Gamification is hot buzzword at the moment; pity it sucks, eh? Game mechanics and game design techniques have been a much proliferated meme in the UX, IxD, and design worlds as of late (for varying definitions of ‘late’). Touted as a ‘solution’ to the challenge of motivating certain behaviour in users, or making experiences more engaging, sadly these elements of the game development world are often blindly applied without finesse or elegance – akin to to hitting the user over the head with a colourful hammer. I’ve given countless talks on gamification products, adding game mechanics to services, and motivating and engaging users through glorious interrelated feedback systems. All of it, well — most of it — was wrong. Game design techniques aren’t applicable to every interaction design situation, but when they are they can make the experience that much more compelling, sticky and entertaining. The situations where they are truly, deeply applicable are few and far between. This session will help you spot those situations. Using examples from the last half a decade of building gamified and non-gamified services and apps for consumers, this session will show you exactly why gamification sucks, why that’s actually quite a pity, and how you can fix it. This session is about putting the heart and soul of game design into designing experiences, and using it to focus the well-meaning intention of games in the first place: making stuff more fun! This session is for everyone.

2. Welcome to my presentation!!
Gamification SUCKs!!!!
by Paris Buttfield-Addison

3. Paris Buttfield-Addison
Secret Lab
Director ofProduct Guy
Rhetorical Contrivance

4. Gamification
SUCKS
This may come as a surprise to you.

5. The Secret Lab Guide to
Gamespotting

6. How many people like chocolate?
Would every food be vastly improved by
the application of layer of chocolate?

7. Gamification is th e use of game play
elements for no n-game applications
Gamification works by making
technology more engaging
taking advantage of humans'
psychological predisposition to
engage in gaming.
The technique can en courage people to perform
chores that they ordinarily consider boring, such as
completing surveys, s hopping, or reading web sites.

8. why would you want to do that?
Gamification is the use of game play
elements for non-game applications
Gamification works by making
technology more engaging
how does it do that?

9. thing game social
mechanics
thing is now more appealing
people are going to go nuts for this

10. game mechanics
increased engagement

11. snake oil image::

12. gambrian explosionWill Wright
The world of gamification sure does have a lot of silly words, doesn’t it?

13. applied psychology?

14. motivational design
thanks, Sebastian Deterding
suga
r coa
ting?

15. blah, blah, blah, fun!
far too many people
ut h?
tr
of
gr ain

17. What’s the Swedish
Experiment tell us?
sounds like a
Robert Ludlum novel!

18. why would you want to do that?
Gamification is the use of game play
elements for non-game applications
what gamification actually does

19. Gamification is the use of game play
elements for non-game applications
what’s a game play element?

20. points
BADGES
SCORES
REWARDS

21. points
BADGES
SCORES
REWARDS

22. Many people are seeing it like this...

23. We shall give them worthless
points for doing this thing!
I have a thing I want
my users to do!

24. Mustn’t forget to throw on a
leaderboard so they compete!
We’ll give them some
badges too! Wow!

25. ...?
image:

26. Social media strategy
Gamification strategy

27. Gamification is reassuring. It gives Vice Presidents and
Brand Managers comfort: they're doing everything right,
and they can do even better by adding "a games
strategy" to their existing products, slathering on
"gaminess" like aioli on ciabatta at the consultant's
indulgent sales lunch.

28. It’s not just a layer to slather on.

29. Let’s laugh at my clients...

30. human psychology
“Motivating cons umer behavior through game mechanics”
appropriate challenges
points variable rewards
levels
scoreboards
pattern recognition
achievements curiosity
badges reputation & identity
assignments social proof
surprise
status
feedback loops
etc.

31. just mechanics
more than

32. mechanics
intrinsic vs. extrinsic

33. the real game play elements...

34. ... are the things you can
learn and master.

35. Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics

36. nics
mecha
dyna
mics
aesth
etics

37. engaging? long term? short term?
Gamification works by making
technology more engaging
how does it do that?

38. when to use it
and how

39. User Goals
Product Goals

40. Motivational Design
User Goals
Don’t mess around here
Product Goals

41. User Goals
D ata Points and Badges
kin
Chec
Product Goals StackOverflow

42. what’s wrong with gamification?
motivational design

43. doing it properly
authenticity mastery freedom

44. doing it properly
authenticity
intrinsic achievement
mastery autonomy
freedom

45. authenticity, meaning, etc...

46. What does Foursquare
actually give you?

47. thing game mechanics
thing is now more appealing
people are going to go nuts for this

48. appealing thing with game mechanics
people are going to go nuts for this

49. What we have learned from our users is that any
game aspect has to be, at least for finance, more
oriented toward some specific thing that you are
working toward: I want to buy a house or a car,
take a vacation, get out of debt, save for my
retirement or buy a big-screen TV, or whatever it
may be. Otherwise you have a system of points with
no levels or no end game.
Aaron Patzer

51. An amplifier?

52. Status

54. Story?
Make you part of something bigger.

55. mastery

56. Tell us what you like and we’ll give you a
meaningless icon to entice your friends to
do likewise.

58. Meh.
engagement trinkets

59. figuring stuff out fun!
Learning

60. intrinsic vs. extrinsic

62. Learning is fun under
optimal conditions.
Raph Koster

63. How do I create optimal conditions?

64. Interesting
Challenges
1. Goals
2. Rules

65. Let’s laugh at my clients again...

66. Ask a golfer about this.
A voluntary attempt to
overcome unnecessary obstacles.
Bernard Suits

67. Signpost your goals
Structure your goals
Scaffold your goals.

69. Autonomy

70. If he had been a great and wise
philosopher, like the writer of this book, he
would now have comprehended that Work
consists of whatever a body is obliged to
do, and that Play consists of whatever a
body is not obliged to do.
Mark Twain

72. wo rk!
great
Less autonomous
Sloppy & less creative
More likely to cheat
More likely to quit

73. people feel controlled by the
person giving the rewards

74. how do you maintain autonomy?
mix and match!

76. People turn up for one reason.
People stay for another.

77. badges etc.
Identify your life cycle.
activities
Newbie
recognition
Expert
Master

78. Laughing at a client one last time...
We’d like a turn key gamification solution
within the next 3 weeks, thanks!

79. The usual tired example.
Great example.

81. Nike Plus
motivating fitness?

82. sign post

83. meaningful reward
sharing
sign post
positive reinforcement

84. Rules of Gamespotting
Rule of Gamespotting
Not everything can be gamified.

85. Design for the people who are
actually using the damn thing.

86. Look for opportunities to deeply entwine the
gamification with your core product.

87. Stuff from games doesn’t make
things fun, engaging or popular.
Games are fun when
they’re well designed.

88. Strive for the long wow.
But start small.

89. Did
Did you mean: nag a ram
you mean: recursion

91. Don’t start with badges.

92. Not every compelling interaction is fun.

93. Allowing users to discover the
utility in your product

94. I will give you candy if you click
the button.
I will take away your candy if
you don’t click the button.

95. what’s wrong with gamification
what it actually does
when to use it

96. Thank you.
@parisba
paris@secretlab.com.au
Slides online within a week or so.