Gamification - Defining, Designing and Using it

Gamification - defining, designing and using it
Zachary Fitz-Walter
Mobile Innovation Lab, QUT
http://www.flickr.com/people/8473570@N02
http://zefcan.com

Today’s missions >>
1. What is gamification?
2. Designing gamification

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/3544734138/
Let’s say you caught the train this morning to
work...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/5463240793/
...and you know you should take the stairs,
but the escalator is just so much easier.

How can we encourage people to take the
stairs and get a little more exercise?

Odenplan, Stockholm, Sweden
http://www.thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase
Here’s an interesting idea...

Piano Stairs
Turn them into a piano?

Using play to motivate

Gamification
Gamification is similar...

Gamification
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danieltack/2013/01/02/world-of-warcraft-gearing-up-at-level-90
...but it draws more specifically on video
games rather than just play.

Gamification is a special word

It hasn’t been around for very long...

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Web search interest in gamification
trends.google.com

Foursquare really took off in 2011...

Text
...and was well known for the game
elements it added

“By 2015, More than 50 percent of organizations that
manage innovation processes will gamify those processes”
Gartner Press Release - 2011
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1629214
Gartner released this statement in 2011

Gamiﬁcation became a buzzword

http://www.bogost.com/blog/gamification_is_bullshit.shtml
And it’s made a bit of a name for itself both
good... and not so good.

It’s become a bit of a cure all for
engagement problems...

“80 Percent of Current Gamified Applications Will Fail to
Meet Business Objectives Primarily Due to Poor Design”
Gartner Press Release - 2012
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2251015
And then Gartner released this statement...

http://www.redherring.com/internet/gamification-platform-badgeville-raises-25m/
Yet still there is a lot of money in it...

Gamification
To understand it...

Games
...we have to go back to it’s roots.

http://laportecreative.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nerdyrevenge.jpg
The average gamer?
Is a young, nerdy male who plays video
games (often violent) all by themselves right?

Video games have become mainstream

92% of Australians live in a household with
at least one device used for playing games
Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012
http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf

The average age of a gamer is 32
(And 43% of people aged 51 or older are also gamers)

Gender
of Australian gamers
53%
Male
47%
Female

Video games have become big business

The video game industry in Australia
netted $1.161 billion in revenue last year
http://www.igea.net

In the US consumers spent $24.75 billion on
video games, hardware and accessories in 2011.
Entertainment Software Association, 2011 - http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp
The Numbers, 2011 - http://www.the-numbers.com/market/

Video games have become mobile

Mobile phones are used to play games in 43%
of game households, tablet computers in 13%

Video games have become social

1 in 5 gamers play social network games
1 in 10 play massively multiplayer games

World of Warcraft
One of the most engaging games out there
is this one.

...and then embark on quests and
adventures in the world with other players.

Wait... this is just like work
After playing for 8 hours straight it hit me...

12 million subscribers in 2010
Others think it’s fun as well, even many years
after it was released.

Most games boil down to solving a problem...

• Find a way to kill 3 boars
• Find a way to get more points than the other
team
• Find a way to get to the finish line before the
other players
• Find a way to complete this level
• Find a way to destroy the other player before
they destroy you
Last four examples are from The Art of Game Design, Jesse Schell, 2008

It’s how this activity is presented that plays an
important part in creating a fun experience

"Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of
comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes
games fun. In other words, with games, learning is the drug”
- Raph Koster
A Theory of Fun, 2005

Hang on, if games are so engaging...

...could we use them to make other
things engaging?

Gamification
Now we’re seeing where this concept of
gamification comes from...

Serious games
...but wait, the concept of serious games has
been around long before gamification.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/02/09/oregontrail.jpg
Oregon Trail - 1971

http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/files/ReaderRabbit/ScreenGrab_1/reader_rabbit_shot.gif
Reader Rabbit - 1986

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
http://www.abandonia.com/games/13

First, video games have become really
popular...

...and second there has been a change in
technology like no other. In particular mobile
devices, constant connection and sensors.

With our powers combined...
The world is our playground

Framing real life activities like a video game, in order to
make these activities more engaging
Gamification

Sustainability - Nissan My Leaf
Sustainability Nissan CARWINGS

Google Glass
If technology continues to evolve...
http://pctechmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/google-glasses.jpeg

Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo, 2012, https://vimeo.com/46304267

•Points
•Badges
•Leaderboards
•Levels

Became popular with Foursquare

•Points
•Badges
•Leaderboards
•Levels
= Rewards
}

Behaviour + Rewards = Fun!Behaviour + Rewards = Fun!

progresswars.com
Otherwise this would be the best game out
there...

Where’s the puzzle? Where’s the challenge?

So how can we design engaging
gamification experiences?

Motivation
There are two types...

Extrinsic Motivation
http://2bgr8stock.deviantart.com/art/Money-Cash-113445826
Motivation for an external reward

Behaviour + Rewards =
Extrinsic
Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation
Tim Pierce http://www.flickr.com/photos/48439369@N00
When an activity is performed for the internal
satisfaction of under the activity itself

Intrinsic Motivation
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allisonjohnstonn/6332963681/
The act of playing a game is generally
considered an intrinsically satisfying activity

So what makes a game
motivating to play?

• Autonomy - choice to play and choice over
actions
• Competence - ability to optimally challenge
players
• Relatedness - connection with others
(Ryan, Rigby, and Przybylski, 2006)
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-006-9051-8

Flow
Proposed by Csíkszentmihályi

• Intense and focused concentration
• Merging of action and awareness
• A loss of reflective self-consciousness
• A sense control or agency over the activity
• A distortion of time
• Experience of the activity as being intrinsically
rewarding
Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow theory and research. In C. R. Snyder & S. J.
Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 195-206). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Factors of a flow experience

• A clear goal
• Clear progress
• Clear and immediate feedback
• Balance of challenge and skill
Conditions for flow

Based off a graph proposed by Csíkszentmihályi

These are important factors to consider
when trying to design a game.

These are important factors to consider
when trying to design gamification.

Start with an activity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoteldelapaixgeneve/5726470040/

Ask, do you really need gamification?

• Have you got an engagement or motivation
problem, or is it something else? E.g., Usability
• Ask yourself is this a problem that can’t be
improved in any other way?
• If motivation is lacking... looking towards game
elements and theory might be worthwhile.

Ask why is this activity boring?
What’s missing?

• Clear and interesting goals?
• Feedback?
• Interesting and playful mechanics?
• Challenge?
• Progression and Mastery?

Determine the goals
The goals of the activity you’re trying to
encourage (e.g., getting fit)

Derive goal metrics
Work out how you can measure these goals

Sensors?
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/fitbit-zip/

People
http://gamingtheclassroom.wordpress.com/syllabus/

Design like a game

Think of the player
What are their demographics? What do they
like playing?

http://bizfest.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/bartle.png

Test and playtest!

Games get boring
What happens after your user gets bored of
the gamification? Will they keep using it?

Cheating
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheating.JPG
People cheat, it’s a challenge. How will
cheating affect your underlying activity?

Cheating
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheating.JPG

Real life dangers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellenm1/6050529448/
In games you get many lives... however in
real life you only get one. Gamify carefully.

• Clear and interesting goals
• Feedback
• Interesting and playful mechanics
• Challenge
• Progression and Mastery
• Aesthetics and Narrative
•Handles potential dangers
Billie Weiss, Original uploader Rschuman at en.wikipedia http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zombie_Chase.jpg

Gamification is more than just badges

It’s easy, so start trying it!

•Name: Zac Fitz-Walter
•Class: PhD Candidate from QUT
•Abilities: Research, Teaching, iPhone Development
•Weaknesses: Cats and Mangoes
<Replay?>
Zac Fitz-Walter
•Email: z.fitz-walter@qut.edu.au
•www: http://zefcan.com
•Newsletter: http://gamificationweekly.com
•Twitter: @zefcan

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