gameful design for learning
TRANSCRIPT
gameful design for learning Sebastian Deterding / @dingstweets Digital Creativity Labs, University of York February 15, 2017
cb
<1> introduction
we are all game designers
old idea: learn enjoyment design from gamesMalone 1981, Carroll & Thomas 1983, Blythe et al. 2004
recent surge of interest
gamification
serious games
persuasive tech
gaMification The use of game design elements in non-game contexts
Deterding et al. 2011
health & wellbeing
sustainability
the pursuit of happiness
education
in the public mind
moocs!
with badges!
= Khan academy!
delicious scalability and analytics!
very, very old wine …
Gold Stars The single worst way of
motivating learning
+
frontal teaching The single worst
instructional method
peter f. drucker
»There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.«
what executives should remember (2006)
gamification’s unwitting figureheard
two conflicting theories of fun
<2> what is fun?
(baby don’t hurt me)
(a)
“just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”
aka fun as additive substance
some things are inherently fun
and some things are not
so: add funstuff™ to nonfunstuff™ for more fun
aka 1990’s edutainment
a resounding
failure …Squire 2006, Egenfeldt-Nielsen 2007
Bruckman 1999
gaMification The use of game design elements in non-game contexts
Deterding et al. 2011
… which doesn’t bode well for this
(b)
“in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun”
aka fun as emergent systemic quality
Every activity can become fun, interesting
so how do you design that?*Deterding et al. 2013
* obligatory visualisation of ephemeral design work with people pointing at post-its
<3> gameful design
for learning
gaMification The use of game design elements in non-game contexts
Deterding et al. 2011
gameful design Re-structuring activity to afford intrinsic motivation, using game design as a lens
Deterding et al. 2011
(if you want to know more)
• Conceptual development of requirements from literature
• Review of existing methods against requirements
• Iterative design-based development and evaluation of method through 19 projects & workshops with teams of 2-6 (n=335)
guiding questions 1. What are the motivating experiences
characteristic for gameplay? 2. What game structures afford these experiences? 3. How can we integrate this into design methods
for learning?
raph koster
»Fun is just another word for learning.«
a theory of fun for game design (2004)
#1
raph koster
»Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun.«
a theory of fun for game design (2004)
edward deci, richard ryan
»An understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.«
the what and why of goal pursuit (2000)
chief source of game enjoyment: overcoming challengesMalone 1981, Csikszentmihalyi 1990, Koster 2005, Przybylski, Rigby, & Ryan, 2010, Klimmt & Blake 2012
intrinsic integration: restructure inherent learnable challenge
For ticket, drag red dot through labyrinth
Ticket
identify a relevant inherent challenge
How?
Level 2For ticket, drag red dot through labyrinth
Ticket
intrinsic integration: core challenge = to be learned skillHabgood & Ainsworth 2011, Echeverría et al. 2012
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
»Mowing the lawn or waiting in a dentist’s office can become enjoyable provided one restructures the activity by providing goals, rules, and the other elements of enjoyment to be reviewed below.«
flow (1990: 51)
#2
Not fun Funhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/sulamith/1342528771/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photonquantique/3364593945/sizes/l/
raph koster
»Fun is just another word for learning.«
a theory of fun for game design (2004)
through interesting challenges
goals …
+ rules …
constraining actions …
= interesting challenges
+ feedback …
= experiences of competence
formal structure of games: skill atoms/loops Cook 2007, cf. Dormans 2012
http://www.flickr.com
/photos/mike52ad/4675696269
How?
look at your activity system as a game atom
http://www.flickr.com
/photos/mike52ad/4675696269
Goals: Intransparent; lack of small steps
Challenge: Not adjusted to individual skill
Feedback: Slow, demotivating decay instead of building and perceiving progress
competence?
http://www.flickr.com
/photos/mike52ad/4675696269
Goals: Little choice in what to do when and how, little connection to personal needs
Challenge: Demonstrating proficiency, not inviting exploratory trial and error
Feedback: Often controlling, highly serious consequences
autonomy?
challenge-based learning
self-paced flow of structured mastery goals
7"
progress feedback/grading
meaningful choice
safe failure & unlimited redoing
Margaret robertson
»Gamification is an inadvertent con. It tricks people into believing that there’s a simple way to imbue their thing ... with the psychological, emotional and social power of a great game.«
can’t play, won’t play (2010)
#3
theodore sturgeon
»Ninety percent of everything is crud.«
sturgeon’s revelation (1958)
Games are not fun because they are games, but when they are well-designed.
Rainer Knizia
»The life blood of game design is testing. ... Why are we playing games? Because it‘s fun. You cannot calculate this. You cannot test this out in an abstract manner. You have to play it.«
shift run stop, episode 40 (2010)
How?
iterative experiential prototyping & testing
<4> summary
Deterding et al. 2011
TO DESIGN FOR GAMEFUL EXPERIENCES …
gameful design Re-structuring activity to afford intrinsic motivation, using game design as a lens
Bruckman 1999
don’t sugarcoat nonfunstuff™
FIND AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE
STRUCTURE IT WELL
AND playtest and iterate ’TIL YOU GET IT RIGHT