GAMIFICATION:INTEGRATING GAMING INTO YOUR BRAND STRATEGY

ISSAMHEDDADSTRATEGISTTP1

Thank you for reading the annotated slides of my presentation for RDV Web 2012, a recent conference organized by InfoPresse. Gamification (or gameful design) is not a new concept, but it has been mishandled by marketing consultants. I will outline the concept for you through the perspective of design. If you have any questions or comments, please share them with me on Twitter at @issamheddad or by email at issam@tp1.ca.

➡ 5 years of experience in web➡ Passionate about video games

MY CAREER PATH

I’ve always been passionate about games and I’ve been lucky to work on a few small Flash and HTML-5 games. But I have also felt that games, as media, have enormous potential to engage users. Jane McGonigal, a U.S. game creator and designer, believes that gaming has broken our reality and that we can use it to make ourselves better people and save the world. She explains her vision in the following TED conference, “Gaming can make a better world” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM). There is also the work of Ian Bogost, who talks about the media microecology of gaming in different spheres of society and culture. According to him, the term “gamer” will one day disappear as games will soon be all around us.

I wanted to learn how games shape the world. And the only way to explore this idea is to create games!

➡ Université de Montréal (ex-Ubisoft campus)

➡ D.E.S.S. in Gaming Design

GAMING DESIGN STRATEGIST

I enrolled in a program to obtain a D.E.S.S. in Game Design from the Université de Montréal (http://www.etudes.umontreal.ca/index_fiche_prog/201513_struc.html - French only). This program was created by Ubisoft five years ago to do something about the lack of talented game designers in Montreal and support the growth of their own development studio. This program is very appealing because it covers all aspects of gaming (not just video) and because students come from all backgrounds, including film, literature, interactive design and even neuroscience.

GAME DESIGNER

➡ Level designers ➡ Mechanics and systems designers➡ Narrative designers ➡ User interface designers

People often ask me why I’m studying game design. Do I code? Do I draw? Truth is, it’s a little of everything. A game designer must be able to see the game as a whole and put him- or herself in the role of the player. The most apt analogy would be to say that a game designer is like a movie director. The designer creates a vision for the game, including its rules, mechanics and player dynamics. Game design is becoming increasingly more specialized because games have become increasingly more complex. There are now designers specifically for systems, levels, narratives, user interfaces and even natural interfaces if (for example) it’s a Kinect game.

➡ 59% of Canadians are gamers➡ 47% own at least one console➡ 62% are men ➡ 38% are women➡ 76% play online

Average age: 33 years old

- SOURCE: ESA 2011

SOME STATISTICS

There are plenty of interesting statistics about games. I recommend reading the “Essential Facts 2011” report by the Entertainment Software Association of America, which is available here: http://www.theesa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Essential-Facts-2011.pdf.

SOME STATISTICS

In the United States, the number of people who play at least one hour of games per month has risen from 56 million in 2008 to 135 million in 2012.

- SOURCE: PARK ASSOCIATES

Look around you... Everyone is playing games. How could they not? Games are now available on four screens. People are playing more because accessibility is growing. In fact, nine times out of ten, the top ten apps in the App Store are games. (http://www.parksassociates.com/blog/article/gaming)

MY GAMING HABITS

1985 2006 2008 2012

Way too much

Since 2008, we have seen a revolution in gaming; a fact reflected in the title of the book written by Jesper Juul, a Danish expert in the study of video gaming: “A Casual Revolution”. (http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11844)

Brands have always been closely associated to the gaming world, whether through the creation of advergames, real games, in-game advertising or even pervasive games and alternate reality games.

BURNOUT (XBOX 360)

An example of how gaming, communication and culture can converge: the Obama campaign infiltrates the console. In this case, a campaign poster that appeared in Burnout, an XBOX 360 game (in-game advertisement).

Global agency BBH collaborated with Chupa Chups (Pefefetti Van Melle) to create a new organization that develops social games for the candy brand. In addition to extending the “fun” aspect of the brand and reaching out to fans where they live (i.e. Facebook), this initiative also enables the company to explore new models for generating additional revenue through free games and monetization systems. For more information, read this article: http://mrahmey.com/2012/02/27/exploring-new-ad-agency-revenue-models-courtesy-of-bbh/.

THE FIRST REAL INSTANCE OF GAMIFICATION

Foursquare is considered to be a precursor of gamification as we know it today. For those of you who know Foursquare, it’s an application enabling users to tell their network where they are located at any one time. These check-ins are rewarded with points, which let users compare their scores with that of friends, and badges (unlocked after a specific action). These badges help Foursquare create additional engagement with users, because as humans, we are motivated to complete things and to compete for glory. This is what we call a “glory-based system”. The high score in arcade games is a good example of this concept. Users gain glory through the machine.

GAMIFICATION

The first graphic shows the search volume for “gamification” on Google. This word did not exist before 2010.

The second graphic represents the “hype cycle” of technologies, as proposed by Gartner, a firm specializing in research on information technologies (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1844115). In July 2011, gamification almost reached the peak of inflated expectations. I believe that in the first half of 2012, the “hype” will start to roll down the descending curve and that people will become more genuinely interested in gamification.

GAME MECHANICS “WILL BE THE MOST VALUABLE SKILL IN THE NEW ECONOMY.” - MARK PINCUS, CEO ZYNGA

IN 2014, 70% OF GLOBAL 2,000 ORGANIZATIONS WILL HAVE AT LEAST ONE GAMIFIED APPLICATION. - GARTNER GROUP

BY 2015, HALF OF ALL INNOVATION PROCESSES WILL INCLUDE GAME MECHANICS. - GARTNER GROUP

Some quotations to add gas to the fire. Mark Pincus is CEO of Zynga, the monumental social gaming company responsible for Farmville, Draw Something, Zynga Poker, etc. At the last SXSW, there was even talk that “game design is the new MBA”.

GAMIFICATION:SO WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

It’s important to ask this question, because there is no standard definition that everybody agrees on. We’ll often talk of game dynamics and mechanics, such as points and badges, being used in non-gaming contexts. I don’t like this definition, because a mechanic is (from the game design point of view) an action that permits players to track their progress in the gameplay and to reach their objectives. In Mario Bros., for example, the main mechanics are going forwards, backwards, running and jumping. This is certainly not a points system!

“GAMIFICATION IS THE USE OF GAMING DESIGN ELEMENTS IN NON-GAMING CONTEXTS.”

SEBASTIAN DETERDINGAssociate Researcher of the Hans Bredow Institute

I like this definition, mostly because it’s not the other definition we hear so often; that is, gamification as the use of gaming mechanics, like points and badges, in non-gaming environments. I recommend that you follow Sebastian Deterding on Twitter (@dingstweets); he’s a German designer who is interested in gaming design, as well as the ethics of persuasive design.

Too frequently, when we talk about gamification, we just talk about points and badges.

And this is my reaction.

GAMIFICATION:TWO IMPORTANT RULES FOR GAMIFICATION

Things that you’ll need to know in order to move forward!

RULE #1 = DON’T JUST GIVE POINTS AND BADGES!

RULE #1 = DON’T JUST GIVE POINTS AND BADGES!

Gamification is not just about points and badges. It has a far broader reach than that. Games can teach us to go beyond this understanding and perhaps change how we think about engaging users.

(Film fans will know that I just tipped my hat to Tyler Durden explaining the rules of Fight Club)

I believe that it’s important to go beyond awarding points and badges (especially the latter), because it helps us to avoid the pitfalls of pointification and badgification. Badges and points are not a miracle solution. An important aspect of gamification is to ask ourselves if what we’re proposing makes sense to the user-player.

GAMIFICATION=

DESIGN

To successfully apply gamification, you have to think like a designer, because gamification, at its essence, is about design. Not the design of complete games though; rather, it’s designing elements that are usually found in single-player, multi-player or online games.

➡ Level of difficulty➡ Feedback systems➡ Reward systems➡ Types of players

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

To understand gamification, it is necessary to understand its fundamental concepts. These fundamentals come from diverse disciplines, including sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology and cognitive science.

Flow

Difficulty

Skills

ANXIETY

BOREDOM

DIFFICULTY VS. SKILLS

All actions come with a level of difficulty and require the player to apply a certain level of skill. The ideal is to propose an action with a level of difficulty that is in line with the player’s level of skill. Video games do this very successfully. For example, a game like World of Warcraft starts off with quests that are just hard enough for the player and that increase with difficulty as the game progresses. The designer seeks to keep the player engaged for as long as possible.

The Hungarian psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (pronounced chick-sent-me-high) proposed the idea of flow in 1990. “Flow” is the optimal psychological state for intrinsic motivation, in which the individual is entirely absorbed by the task at hand. This is a state that we can all achieve. “Flow” is imbued with feelings of freedom, joy, accomplishment and competence, and while we’re in it, times seems to disappear. (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mih%C3%A1ly_Cs%C3%ADkszentmih%C3%A1lyi).

TIC-TAC-TOE

Flow

PREPARINGYOUR TAXES

Difficulty

Skills

DIFFICULTY VS. SKILLS

In online multi-player and role-playing games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic, the concept of flow is perfectly embodied by how the missions and quests are designed. When you begin playing, your quests are just hard enough to keep you engaged. As you gain skills, the quests become more difficult.

Tetris was one of the first games to offer a highly-sophisticated feedback system (relatively speaking of course, it was 1984). The goal of this game is to create and eliminate solid lines by aligning geometric shapes that fall from the top of the screen. Players can track their progress on screen and can consult the head’s up display (HUD) that shows their score, level, number of lines eliminated and the next piece to fall. Also, when a player eliminates four lines at the same time (thus scoring a “Tetris”), he or she hears audio feedback. All of these elements work together to positively reinforce the player during gameplay.

FEEDBACK SYSTEMS

- SOURCE: LINKEDIN

LinkedIn features an interesting feedback system with its progress bar, which tracks how complete your profile is and ultimately provokes your human instinct to complete tasks. Just below the progress bar, you are also given suggested “quests” to help you complete your profile.

Warning! Do not overuse progress bars in an effort to give users the impression that they’re moving forward. Check out this satirical website to see what I mean: http://progresswars.com/.

REWARD SYSTEMS

➡ Extrinsic motivation ➡ Instrinsic motivation

We’ve seen how games create positive reinforcement and that’s exactly what gamification attempts to do: find an additional motivation for players to continue. There are two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic.

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATIONS

Points, badges, rankings, stars, progress bars, penalties, etc.

Extrinsic motivation comprises all rewards that are external to the experience. In real life, for example, salary is a strong extrinsic motivation. In the game context, it consists of points, badges, progress bars, penalties or a loss of privileges.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Engagement, self-determination, mastery, directives, learning, quests, setting objectives, etc.

Intrinsic motivation arises from the pleasure of the experience. In the gaming context, this translates as feelings of mastery and self-determination within the game, and the quests and goals that we give ourselves when we play. All of these elements keep us locked in the gameful experience - especially if the game has been well designed.

Gamification works best, in my opinion, when the gaming design elements support the intrinsic motivation to use the application or service.

Action

Interaction

WorldsPlayers

ACHIEVERS

EXPLORERS

KILLERS

SOCIALIZERS

TYPES OF PLAYERS

The next time you play with your friends, observe their behaviour. There are different sets of behaviours associated with different types of players. Professor Richard Bartle has defined four types: achievers, killers, explorers and socializers. Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test.

Action

Interaction

WorldsPlayers

The Nike+ application features activities that appeal to all different types of players. An achiever will enjoy the tools to measure performance and track activities. The killer will love to challenge his friends and reach the top of the podium. The explorer will likely use the app to find new routes or new neighbourhoods to run in, while the socializer will also want to challenge his friends but only because it enables him to keep in touch with them and see how they’re progressing.

It’s important to note that one person can have different behavioural reactions depending on what’s happening in the game. When you play Minecraft, for example, you are forced to be an explorer in the first stages, but as you go on, your achiever and socializer instincts (for online play) will kick in.

“GAMIFICATION IS BULLSHIT.”

IAN BOGOSTAuthor, Persuasive Games

In his blog, game designer Ian Bogost destroys (and rightly so) the kind of gamification that simply exploits users.http://www.bogost.com/blog/gamification_is_bullshit.shtml

➡ Badgification➡ Conditioning➡ Extrinsic motivation > intrinsic

THE DARK SIDE OF GAMIFICATION

The other pitfall with gaming is how easily we can become conditioned. If we give the user extrinsic rewards, we risk diluting the effect of the intrinsic motivations for playing and making users addicted to getting badges, points and instant gratification.

From an ethical point of view, this is a serious risk. For example, the eco-driving systems found in certain cars is a form of gamification that helps drivers to reduce the amount of gas consumed. However, this system is so gratifying for the user that the driver may begin to behave differently in order to reduce gas consumption even more. For example, running yellow lights. This is calling “hypermiling” and it is an example of how gaming elements can provoke users to endanger their own safety, as well as that of passengers and other drivers on the road. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling

GAMIFICATIONAND CROWDSOURCING

Foldit

FOLDIT PROJECT - 2011PROJECT FOLDIT - 2011

Fold It ( http://fold.it/portal/) is an application that allows users to create proteins. The application become incredibly successful when a group of users managed to create a configuration of proteins that scientists had been trying to find for years as a potential treatment for various maladies. (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=victory-for-crowdsourced-biomolecule2)

GAMIFICATIONAND OPEN DATA

CHROMAROMA PROJECT - 2011

A very nice example of gamification! Chromaroma uses your public transport travel data to create a game. (http://www.chromaroma.com/)

GAMIFICATIONAND EDUCATION

KHAN ACADEMY - 2006

Khan Academy is an online learning platform based on videos generated by its community. To learn more about this platform, watch the TED conference by founder Salman Khan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFEUsudhfs.

The site adequately uses all elements of game design. I particularly like the tree of knowledge. If you play Civilization, you’ll know what I mean.

IN 2014, 70% OF GLOBAL 2,000 ORGANIZATIONS WILL HAVE AT LEAST ONE GAMIFIED APPLICATION.

IT’S TIME TO PLAY!

I believe that gaming design will evolve rapidly and go on to influence all spheres of society and transform all existing systems.

To conclude, I believe that gaming is transforming the world and that all current systems (political, social, educational, economic, healthcare, etc.) will soon be seen through a new perspective - that of gameful design.

To explore these ideas a little further, you may want to read Sebastian Deterding’s presentation for Lift 12, entitled “Ruling the World: When Life Gets Gamed”: http://www.slideshare.net/dings/ruling-the-world-when-life-gets-gamed.

GAMIFICATIONTHANK YOU!

@issamheddad, @TP1mtlissam@tp1.cawww.tp1.ca

ISSAMHEDDADSTRATEGIST TP1

I hope that you’ve learned more about gamification and its potential, as well as its risks. I believe that the more game designers become involved in the web - and vice versa - the greater the diversity of products and services that will be created that can truly engage users.