This document discusses the concept of gamification and its potential use for promoting energy efficiency. It notes that while gamification techniques like points, badges and leaderboards could help encourage positive behaviors, they risk being ineffective or even damaging if not implemented properly. Intrinsic motivations are important for cognitive tasks, so gamification needs to give rewards real meaning rather than being exploitative. The document also outlines criticisms of gamification and considers how game elements could work if integrated in a workplace context based on existing extrinsic motivators like pay and recognition. It concludes that applying games to real problems risks unpredictable outcomes and temporary engagement, but may help reduce barriers to new behaviors initially.

1. What does
Gamification mean?
Matt Batey,
PhD Candidate at De Montfort University
Belgium Expert IEA Task 24

2. Why? Research Perspective:

3. Why? Research Perspective:
• User engagement
on energy
efficiency

4. Why? Research Perspective:
• User engagement
on energy
efficiency
• How to maintain
user interest?

5. Why? Research Perspective:
1. Incorporating user preferences into
development process
2. User-involvement in innovation creates sense of
ownership, hence personal interest in its
success
3. Energy-efficiency achieved within project as a
stated aim

6. Why? Research Perspective:
1. Incorporating user preferences into
development process
2. User-involvement in innovation creates sense of
ownership, hence personal interest in its
success
3. Energy-efficiency achieved within project as a
stated aim
• How to maintain
user interest?

7. Why? Practice Perspective:
• Energy management in the context of a future
workplace
• Flexible, shared office
• Users responsible for energy efficiency
• Is gamification a route to optimising
performance?

8. Why not try a game
approach?
• "Games can change the world"
• Help us develop solutions to
complex problems without
pressure
• Create clear paths of action
towards achieving a goal

9. Gamification is good

10. Gamification is good

11. Gamification is good

12. Gamification is good

13. Gamification is good
• Points - people like
to be rewarded
• Badges - people
like recognition
• Leaderboards -
people like to
compete

17. Gamification is bad

18. Gamification is bad
• "most deployments of gamification represent “exploitationware,” in that they extract
real value from users and employees in return for mere virtual tokens" Ian Bogost;

19. Gamification is bad
• "most deployments of gamification represent “exploitationware,” in that they extract
real value from users and employees in return for mere virtual tokens" Ian Bogost;
• “taking the thing that is least essential to games and representing it as the core of
the experience,” "Gamificationʼ... can go take a long walk off a short pier." Margaret
Robertson, Hide and Seek

20. Gamification is bad
• "most deployments of gamification represent “exploitationware,” in that they extract
real value from users and employees in return for mere virtual tokens" Ian Bogost;
• “taking the thing that is least essential to games and representing it as the core of
the experience,” "Gamificationʼ... can go take a long walk off a short pier." Margaret
Robertson, Hide and Seek
• "don't just fail to engage players; they can actually damage existing interest or
engagement" Elizabeth Lawley, Rochester

21. Gamification is bad
• "most deployments of gamification represent “exploitationware,” in that they extract
real value from users and employees in return for mere virtual tokens" Ian Bogost;
• “taking the thing that is least essential to games and representing it as the core of
the experience,” "Gamificationʼ... can go take a long walk off a short pier." Margaret
Robertson, Hide and Seek
• "don't just fail to engage players; they can actually damage existing interest or
engagement" Elizabeth Lawley, Rochester
• "[do not] adequately account for the ways in which individuals and contexts differ."
Judd Antin, Yahoo! Research

22. Gamification is bad
• "most deployments of gamification represent “exploitationware,” in that they extract
real value from users and employees in return for mere virtual tokens" Ian Bogost;
• “taking the thing that is least essential to games and representing it as the core of
the experience,” "Gamificationʼ... can go take a long walk off a short pier." Margaret
Robertson, Hide and Seek
• "don't just fail to engage players; they can actually damage existing interest or
engagement" Elizabeth Lawley, Rochester
• "[do not] adequately account for the ways in which individuals and contexts differ."
Judd Antin, Yahoo! Research
• Even Jane MacGonagle: "I don't do 'gamification,' and I'm not prepared to stand up
and say I think it works. If the game is not about a goal you're intrinsically motivated
by, it won't work."

23. What's in a game
• Motivations
• Extrinsic motivators (money,
rewards) work for mechanical
tasks
• For anything cognitive, intrinsic
motivations are required:

24. What's in a game
• Motivations
• Extrinsic motivators (money,
rewards) work for mechanical
tasks
• For anything cognitive, intrinsic
motivations are required:
AUTONOMY

25. What's in a game
• Motivations
• Extrinsic motivators (money,
rewards) work for mechanical
tasks
• For anything cognitive, intrinsic
motivations are required:
AUTONOMY
COMPETENCE

26. What's in a game
• Motivations
• Extrinsic motivators (money,
rewards) work for mechanical
tasks
• For anything cognitive, intrinsic
motivations are required:
AUTONOMY
COMPETENCE
RELATEDNESS

27. What's in a game
• essentially free
• separate
• uncertain
• unproductive
• governed
• make-believe
(Huizinga, 1938. Caillios, 1957)
• Game scenarios work best on those without a strong opinion on the subject
(Haring, 2013)

28. What's in a game
• Reward = Incentive ?
• Difference between motivating a
first-time behaviour & repeat
behaviour
• Altruism vs. Self-interest

29. The Third Way?
• Can Points, badges and leader boards be effective
behavioural drivers if given real meaning or currency for users:
• reputation, recognition, personal satisfaction
• tradable assets (trading becomes an additional game layer)
• Especially in a workplace context based on extrinsic rewards
(pay, promotions, titles, etc.)
• Rajat Paharia, CEO of Bunchball, advocates gamification tools
such as: "goal setting, real-time feedback, transparency,
mastery, competition, teams..."

30. Conclusions
• Turning real world problems into a game likely
to produce unpredictable results
• Engagement & behaviours temporary
• Can help remove barriers to entry to new
behaviours
• ...

31. Break-out Session
• Scenario one:
Consider your office.
Imagine there will be a financial incentive for
building users to adopt their energy saving
behavior. Each team will have financial fund for
training and for social events such as trips
away and team dinners.

32. Break-out Session
• Scenario two:
One day every 3 months, you get together with
your team for a game. You can choose where
you spend the day, within a reasonable budget,
so long as its a place otherwise open to the
public (e.g. bar, restaurant).
The players will communicate with the building
energy and maintenance manager, suggest