introduction to gamification

Introduction to Gamificationby Snizhana Bezhnar

― What is Gamification?

― Psychology and motivation of

Gamification

― History

― Best Practices

― Gamification Theory

― Game Mechanics and Components

― A fly in the ointment

― Conclusion

Agenda

Gamification is the use of game thinking and game

mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in

solving problems MOTIVATE them to certain

behavior.

Nick Pelling coined the term “gamification” in

2002, meaning “applying game-like

accelerated user interface design to make

electronic transactions both enjoyable and

fast.”

How do you motivate people to certain behavior?

Motivation before 1865

Motivation in the 20th century

PavlovClassical conditioning

Motivation theories

SkinnerOperant conditioning

MaslovMaslow hierarchy of needs

Richard Ryan & Edward Deci

Self-determination theory (SDT)

Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter involved in the brain’s Limbic “reward” system

Dopamine, Motivation, and Your Brain

Reward

RewardStatus

RewardStatusPower

RewardStatusPowerAchievement

RewardStatusPowerAchievementInterest

RewardStatusPowerAchievementInterestPurpose

RewardStatusPowerAchievementInterestPurposeFear

RewardStatusPowerAchievementInterestPurposeFear ...

RewardStatusPowerAchievementInterestPurposeFear ...

GAME

Gamification is about figuring out what makes games so engaging, then applying those principles to work, education, etc.

The history of gamification

S&H Green StampsAnd so it began. Marketers sold stamps to retailers who used them to reward loyal customers


Charles CoonradtFounds a consulting firm called “The game of work”, and brings feedback loops found in sports into the workplace


MUD1Is created by Roy Trubshaw at Essex university. It was the first multi-user virtual world game


Thomas MalonePublishes “What Makes Things Fun to Learn: a Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer Games”


American AirlinesIntroduces AAdvantage, the first frequent flyer program


Holiday InnLaunches the first hotel loyalty program


Richard BartlePublishes “Who Plays MUAs”, which divides video game players into four unique types


Nick PellingCoins the term “gamification”


Quest to learnAccepts a class of 6th graders into a game-based learning environment


DevHubAdds a Points system to its website, and increases user engagement by 70%

Gamification Co.Holds the first Gamification Summit in San Francisco, CA


45 000 peopleEnroll Coursera online Gamification course

Mozilla open BadgesInitiative is launched. The open source badges can be used to mark accomplishments online


M2 ResearchPredicts that gamification will be a 2.8 billion dollar industry by 2016

Does it really work so good?

Puzzle Game Foldit

(Washington’s Center for Game

Science) made breakthrough in

AIDS Research that Scientists

couldn’t solve for 15 years

15 Years vs 10 Days?

RPG Diary Game Pain Squad helps

Patients Combat Cancer by providing

both Purpose and Data

Combat Cancer

Ananth Pai has incorporated games

to teach his students about reading

and mathematics. The result is that

within 4.5 months Mr. Pai's class

went from being a below average

3rd grade class to a mid level 4th

grade class

Mr Pai’s Class

Kevin Richardson, game designer at

MTV’s San Francisco office, re-

imagined the speed cameras

experience using game thinking.

When tested at a checkpoint in

Stockholm, average driver speed

was reduced by 20%.

Speed camera lottery

70% of NextJump employees

exercise regularly — enough to

save the company millions in work

attendance and insurance costs

over the medium term — all the

while making the workplace

healthier and happier

Get Fit: NextJump

Game theory - MDA framework

MechanicsFunctioning components

The particular components of the game at the level of data representation and algorithms

DynamicsInteractions

A game dynamics can be defined as a pattern of loops that turns them into a large sequence of play

AestheticsFun parts

Is all about making games “fun”, desirable emotional responses evoked in the player

Game theory - the Elemental Tetrad (Schell 2008)

Mechanicsthe procedures and rules of your game (“space”, “objects”, “actions”, “rules”, “skill”and “chance”)

Aestheticsdescribes “how your game looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels”

StoryNarrative aspect of the game

Technologyrefers to the tools and systems used to implement or deliver the gameplay (e.g. cardboard game board, mobile phone screen, game console).

Gamification elements

Gamification elements pyramid by Professor Kevin Webach’s

Gamification elements

ComponentsSpecific installations (nouns)

AchievementsAvatarsBadgesCollectionsCombatContent unlockingGiftingLeaderboardsLevelsPointsQuestsGoods

MechanicsProcesses, that drive action forward (verbs)

ChallengesChanceCompetitionFeedbackResource AcquisitionRewardsTransactionsTurnsWin states

AestheticsBig-picture aspects (Grammar)

ConstraintsNarrativeProgressionRelationships

How Gamification Taps Into Your Motivation

Motivators Possible Supporters

Autonomy Customisation, Сhoice, Freedom

Mastery Levels, Challenges

Purpose Giving / Altruism, Narrative, Greater Meaning

Status Leaderboards, Achievements,

Social Connections Suggest similar users, Cooperative “play”

Rewards Points, Badges, Achievements, Real stuff, Lotteries

Peer Pressure Peer review / feedback / grading systems, Boasting /Bragging system, Competitive “play”

Avoidance Lose Points, Lose Status, Game Over

Scarcity Exclusive / Unique Reward, Reward Schedules

Main gamification components

Game components are utilized to reward activity among customers, employees, or other users.

The five most commonly used components are: Points, Badges, Levels, Leaderboards, and Challenges.

Other components:

Achievements, Appointments, Behavioral Momentum, Blissful Productivity, Bonuses,

Cascading Information Theory, Combos, Community Collaboration, Countdown, Discovery, Epic Meaning, Free Lunch, Infinite Gameplay, Levels, Loss Aversion, Lottery, Ownership, Points, Progression, Quests, Reward Schedules, Status, Urgent Optimism, Virality...

Points

Increases the running numerical value of users work.

Points are a basic, simple way to obtain feedback on the things we do, and they motivate us because they provide immediate feedback.

Badges

Badges can perform a number of functions for gamified design, but mostly they are used to demonstrate consumer status and progress.

Levels

Ramp up and unlock content.

Levels allow to quickly identify various involvement levels, as well as to create different challengers for users. Users in the higher levels can be shown more features , and given much more complex challenges.

Leaderboards, Ratings

Public recognition, status

We all like to win: we all like to be among the most relevant, influential, “cool” people, or else among the strongest, the most intelligent, etc.

Challenges

A challenge is a call to engage in a difficult, but achievable task.

Uncertain outcomes are challenging because of the variability depending on the user’s actions, multiple goals, hidden information and randomness

User types (by Richard Bartle)

KillerDefined by:A focus on winning, rank different peer-to-peer competition

Engaged by:Leaderboards, Ranks

ExplorerDefined by:A focus on exploring and a drive to discover the unknown

Engaged by:Obfuscated achievements

AchieverDefined by:A focus on status, achieving preset goals quickly and/or completely

Engaged by:Achievements

SocializerDefined by:A focus on socializing and a drive to develop a network of friends

Engaged by:Newsfeeds, Friends list, Chat

Flow theory

Ten factors of flow:• Clear goals

• A high degree of concentration

• A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness

• Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered

• Direct and immediate feedback

• Balance between ability level and challenge

• A sense of personal control over the situation or activity

• The activity is intrinsically rewarding

• A lack of awareness of bodily needs

• Absorption into the activity

A fly in the ointmentThe side effects

Cobra effectGetting rid of cobras in Delhi

Unintended behaviorBMW: fuel-efficient driving

Questions to ask yourself before gamifying your product/service

• What is your main reason for gamifying your product/service?

• Is your product ready for Gamification?

• What are your goals?

• What are your users goals? What motivates them?

• What are the main benefits you expect to achieve?

Questions to ask yourself during gamifying your product/service

• Do you have Achievements a player would be proud of or share?

• Do you have the right analytics tools and goals set?

• Do you know where players drop out, where do they lose interest?

• What are the challenges? Do they require skill or luck?

• Have you thoroughly thought about your game design from a cheater's perspective to see possible exploits they would see?

Questions to ask yourself during gamifying your product/service

• Do you give players meaningful choices? Would you benefit from making them more or less frequent?

• How can you give your players more ways to contact or interact with one another?

• Have you spent enough time on your User Interface and insuring players really enjoy the graphical elements of the Gamification?

• Do players value their virtual currency or goods?

• …

Questions

introduction to gamification

Design

term gamification

history of gamification

history of gamification

history of gamification

gamification summit

game of work

game science

nongame contexts