The document discusses gamification in information systems, emphasizing how game design elements can motivate users in non-game contexts. It outlines the definition, significance, and application of gamification, supported by various examples across different sectors. The document also addresses the critiques of gamification, highlighting the need for meaningful engagement and careful design to avoid superficial implementation.

1. Faculty of Organization and Informatics. Varaždin. (Univ. Zagreb). May 2018
Gamifiying information systems:
How to motivate users with game
elements
Luis de Marcos Ortega
Universidad de Alcalá
luis.demarcos@uah.es
https://goo.gl/sBjvw1

2. TOC
1. Univ. de Alcalá
2. Games
3. Videogames
4. Gamification
5. Examples
6. Process
7. Criticism
8. Conclusion
9. References

3. Univ. de Alcalá
• Founded in 1499
• World Heritage Site (1998)
– “First planned university city in
the Modern Age”
• Presentation video
– http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=mQ0oSqja8Aw

4. Univ. de Alcalá
• Polytechnic School
– Computer Science
– Electronics
– Communication
• Computer Science Dept.
– Degrees: Comp. Science,
Comp. Eng., Inf. Systems
– Master degree: Web Sw. Eng,
Project Management
– Doctoral study in Information &
Knowledge Engineering

5. Games
• Definition:
No consensus of what a game is
• deep philosophical question…

6. Games
• Wittgenstein [on language]
– “For how is the concept of a game
bounded? What still counts as a
game and what no longer does?
Can you give the boundary? No.
You can draw one; for none has
so far been drawn. (But that never
troubled you before when you
used the word ‘game’.)”
Philosophical Investigations,
Aphorism 68

7. Games
• “playing a game is an
attempt to overcome
unnecessary obstacles“
• Elements:
–Objective (prelusory goal)
–Rules (lusory means)
–Lusory attitude
(Suits, 2005)

8. Games
• “Play is not the predominat
feature of childhood but is a
leading factor in development”
• “Strict subordination to rules is
quite impossible, but in play it
does become possible: thus play
creates a zone of proximal
development of the child. In play
a child always behaves beyond
his average age, above his daily
behavior” (Mind in society, 1978)
Lev Vygotsky

9. 9
Games
• "If play is at the heart of learning,
games are the frameworks that help
us understand and better ourselves
as we gather more knowledge of
who we are.“ (Nacke, 2017)

10. Games
• Games have had an important role in our evolution
(Koster, 2005)
– "Games are exercises for our brains" (pag. 38)
– "Play developed to teach us about survival" (pag. 196)

11. Games
• Games have the potential to change the world and
can be used to tackle real world problems
(McGonigal, 2011)
www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world

12. Videogames
• Computers provide to games:
–immediate feedback
–multimedia enriched narrative
–connectivity

13. Videogames
• Videogames are
learning tools
(Gee, 2007)
– set of goals and rules
that constraint possible
actions, and a feedback
mechanism that
provides a seamless
sense of progression.

14. Gamification
• Gamification is the use of game design
elements in non-game contexts to engage
users and promote action (Werbach, 2012)
https://www.coursera.org/course/gamification

15. Gamification
• Gamification has a great potential
–Unmotivated users
–Systems not used
–Employees and customers disengaged
• Put fun back!!!

16. Gamification
• Game design elements (Werbach, 2012)
– Dynamics (5): Constraints, emotions, narrative, progression,
relationships
– Mechanics (10): Challenge, chance, competition, cooperation,
feedback, resourse acquisition, rewards, transactions, turns, win
states
– Components (15): Achievements, avatars, badges, boss fights,
collections, combat, content unlocking, gifting, leaderboards, levels,
points, quests, social graph, teams, virtual goods.

17. Gamification
• PBL triad:
–(P)oints
–(B)agdes
–(L)eaderboard

18. Examples
• Nike+
– Points + community (challenge friends)
– 28 million users (2018)  Experience of running
– Market share (U.S shoes):
• from 47% (2006) to 61% (2009)

19. Examples
• Starbucks loyality program
– Points (stars) + levels
– Nice integration: Payment App
– 6 million users (2013)
– $3 billion in sales

20. Examples
• Habitica (HabitRPG) Productivity apps
– Real life RPG – gamify your life
– 2M users
– Avatar, points, virtual goods, (customizable) quests

21. More Examples
• Social
– Pain Squad: helps patients combat cancer
– OPower: Energy consumption
– RecycleBank
• Educational
– Khan Academy, Udemy, Codeacademy, Duolingo
• Marketing / eCommerce
– McDonald’s Monopoly, Coca-Cola’s Shake It
• Enterprise gamification
– Nitro for Salesforce, Badgeville

22. Gamification
• Types of gamification (organizational view)
– Internal gamification
– External gamification
– Behavior-change gamification
• Types of gamification (process view)
– Product gamification
– Marketing gamification
– Workplace gamification

23. Gamification
• Other flavours of gamification
–Game-based/gameful design
–Motivational software/design
–Serious games
–Playful design
–Ludification / Ludology
–Fun theory

24. Examples
• American Army
– Serious game / simulation
– First-person shooter designed for recruiting
– Most effective marketing tool of AA

25. Examples
• Fold-it
– Serious game
– Real world-problem (protein folding)

26. Examples
• Piano Stairs
–Playful design / Fun theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

27. Process
Gamification is not an insignificant
task: game mechanics/elements on
their own result insufficient (Kapp,
2012)

28. Process
1. Define / know your player style
2. Express the player lifecycle
3. Put positive psychology in your design
4. Motivate players
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4YP-hGZTuA

29. Process
1. Define / know your player style
– Forget about users…
think in terms of players!!!
– Different players means different…
• Skills
• Needs
• Expectations
• Motivations
– Know your player styles and address them

30. Process
• Player styles (Bartle, 1996)
World
Interact
Players
Act
Bartle Test: http://matthewbarr.co.uk/bartle/

31. Process
2. Express the player lifecycle
– Newbies need to learn the basics
– Regulars need fresh content / activities / challenges
– Experts need exclusivity, recognition, impact

32. Process
3. Put positive psychology in your design
– In your activity loops
– PERMA model
• (P)ositive Emotion
• (E)ngagement
• (R)elationships
• (M)eaning
• (A)ccomplisments

33. Process
4. Motivate your players
– Focus on intrinsic rewards
– Provide a sense of autonomy, mastery and
purpose
– Design your flow
• Theoretical background (psychology)
– Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000)
– Flow (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990)

34. Theory
• Motivators:
– Extrinsic motivation – from outside sources,
usually rewards
– Intrinsic motivation – from within an individual,
self-determined
• Beware of extrinsic motivators / rewards
– Reward may become the only reason
– Potentially demotivating effect

35. Theory
• Self-determination theory (SDT)
– continuum between extrinsic motivation

36. 36
Theory
• "In gamification, the activities we are
designing must not only be goal-
oriented and rule-driven but also be
meaningful for our users” (Nacke, 2017)
 Motivational affordances

37. Theory
• Self-determination theory
– Motivational affordances

38. Theory
• Flow (Csíkszentmihályi, 1975)
– Not that easy to get with gamification…

39. 39
Exercise
• Gamification in Moodle
– Challenge: Students don’t submit assignments
1. Define your users & their motivations
2. Game elements to use and why (affordances)

40. • Social Gamification of Learning
– Main mechanics: Competition + cooperation
Example
40

41. Example
• Social Gamification of Learning
– Elements
• Achievements (social or task-related)  Autonomy
• Peer-review Competence + Relatedness
• Personal profile  Autonomy (+Relatedness)
• Dashboard + social network Relatedness
• Virtual shop, rewards  Autonomy
– Addressing all player types
– Elgg social networking engine + gamification
features

42. • Social Gamification of Learning
Example

43. • Results: Learning performance
Example
43

44. • Results: Social graph
Example

45. 45
Criticism
“However, the rise of gamification also brought the
risk of a hollow and frustrated world, with users made
to do tasks that did not contribute to self-improvement
or personal learning. Points and badges were used
for meaningless progression in a digital system;
leaderboards provided a “digital whip” for employees
not performing at a high level. We saw the dangers of
gamification. In many instances, digital marketing
became synonymous with gamification, leading
designers astray from core concepts of self-
determination” (Nacke, 2017)

46. Criticism
“Gamification is bullshit. I'm not being flip or
glib or provocative. I'm speaking
philosophically. More specifically, gamification
is marketing bullshit, invented by consultants
as a means to capture the wild, coveted beast
that is videogames and to domesticate it for
use in the grey, hopeless wasteland of big
business, where bullshit already reigns
anyway.” (Ian Bogost)
http://www.bogost.com/blog/gamification_is_bullshit.shtml

47. Criticism
• Cow clicker
–“deconstructive satire of social games […]
gamification, educational apps, and
alternate reality games” (wikipedia)
–Pointsification…
http://bogost.com/writing/blog/cow_clicker_1/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Clicker

48. Criticism
“Gamification is an inadvertent con. It tricks
people into believing that there’s a simple way
to imbue their thing (bank, gym, job,
government, genital health outreach program,
etc) with the psychological, emotional and
social power of a great game.”
Can’t play, won’t play
Margaret robertson
http://www.hideandseek.net/2010/10/06/cant-play-wont-play/

49. Caveats
Sight (2012)
– A short futuristic film by Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo.
http://vimeo.com/46304267

50. Caveats
“Amusement is the extension of work in
late capitalism. It is sought out by him
who wants to scape the mechanised
process of work only to become fit for it
anew”
Dialectics of Enlightenment
Theodor W. Adorno.

51. Conclusions
• Engagement can be a differentiator
• Gamification is not an easy task
• and it’s not always appropriate…
• Recommendations:
– Find interesting challenges
• ‘Don’t “sugarcoat” non-fun stuff.’ (Deterding)
– Involve players
– Focus on meaning, autonomy & relatedness
– Play test: test, test, test, & then… test again
– Don’t forget the fun!!!

52. Conclusions
“at its core gamification is
about finding the fun in the
things that you have to do”
(Werbach, 2012)

53. References
• CSÍKSZENTMIHÁLYI, M. 1990. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience, New York,
HarperCollins.
• GEE, J. P. 2007. What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy,
New York, Palgrave Macmillan.
• KAPP, K. M. 2012. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods
and Strategies for Training and Education, San Francisco, Pfeiffer.
• KOSTER, R. 2005. A Theory of Fun for Game Design, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA,
Paraglyph Press.
• McGONIGAL, J. 2011. Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can
Change the World, New York, Penguin Books.
• NACKE, L. E. 2017. Games user research and gamification in human-computer
interaction. XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, 24, 48-51.
• RYAN, R. M. & DECI, E. L. 2000. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions
and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67.
• SUITS, B. 2005. The Grasshopper: Life, Games & Utopia, Toronto, Broadview Press.
• WERBACH, K. & HUNTER, D. 2012. For the win: How game thinking can revolutionize
your business, Philadelphia, Wharton Digital Press.

54. Other Resources
• Kevin Werbach course on Gamification
– https://www.coursera.org/course/gamification
• Sebastian Deterding: Meaningful Play: Getting
Gamification Right
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZGCPap7GkY
• Amy Jo Kim: Smart Gamification
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4YP-hGZTuA

55. Thank you & Questions

56. Faculty of Organization and Informatics. Varaždin. (Univ. Zagreb). May 2018
Gamifiying information systems:
How to motivate users with game
elements
Luis de Marcos Ortega
Universidad de Alcalá
luis.demarcos@uah.es
https://goo.gl/sBjvw1