This document discusses intrinsic motivation and how it relates to gamification. It defines intrinsic motivation as doing an activity for its own sake rather than for external rewards. Extrinsic motivation involves doing something to get a separable outcome. The document proposes that intrinsic motivation comes from four factors: relatedness, autonomy, mastery, and purpose. It defines each of these factors and gives examples of how they can be supported through gamification. It introduces the RAMP model, which depicts these four intrinsic motivators as layers in supporting long-term engagement. The document argues that while extrinsic rewards have their place, intrinsic motivation through relatedness, autonomy, mastery and purpose is key to sustained participation.

1. THE INTRINSIC
MOTIVATION RAMP
FOR GAMIFICATION
Andrzej Marczewski’s Core Principles
of Gamification Series

2. A lot of talk in gamification turns to the
relative values of Extrinsic rewards vs
Intrinsic Motivation.
It often seems like a conversation about
good and evil. I have been guilty of this
many times in the past!
The truth is that both have their place, but
intrinsic motivation is where longevity and
true engagement will come from.
This presentation is based on my original
blog post found here -
https://www.gamified.uk/gamification-
framework/the-intrinsic-motivation-ramp/

3. DefinitionDefining Motivation

4. Defining Motivation
• Intrinsic motivation is defined by researchers Edward Deci and Richard Ryan
as “the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some
separable consequence”1.
• They identify three intrinsic motivators: competence (or mastery), autonomy and
relatedness, forming the basis of their Self-Determination Theory 2.
• Additionally we will also consider Purpose as a fourth motivational consideration 3.
• In contrast, extrinsic motivation is “a construct that pertains whenever an
activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome” 1.
• In terms of gamification, this would be considered any reward that was given to a user
as an incentive to do something, for example, badges.
1. Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary educational psychology
25, 1 (2000), 54–67.
2. Ryan, Richard M., and Edward L. Deci. "Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-
being." American Psychologist 55.1 (2000): 68-78.

5. Relatedness, Autonomy,
Mastery and Purpose
Defining the Parts of the
RAMP

6. Relatedness
• Relatedness is the desire to be connected to others. In gamification, social status and connections that
come from communities satisfy this desire. I feel this is the glue that holds gamification together and
elevates a gamified system above being just another gimmick. After the badges become boring due to
habituation and the points are meaningless – having a community that enjoys their interactions with
each other becomes the key to retaining their engagement and loyalty.
• The sense of belonging and connectedness to other people is, in my mind, underrated. When you feel
that you are part of a community and create relationships - that sense of community is much stronger
than any digital reward you might get from posting an article to twitter!
• Within the enterprise, this can be found in internal social networks as well as in the office. I mentioned
social status as well. This may seem like an external force and to a certain extent, it is. However, status
can be a very personal thing. Feeling that others value you, your input or your experience is very
motivating. You do not need a leaderboard to feel that, you need to have connections with people and
some way to get those people talking, sharing, and giving each other feedback.
• Relatedness is the key to encourage participation from Socialiser User Types.

7. Autonomy
• Autonomy can have multiple meanings, but the core concept that I consider in gamification is that of
freedom or agency. Most people do not like to feel that they are being controlled or stifled. Without
some level of freedom, you will struggle to cultivate innovation and creativity.
• Google recognised this when they implemented their 80/20 rule. Their employees were encouraged to
spend 20% of their time working on their own projects. This led to some of their most important
innovations, Gmail and Google News being two well-known graduates of this way of thinking!
• You could also look at this in terms of meaningful choices. When teaching a new topic or idea, are you
giving the user the freedom to choose how they learn for instance? Are they able to choose the path
that best suits their needs or learning style or are they forced to do it one way or no way?
• Giving users a level of autonomy will help them to feel that they have at least some control of what
they are doing. For example, in an enterprise situation, it is the difference between micromanagement
and leaving your employees to get on with their job. It shows them that they are trusted and can not
only give you happier people but may also surface some great innovation.
• This is what motivates Free Spirit User Types to engage.

8. Mastery
• Mastery is the process of becoming skilled at an activity and eventually mastering it –
becoming an expert. It is important to us that we feel our skill is increasing in direct
proportion to the level of challenge. If this is perfectly balanced, it is often referred to
as Flow, discussed later.
• The path to mastery is an important concept seen in most if not all video games. These days,
rather than being given a manual to read, you are guided through training levels that spoon-
feed you everything that you need to know in order to master the game. This early phase is
referred to as onboarding. The challenge is increased as your level of skill increases. Once
you are out of the training levels, this does not cease. The game continues to get harder as
you get better at it, but it offers less and less handholding.
• In an enterprise situation, it is important to consider that if you do not continue to challenge
employees, they will begin to feel less motivated. In the same way, if you do not encourage
them to improve or even change their skills in ways that line up with their own desires, over
time you will see de-motivation.
• This is what drives the Achiever User Type

9. Purpose
• First, we will tackle Purpose. When I speak about purpose in RAMP, I am specifically
talking about altruistic purpose. This is the desire to help others in some way 1. This
is the type of purpose we are speaking of in the Philanthropist User Type.
• The other type of purpose is meaningful purpose. This is more a desire to
understand the meaning of what you are doing and our significance in the general
scheme of things 2. This type of purpose is experienced by all use types, it is not
specific to one.
• In the enterprise, you can implement this in a few ways. The first is giving people the
ability to provide meaningful help to others. This links in well with relatedness when
you look at internal social networks. Research has shown that altruistic actions can
make people feel good about themselves – described often as a warm glow.
1. Sigmund, Karl, and Christoph Hauert. "Altruism." Current Biology 12.8 (2002), R270-272
2. Grant, Adam M. "The significance of task significance: Job performance effects, relational mechanisms, and boundary
conditions." Journal of Applied Psychology 93.1 (2008): 108-24.

10. The Intrinsic Motivation
RAMP
The Final Picture

11. The RAMP Model

12. Layers of Motivation
Where RAMP fits in
with motivation in
general

13. For the purposes of gamification, I break these down into three distinct
layers. These layers can help us to understand how and why certain types of
gamification may or may not work.
Base
Physiological needs include air, water, sleep and procreation. Safety is more
about securing yourself and your family. Belonging relates to our need to be
with others: fellowship, family, sexual intimacy etc. Esteem covers less primal
needs, achievement, respect, confidence and the like. With self-
actualisation, we see our needs to solve problems, be creative and be good
people.
Most go to work for one reason, to earn money. Money leads to security. It
provides you shelter, it keeps your family safe, it provides food for you all.
Before money, jobs, and the like, this was all much more primal. You secured
your family by physically protecting them. You hunted for food and you built
shelters. For most, this is now taken care of by earning money. We do not
need to hunt for food or build huts for shelter; we now buy all of those
things.
Emotional
Once our base needs and motivations are satisfied, we can focus on the
other more emotional motivations. I describe these as our need for
relatedness, autonomy, mastery and purpose (RAMP).
Trivial
A lot of gamification efforts sit in this area – often referred to as PBL
gamification (Points, Badges and Leaderboards). They have their place, but
for now, it is enough to understand that these types of incentives are only
truly effective when the first two layers of motivation and needs are
satisfied.
Three Layers of Motivation

15. Get in Touch
Gamified.uk
@daverage
andrzej@gamified.uk
If you found this interesting and want to know more, get in
touch.
Check out my book, Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play on
Amazon or my Website for even more content on player types,
motivation and gamification!