Gamification, i.e. applying game elements in non-game contexts, is been increasingly used for designing systems and application elements to foster user engagement, enjoyment and support behavior change. Experts agree that, to be efficient, gamification strategies should be designed in a user-centric fashion. However, current user-centered design approaches in gamification primarily involve users during user research and iterative testing. In this paper, we describe an ideation approach for involving users in the conceptualization of gamification, making the gamification design process a more participatory activity, a process done with the user rather then for the user. Our results show that our method fostered participation without confining creativity. Participants were able to generate many ideas, several of them being “out of the box”.

1. Participatory ideation for gamification:
Bringing the user at the heart of the
gamification design process
Thomas Vilarinho, Babak A. Farshchian,
Jacqueline Floch and Ole Gunhildsberg Hansen
HCSE 2018, SophiaTech, Sophia Antipolis

2. The user-centered design process
Understand users Design solution Test solution
The basic idea

3. The user-centered design process
Understand users Design solution Test solution
Where users are traditionally involved

4. The user-centered design process
Understand users Design solution Test solution
Where users should really get involved

5. This implies….
From designing innovative
solutions for users
To cooperating with and
guiding users towards their
own solutions
From solutions To processes
What does this transition mean?

6. Our case: Cystic Fibrosis
• Found in 76 000 people worldwide.
• Demanding regimen to maintain
wellbeing and lung function.
• Up to three hours of daily self-
management with inhaling,
physiotherapy, documenting...
• Individualized disease progression.

7. Gamification and gameful design
“Gamification refers to technologies used to
promote intrinsic motivation toward
various activities by employing game
design elements“
Hamari and Koivisto 2015.
Gamification ≠ Gaming
Habitica

8. Our contribution:
Process for co-design of gamification
Understand users Design solution Test solution
Stakeholder
interviews
Ideation workshops:
• Introduction
• Presentation
• Ideation
• Ideation review
• Closing
Test solution

9. Ideation workshops: A guided process
• Based on researched set of:
• Behavioral outcomes/goals.
• Activities.
• Barriers.
• Ensuring the “gamification
design fit” (Deterding 2015).
• A set of gamification mechanics
“cards”.
• A guided idea generation
process.
Hamari, Koivisto and Sarsa, 2014

10. Evaluation setup
• Two workshops with healthy
users, 23 and 24 years old.
• Baseline: MyFitnessPal.
• Two workshops with patients, 22
and 16 years old.
• Baseline: MyCyfApp Cysitic
Fibrosis app (right).

11. Gamified examples from our evaluation

12. Evaluation results
• Users are triggered to come up with new gamification mechanics and
ideas.
• From gamification mechanics to larger gamification concepts
• An example is the gamified Cystic Fibrosis community.
• Gaming experience does not affect number of ideas, but affects
details in each idea.
• Moderator plays an important role.
• We moved from one moderator to two.

13. Contributions
• We build on and extend an emerging body of knowledge in the
crossroad between gameful design and co-design of gamification.
• We contribute to existing “card-based” methods of co-design by
testing ideas and processes in a challenging new domain.
• We have contributed with detailed co-design workshop setups.

14. Future research
• More evaluations with new users.
• Extending gamification mechanics, e.g. for personalization.
• Evaluation of the effect of generated designs.

15. Thank you!