or service.

Some Examples

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Examples

Where is the game?

Doing it Live

Live BrainstormPick from these every day tasks

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1. Doing your Laundry

2. Going to Dojo Co-Working This was the winner!

3. Brushing your teeth

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Framework for GamificationPutting it all together.

In this game, I: <Core Loop>

In order To: <Short-Term Progression>

That helps me: <Medium-Term Goals

That lets me: <Aspiration>

Progress Feature:

Social Feature:

Scarcity Feature:

Thank You!