Smart Gamification: Social Game Design for a Connected World

Smart Gamification

Social Game Design for a Connected World

Amy Jo Kim, Ph.D. © 2010 All Rights Reserved

a brief history

of social gaming

Social games have long been designed todevelop useful, real-world skills

Team Sports build collaboration, develop skills, celebrate prowess

Role-playing Games invoke creativity…

… and develop team skills

What do these examples have in common?

The core activity is BATTLE

What other Core Activities could we have?

Crafting (social games)

Running (workout games)

Voting (crowd games)

Sharing Knowledge (Q&A games)

Gamificationan over-hyped meme pointing to a larger trend

Games are everywhere – everyone’s a gamer

Games forms are morphing rapidly

We’re living in a Gambrian Explosion

Will Wright

Social games are an increasingly big part of how we stay socially connected

SMARTgames: 5 Keys to Social Game Design

SMARTgames: 5 Keys to Social Game Design

1. Know the engagement style of your players

Who’s Playing? How do they like to engage?

Content Players

Interacting

Acting

What’s your Engagement Style?

Content Players

Interacting

Acting

What’s your Engagement Style?

Explore

Express Compete

Collaborate

Content Players

Interacting

Acting

What are your Engagement Verbs?

Explore

Express Compete

CollaborateGive

Help

Comment Like

Share

GreetCollect

RateView

Review

Vote

Curate

Win Challenge

ShowoffCompare Taunt

CreateDesign

Customize Choose

Purchase

Decorate

Build

Compete VerbsWin, Beat, Brag, Taunt, Challenge

Collaborate VerbsShare, Help, Gift, Greet, Exchange, Join, Trade

Express Verbschoose, customize, layout, design, create

Explore Verbsview, search, collect, complete, curate

SMARTgames: 5 Keys to Social Game Design

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-buidling & mastery

3 Key Stages of a Player’s Lifecycle

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

Newbie

Regular

Enthusiast

Newbies needs onboarding (welcome + goals + progress + achievable rewards)

Regulars need fresh content/activities/challenges

Enthusiasts need exclusivity, recognition, impact

Easy to learn, hard to master…?

What does it take to master this game?

If I play well, what skill am I developing?

SMARTgames: 5 Keys to Social Game Design

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building & mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

What is PERMA?

Positive Emotions

Relationships

Meaning

Accomplishment

Let’s make real life more like a game

Jane McGonigal Martin Seligman

What is an Engagement Loop?

Positive EmotionFun / Delight / Trust / Pride / Curious

NewbieOnboarding

(social) Call to ActionCustomize / Share / Help / Compete

Player (re)EngagementTask / Mission / Game / Quiz / Gift

Visible Progress Stats / Challenges / Awards / Messages

Farmville crops pleasure, satisfaction, self-expression

Foursquare recommendations fun, useful, social

Amazon messaging informative, trustworthy

Shipping confirmation

Purchase confirmation

Engagement changes during a player’s lifecycle

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

SMARTgames: 5 Keys to Social Game Design

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

4. Use progress mechanics to light the way

Mechanics guide your player towards learning and mastery

As players progress, increase the challenge

This is what designing for engagement is all about

Nike+ Coach: clear feedback + progressive goals

SMARTgames: 5 Keys to Social Game Design

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

4. Use progress mechanics to light the way

5. Reward players with power, autonomy and belonging

Rank-ordering Intrinsic Motivation

AutonomyBelonging

FunSelf-Knowledge

MasteryPower

Love

Prizes

PointsLevels

Leaderboards

Badges

Learning

Quests

Intrinsic value > Extrinsic Rewards

SexMeaning

Gold Stars

ProgressBar

Money

Extrinsic Motivators completing tasks

Task Completion LinkedIn Progress Bar

Intrinsic Motivators deeper engagement

Modcloth’s crowd-sourced clothing line

Crowd-sourced stats community awareness

it feels good to be part of something larger than yourself

Social Game Design for a Connected WorldSMARTgames RECAP: 5 Keys + 2 extra-credit tips

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

4. Use progress mechanics to light the way

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

4. Use progress mechanics to light the way

5. Reward players with power, autonomy and belonging

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

4. Use progress mechanics to light the way

5. Reward players with power, autonomy and belonging

6. Build a system that’s easy to learn, hard to master

Social Game Design for a Connected World

1. Know the engagement style of your players

2. Design for onboarding, habit-building and mastery

3. Put PERMA into your core engagement loops

4. Use progress mechanics to light the way

5. Reward players with power, autonomy and belonging

6. Build a system that’s easy to learn, hard to master

7. As players progress, increase the challenge & complexity

THANK YOU!

@amyjokim on Twitter

amyjokim@gmail.com

http://about.me/amyjokim

http://www.shufflebrain.com

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESIntroductory Level

Printable Charts – Lifecycle, Social Verbs

‘Drive’ by Daniel Pink (crib notes)

‘Fun Inc’ by Tom Charfield (7 design principles)

Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell (good overview)

Content Players

Interacting

Acting

What’s your Engagement Style?

Explore

Express Compete

Collaborate

Content Players

Interacting

Acting

What are your Engagement Verbs?

Explore

Express Compete

CollaborateGive

Help

Comment Like

Share

GreetCollect

RateView

Review

Vote

Curate

Win Challenge

ShowoffCompare Taunt

CreateDesign

Customize Choose

Purchase

Decorate

Build

3 Key Stages of a Player’s Lifecycle

Onboarding

Habit-Building

Mastery

Newbie

Regular

Enthusiast

Carrots & sticks are so last century. For 21st century work, we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery & purpose.

When it comes to motivation, there’s a gap between what science knows and what business does. Our current business operating system–which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators–doesn’t work and often does harm. We need an upgrade. And the science shows the way.

This approach has three key elements:

1.Autonomy –the desire to direct our own lives.

2.Mastery — the urge to get better and better at something that matters.

3.Purpose — AKA belonging, the yearning to put our energy in service of something larger than ourselves

Tom Chatfield7 Lessons Learned From Games

Tom Chatfield

1) Progress: Bars, Levels, Points, Badges, Customization – we like to see our progress

2) Missions: Provide multiple long-and-short-term aims for players to tackle

3) Credit: track & reward effort, not just achievement 

4) Feedback: tangibly link actions to consequences

5) Surprise: add the Element of Uncertainty to drive and sustain interest

6) People: we're most engaged by people – esp collaborating in groups

7) Engagement: games are tuned to dole out rewards that engage the brain and keep us wanting more

Jesse Schell

Jesse Schell