Gamifying Aplications (aguascalientes_oct2014)

Conferencia. ANIEI, CNCIIC 2014. Aguascalientes. Octubre 2014.

Gamifiying Applications:

User Motivation & Engagement

Luis de Marcos Ortega (Univ. of Alcalá)

[email protected]

http://www.uah.es/pdi/luis_demarcos

TOC

1. Univ. of Alcalá

2. Games

3. Videogames

4. Gamification

5. Examples

6. Process

7. Criticism

8. Conclusion

9. References

Univ. of Alcalá

• History

– Founded in 1499

– Moved to Madrid in 1836

– Re-established in 1977

• Presentation video

– http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=mQ0oSqja8Aw

Univ. of Alcalá

• Polytechnic School

– Computer Science

– Electronics

– Communication

• Computer Science

Department

– 74 teachers (42 full-time)

Games

• Definition:

No consensus of what a game is

• Deep philosophical question…

Games

• Wittgenstein [on language]– “For how is the concept of a game

bounded? What still counts as a

game and what no longer does?

Can you give the boundary? No.

You can draw one; for none has

so far been drawn. (But that never

troubled you before when you

used the word ‘game’.)”

Philosophical Investigations,

Aphorism 68

Games

• “playing a game is an

attempt to overcome

unnecessary obstacles“

• Elements:

– Objective (prelusory goal)

– Rules (lusory means)

– Lusory attitude

(Suits, 2005)

Games

• “Play is not the predominat

feature of childhood but is a

leading factor in development”

• “Strict subordination to rules is

quite impossible, but in play it

does become possible: thus play

creates a zone of proximal

development of the child. In play

a child always behaves beyond

his average age, above his daily

behavior” (Mind in society, 1978)Lev Vygotsky

Games

• Games have had an important role in our evolution

(Koster, 2005)

– "Games are exercises for our brains" (pag. 38)

– "Play developed to teach us about survival" (pag. 196)

Games

• Games have the potential to change the world and

can be used to tackle real world problems

(McGonigal, 2011)

www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world

Videogames

• Computers provide to games:

– immediate feedback

–multimedia enriched narrative

–connectivity

Videogames

• Videogames are

learning tools

(Gee, 2007)– set of goals and rules

that constraint possible

actions, and a feedback

mechanism that

provides a seamless

sense of progression.

Gamification

• Gamification is the use of game design

elements in non-game contexts to engage

users and promote action (Werbach, 2012)

https://www.coursera.org/course/gamification

Gamification

• Gamification has a great potential

– Unmotivated users

– Systems not used

– Employees and customers disengaged

• Put fun back!!!

Gamification

• Game design elements (Werbach, 2012)– Dynamics (5): Constraints, emotions, narrative, progression,

relationships

– Mechanics (10): Challenge, chance, competition, cooperation,

feedback, resourse acquisition, rewards, transactions, turns, win

states

– Components (15): Achievements, avatars, badges, boss fights,

collections, combat, content unlocking, gifting, leaderboards, levels,

points, quests, social graph, teams, virtual goods.

Gamification

• PBL triad:

–(P)oints

–(B)agdes

–(L)eaderboard

Examples

• Foursquare

– Social network of places

– Visits (check-ins) Badges (social recognition)

Examples

• Nike+

– Fuel points + community (challenge friends)

– 11 million users (2013)

– Market share (U.S shoes):

• from 47% (2006) to 61% (2009)

Examples

• Starbucks loyality program

– Points (stars) + levels

– Nice integration: Payment App

– 6 million users (2013)

– $3 billion in sales

Examples

• Hurrah! & Microsoft CRMGamified

– challenge, competition, rewards (trophies)

– points, badges, leaderboards, achievements

– "generate and inspire key behaviors that drive more

sales, encourage and motivate your employees“

Gamification

• Types of gamification (organizational view)

– Internal gamification

– External gamification

– Behavior-change gamification

• Types of gamification (process view)

– Product gamification

– Marketing gamification

– Workplace gamification

Gamification

• Other flavours of gamification

– Game-based/gameful design

– Motivational software/design

– Serious games

– Playful design

– Ludification / Ludology

– Fun theory

Examples

• American Army

– Serious game

– First-person shooter designed for recruiting

– Most effective marketing tool of AA

Examples

• Fold-it

– Serious game

– Real world-problem (protein folding)

Examples

• Piano Stairs

– Playful design / Fun theory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Process

Gamification is not an insignificant

task: game mechanics on their own

result insufficient (Kapp, 2012)

Process

1. Define / know your player style

2. Express the player lifecycle

3. Put positive psychology in your design

4. Motivate players

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4YP-hGZTuA

Process

1. Define / know your player style– Forget about users…

think in terms of players!!!

– Different players means different…

• Skills

• Needs

• Expectations

• Motivations

– Know your player styles and address them

Process

• Player styles (Bartle, 1996)

World

Interact

Players

Act

Process

2. Express the player lifecycle

– Newbies need to learn the basics

– Regulars need fresh content / activities / challenges

– Experts need exclusity, recognition, impact

Process

3. Put positive psychology in your design

– In your activity loops

– PERMA model

• (P)ositive Emotion

• (E)ngagement

• (R)elationships

• (M)eaning

• (A)ccomplisments

Process

4. Motivate your players

– Focus on intrinsic rewards

– Provide a sense of autonomy, mastery and

purpose

– Design your flow

• Theoretical background (psychology)

– Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000)

– Flow (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990)

Theory

• Motivators:– Extrinsic motivation – from outside sources,

usually rewards

– Intrinsic motivation – from within an individual,

self-determined

• Beware of extrinsic motivators / rewards

– Reward may become the only reason

– Potentially demotivating effect

Theory

• Self-determination theory

– continuum between extrinsic motivation

Theory

• Self-determination theory

– Motivational affordances

Theory

• Flow

• Social Gamification of Learning– Competition + cooperation

Example

37

Example

• Social Gamification of Learning– Elements

• Achievements (social or task-related) Autonomy

• Peer-review Competence + Relatedness

• Personal profile Autonomy (+Relatedness)

• Dashboard + social network Relatedness

• Virtual shop Autonomy

– Addressing all player types

– Elgg social networking engine + gamification

features

• Social Gamification of Learning

Example

• Results: Learning performance

Example

40

• Results: Social graph

Example

Criticism

“Gamification is bullshit. I'm not being flip or

glib or provocative. I'm speaking

philosophically. More specifically, gamification

is marketing bullshit, invented by consultants

as a means to capture the wild, coveted beast

that is videogames and to domesticate it for

use in the grey, hopeless wasteland of big

business, where bullshit already reigns

anyway.” (Ian Bogost)http://www.bogost.com/blog/gamification_is_bullshit.shtml

Criticism

• Cow clicker– “deconstructive satire of social games […]

gamification, educational apps, and

alternate reality games” (wikipedia)

– Pointsification…

http://bogost.com/writing/blog/cow_clicker_1/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Clicker

Criticism

“Gamification is an inadvertent con. It tricks

people into believing that there’s a simple way

to imbue their thing (bank, gym, job,

government, genital health outreach program,

etc) with the psychological, emotional and

social power of a great game.”

Can’t play, won’t play

Margaret robertson

http://www.hideandseek.net/2010/10/06/cant-play-wont-play/

Caveats

Sight (2012)– A short futuristic film by Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo.

http://vimeo.com/46304267

Caveats

“Amusement is the extension of work in

late capitalism. It is sought out by him

who wants to scape the mechanised

process of work only to become fit for it

anew”

Dialectics of Enlightenment

Theodor W. Adorno.

Conclusions

• Engagement is a differentiator

• Gamification is not an easy task

• Recommendations:

– Involve players

– Focus on meaning, autonomy & relatedness

– Play test: test, test, test, & then… test again

– Don’t forget the fun!!!

Conclusions

“at its core gamification is

about finding the fun in the

things that you have to do”

(Werbach, 2012)

References• CSÍKSZENTMIHÁLYI, M. 1990. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience, New York,

HarperCollins.

• GEE, J. P. 2007. What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy,

New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

• KAPP, K. M. 2012. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods

and Strategies for Training and Education, San Francisco, Pfeiffer.

• KOSTER, R. 2005. A Theory of Fun for Game Design, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA,

Paraglyph Press.

• McGONIGAL, J. 2011. Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can

Change the World, New York, Penguin Books.

• RYAN, R. M. & DECI, E. L. 2000. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions

and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67.

• SUITS, B. 2005. The Grasshopper: Life, Games & Utopia, Toronto, Broadview Press.

• WERBACH, K. & HUNTER, D. 2012. For the win: How game thinking can revolutionize

your business, Philadelphia, Wharton Digital Press.

Other Resources

• Kevin Werbach course on Gamification

– https://www.coursera.org/course/gamification

• Sebastian Deterding: Meaningful Play: Getting

Gamification Right

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZGCPap7GkY

• Amy Jo Kim: Smart Gamification

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4YP-hGZTuA

Thank you & Questions

Conferencia. ANIEI, CNCIIC 2014. Aguascalientes. Octubre 2014.

Luis de Marcos Ortega (Univ. of Alcalá)

[email protected]

http://www.uah.es/pdi/luis_demarcos

Gamifiying Applications:

User Motivation & Engagement