Gamification (or gameful design) is not a new concept, but it has been mishandled by marketing consultants. This presentation will outline the concept for you through the perspective of game design.

1. GAMIFICATION:
INTEGRATING
GAMING INTO
YOUR BRAND
STRATEGY
ISSAM
HEDDAD
STRATEGIST
TP1
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.

2. MY CAREER PATH
➡ 5 years of experience in web
➡ Passionate about video games
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.

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

4. GAMING DESIGN
STRATEGIST
➡ Université de Montréal (ex-Ubisoft
campus)
➡ D.E.S.S. in Gaming Design
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.

5. 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.

6. SOME STATISTICS
➡ 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
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.

7. 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)

8. MY GAMING HABITS
Way too much
1985 2006 2008 2012
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)

9. 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.

10. 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).

11. 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/.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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”.

15. 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!

16. “GAMIFICATION IS THE USE OF GAMING DESIGN
ELEMENTS IN NON-GAMING CONTEXTS.”
SEBASTIAN DETERDING
Associate 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.

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

18. And this is my reaction.

19. GAMIFICATION:
TWO
IMPORTANT
RULES FOR
GAMIFICATION
Things that you’ll need to know in order to move forward!

20. 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)

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
➡ Level of difficulty
➡ Feedback systems
➡ Reward systems
➡ Types of players
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.

24. DIFFICULTY VS. SKILLS
Difficulty
ANXIETY
w
F lo
BOREDOM
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).

25. DIFFICULTY VS. SKILLS
Difficulty
PREPARING
YOUR TAXES
w
F lo
TIC-TAC-TOE
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.

26. 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.

27. 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/.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. TYPES OF PLAYERS
Action
KILLERS ACHIEVERS
Players Worlds
SOCIALIZERS EXPLORERS
Interaction
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.

32. Action
Players Worlds
Interaction
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.

33. “GAMIFICATION IS BULLSHIT.”
IAN BOGOST
Author, 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

34. THE DARK SIDE OF
GAMIFICATION
➡ Badgification
➡ Conditioning
➡ Extrinsic motivation > intrinsic
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

35. GAMIFICATION
AND
CROWDSOURCING

36. PROJECT FOLDIT
FOLDIT PROJECT - 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)

37. GAMIFICATION
AND OPEN DATA

38. CHROMAROMA PROJECT - 2011
A very nice example of gamification! Chromaroma uses your public transport travel data to create a game. (http://
www.chromaroma.com/)

39. GAMIFICATION
AND EDUCATION

40. 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.

41. IN 2014, 70% OF GLOBAL 2,000
ORGANIZATIONS WILL HAVE AT
LEAST ONE GAMIFIED
APPLICATION.
IT’S TIME TO PLAY!

42. 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.

43. GAMIFICATION
THANK YOU!
ISSAM
HEDDAD
STRATEGIST
TP1
@issamheddad, @TP1mtl
issam@tp1.ca
www.tp1.ca
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.