The buzz surrounding gamification as an engagement platform is reaching critical mass in our industry with the bulk of attention directed to shallow, superficial layers of points & badges but there’s more to unlock. Lot’s more. By considering the psychological underpinnings of engagement driven by intrinsic player motivation, meaningful interactions and yes - mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics we can create a framework for architecting passionate user engagement, guiding behavior and ethically satisfying business goals.

1. MORE THAN POINTS GridGame Design Thinking
Systems
Architecting Engagement Through
Dustin DiTommaso | @DU5TBIN

2. WHAT IS A GAME?

3. WHAT IS A GAME?
A Structured, Voluntary Experience with
Rules and Goals that is Engaging and Fun.

4. FUN!!??!!?? O RLY??!!??

5. FARMVILLE

6. THREE THEORIES OF FUN
RAPH KOSTER – A THEORY OF FUN
“Fun comes from Learning and Mastery”
NICOLE LAZZARO – FOUR KEYS TO FUN
Hard Fun, Easy Fun, People Fun, Serious Fun
MARC LEBLANC – EIGHT KINDS OF FUN

7. EIGHT KINDS OF FUN
SENSATION: FELLOWSHIP:
Game as sense-pleasure Game as social framework
FANTASY: DISCOVERY:
Game as make-believe Game as uncharted territory
NARRATIVE: EXPRESSION:
Game as unfolding story Game as soap box
CHALLENGE: SUBMISSION:
Game as obstacle course Game as mindless pastime

8. WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

9. WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?
“The process of using game design thinking and mechanics to
engage audiences and solve problems.”

10. WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?
“The process of using game design thinking and mechanics to
engage audiences and solve problems.”
PROBLEMS?

11. WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?
“The process of using game design thinking and mechanics to
engage audiences and solve problems.”
PROBLEMS?
PERSONAL: Self Improvement - Lose Weight, Learn Something
SOCIETAL: Reduce Speeding, Encourage Eco-Friendly Behaviors,
In uence Charity
SYSTEM: Obtain Data, Direct User Behavior, Teach Something,
Quell Trolls

12. GAMIFICATION IS NOT
The adding of a super cial layer of points and badges to your
product or service.

13. GAMIFICATION IS NOT
The adding of a super cial layer of points and badges to your
product or service.
A PANACEA. It cannot right the fundamental wrongs of a
product set.

14. GAMIFICATION IS NOT
The adding of a super cial layer of points and badges to your
product or service.
A PANACEA. It cannot right the fundamental wrongs of a
product set.
A GAME. (Necessarily)

15. GAMIFICATION IS NOT
The adding of a super cial layer of points and badges to your
product or service.
A PANACEA. It cannot right the fundamental wrongs of a
product set.
A GAME. (Necessarily)
FUN. (Necessarily)

16. SO, WHY GAMIFICATION?
Game Design techniques are another tool you can use along
with all the other methods we employ as Experience Designers
to craft compelling experiences and products.
The goals of gami cation are to achieve higher levels of
engagement, change behaviors and stimulate innovation.
+ Game Mechanics are Levers to Drive User Behavior.

17. SO, WHY GAMIFICATION?
Game Design techniques are another tool you can use along
with all the other methods we employ as Experience Designers
to craft compelling experiences and products.
The goals of gami cation are to achieve higher levels of
engagement, change behaviors and stimulate innovation.
+ Game Mechanics are Levers to Drive User Behavior.
GARTNER REPORT (MAY 2011)
“50% of all Innovation process will be gami ed by 2015”
“70% of the Global 2000 will have a gami ed app by they
same year”
“A gami cation company will exist that is big as Facebook.”

18. FOURSQUARE
8 MILLION USERS
Daily Check-ins/User dropped from 0.5 to 0.34
when growing from 2 to 8 million accounts
A set. (foursquare 2011)
21% check in for the mayorship challenge and
achievements
54% check in ONLY when discounts are involved

19. MOTIVATION, ENGAGEMENT & MEANINGFUL INTERACTIONS
Games are voluntary, leisure activities. If forced to play, it is no longer a game.
User must be intrinsically motivated to engage with the game.
Users subconsciously ask themselves "Is this activity worth my time?
Does it gain me anything useful?"
CREATE MEANING: Tie goals & rewards to goals of user. [Mint Goals]
Offer users opportunity to inject their personal goals into the system
[buy a house, get out of debt, take a vacation]
INTRINSIC TRUMPS EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
Self-Improvement, Community Recognition & Belonging,
Productivity, Sense of Meaning and Contribution, Entertainment & Fun
Extrinsic Motivations are the mechanics of the game:
Points, Levels, Badges, Rewards
GAME DESIGNERS GOAL?
1. Identify the core intrinsic motivation in the hearts of your users –
Emotion Drives Action and Engagement
2. Build an Engagement Framework that supports this

20. FLOW
Flow is completely focused motivation.
It is a single-minded immersion
and represents perhaps the ultimate in
harnessing emotions in the service of
performing and learning.
- Mihály Csíkszentmihályi

21. DESIGNING FOR FLOW
1. Provide Clear Goals, challenges and
direction containing just the right level of
dif culty.
2. Adjust the challenge based on
changing skill and mastery.
3. Unfold the challenges over time in
conjunction with developing mastery.

22. A NEW WAY OF SEEING
USABILITY vs. GAME DESIGN
USABILITY
Make it Easy for the User
Remove obstacles in the way of user goals
Make it Impossible to Fail
Clear Next Steps
Can’t Miss Navigation
Design for the perpetual intermediate [Cooper]
GAME DESIGN
Design for Thinking, Challenge and Problem Solving
Provide obstacles for the user to overcome
Opportunities for Failure
Encourage Exploration and Discovery
Path to Mastery requires design focus on noobs & experts

23. USABILITY vs. GAME DESIGN
USABILITY
Make it Easy for the User
Remove obstacles in the way of user goals
Make it Impossible to Fail
Clear Next Steps
Can’t Miss Navigation
Design for the perpetual intermediate [Cooper]
GAME DESIGN

25. HOW DO WE EFFECTIVELY APPLY GAME
DESIGN THINKING TO CRAFT ENGAGNING
EXPERIENCES FOR OUR USERS?

26. RESEARCH DRIVES DECISIONS
CRITICAL STAKEHOLDER QUESTIONS:
1. What is the main reason for Gamifying your product / service?
2. How does it bene t the user?
3. Will they enjoy it?
PLAYER QUESTIONS:
Who are your Users? What are their needs and goals? Why are they Playing?
What is their Primary Play Style? (Solo, Competitive, Cooperative)
Who are they Playing With?
What Social Actions do they nd enjoyable – and why?
What Metrics do they care about?
BUSINESS QUESTIONS:
What Actions do you want your players to take?
What are the goals of the business?
How do you get the users to ful ll those goals?

27. RESEARCH DRIVES DECISIONS
POSSIBLE DIFFERENCES FROM UCD METHODS
When conducting user research and creating player personas pay attention to:
Demographic Data: Gender, Age, Geographical Data
Motivations: Goals aren’t enough, we need to get to underlying motivation. Motivations
contain the emotions that drive goals. Why would they use the product? What are they
hoping to get out of it?
Online Identity: How do they interact online? Do they prefer anonymity? How closely do
they blend real-life Identity with Online and Game identity?
Frustrations: What are their current frustrations? How might Gami cation remedy this?

28. BARTLE’S PLAYER TYPES

29. EXPLORER
Gets positive experience by nding new things in world around them
(Secrets, Unlocks, Easter Eggs)
LIKES TO:
Find own route around the game system
Engage in Open-Ended Play
Learn or acquire information during gameplay
Achieve their Goals in their own way on their own time (Autonomous play)
DESIGN CHALLENGE:
Prefers to play at own pace. Likes to customize their experience and feels restricted
when game forces them to move on before they are ready.

30. ACHIEVER
Motivated by a Sense of Progress and Mastery of the System
LIKES TO:
Measure Objectives in the Game
Make Progress towards objectives
Gain Recognition for their successes
Complete Collections of Rewards
Acquire Unique or Rare Objects or Status
Analyze and Understand Game Mechanics
DESIGN CHALLENGE:
Can be hard to design proper level of challenge for these folks. Flow State.

31. SOCIALIZER
Play games mostly to connect with other people
LIKES TO:
Gain Friends and In uence People
Join or Lead Groups
Organize Cooperative Activities
Comment, Share, Award
Be Liked
Gain Prestige
DESIGN CHALLENGE:
Building a sustainable community for interaction among players

32. KILLER
Similar to Achiever, except play Win/Lose game and want to show others
”Look at Me, I Won!”
LIKES TO:
Compete
Win
Show-Off
Trash Talk, Taunt
DESIGN CHALLENGE:
Hitting the right dif culty level
Keeping them in Check from Hacking the System or Disrupting the Community

33. CONSIDER THE CONTINUUM

34. QUICK TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT
ENGAGEMENT IS A JOURNEY
Design the Experience Over Time
Create Journey Maps (Timelines of player actions, reactions & emotions)
What does that Journey Towards Mastery look like?
Get In, Get Busy, Tell People, Come Back
ONBOARDING
Focus on N00B and First Time Experience
The First 60 seconds are crucial
Guide the User - N00B Can’t Lose
Action / Reward / Action / Action / Reward / Register / Invite Friends
GIVE THEN GET
Provide Value immediately when users arrive.
Give them the opportunity to engage, personalize and express preferences before
asking them to register.

35. QUICK TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT
PICK THE RIGHT REWARDS AND FEEDBACK
Know your audience intimately and create enough Juicy Feedback for all levels of
the Journey (N00B, Regular, Master)
Light the Path of the Journey with Progress Mechanics
Achievable short term goals that work towards overarching long term goals
SOCIAL HOOKS
If you’ve created the RIGHT Rewards/Achievements then your Players will WANT to
share their Status with others.
DESIGN ETHICALLY
Addiction is not the same as Engagement
There is certainly ‘Click-Whir’ Behavioral Psych at work behind many mechanics.
Use them Responsibly.

36. REFERENCES: A PATH TO MASTERY
100,000 POINTS
Nic Kelman, “Yes, but is it a game?” from Games : Required essay from a not so
required book.
Raph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design : It’s not a game if it’s not fun
Jesse Schell, The Art of Game Design – A Book of Lenses : Tactical and practical
James Paul Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning & Literacy :
Pairs nicely with Koster’s book
Marc Leblanc, 8 Types of Fun : Many implications for creating engagement
architectures
50,000 POINTS
Marc Leblanc, MDA a Formal Process of Game Design : Origin of the Mechanics,
Dynamics, Aesthetics framework
Mihály Csikszentmihályi, Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience : Many
implications for creating engagement architectures
Bateman, Boon, 21st Century Game Design : Pragmatic approach to Game Design

37. REFERENCES: A PATH TO MASTERY
25,000 POINTS
Nicole Lazzaro, Why We Play Games : Four Kinds of Fun / Keys to Player Experience
Daniel Pink, Drive : Cliff Notes approach to Motivation
Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken : Overeaching, Games will Save the World Treatise
Zicherman, Linder, Game-Based Marketing : Enthusiastic, Behaviorist argument for
Gami cation Pro teering.
BONUS POINTS
Bartle Player Type Quiz : http://www.game-on-book.com/bartle
Jesse Schell, DICE2010 Gamepocalypse Preso [VIDEO] : http://bit.ly/jT6LvD
Daniel Pink, The Surprising Science of Motivation [VIDEO] : http://bit.ly/j7PVke

38. Dustin DiTommaso
Experience Design Director
Email: dustin@madpow.net
Twitter: @DU5TBIN