Gamification - Defining, Designing and Using it

Gamification - defining, designing and using itZachary Fitz-Walter Mobile Innovation Lab, QUT

http://www.flickr.com/people/8473570@N02

http://zefcan.com

Today’s missions >>

1. What is gamification?

2. Designing gamification

http://www.!ickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/3544734138/

Let’s say you caught the train this morning to work...

http://www.!ickr.com/photos/walkingsf/5463240793/

...and you know you should take the stairs, but the escalator is just so much easier.

How can we encourage people to take the stairs and get a little more exercise?

Odenplan, Stockholm, Sweden

http://www.thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase

Here’s an interesting idea...

Piano Stairs

http://www.thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase

Turn them into a piano?

Using play to motivate

http://www.thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase

Gamification

http://www.thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase

Gamification is similar...

Gamification

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danieltack/2013/01/02/world-of-warcraft-gearing-up-at-level-90/

...but it draws more specifically on video games rather than just play.

1. What is gamification?

Gamification is a special word

It hasn’t been around for very long...

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Web search interest in gamification

trends.google.com

Foursquare really took off in 2011...

Text

...and was well known for the game elements it added

“By 2015, More than 50 percent of organizations that manage innovation processes will gamify those processes”

Gartner Press Release - 2011http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1629214

Gartner released this statement in 2011

Gamification became a buzzword

http://www.bogost.com/blog/gamification_is_bullshit.shtml

And it’s made a bit of a name for itself both good... and not so good.

http://www.flickr.com/people/14516334@N00

It’s become a bit of a cure all for engagement problems...

“80 Percent of Current Gamified Applications Will Fail to Meet Business Objectives Primarily Due to Poor Design”

Gartner Press Release - 2012http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2251015

And then Gartner released this statement...

http://www.redherring.com/internet/gamification-platform-badgeville-raises-25m/

Yet still there is a lot of money in it...

Mixed Messages?

Gamification

To understand it...

Games

...we have to go back to it’s roots.

http://laportecreative.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nerdyrevenge.jpg

The average gamer?

Is a young, nerdy male who plays video games (often violent) all by themselves right?

Not really...

Video games have become mainstream

92% of Australians live in a household with at least one device used for playing games

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf

The average age of a gamer is 32

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf

(And 43% of people aged 51 or older are also gamers)

Genderof Australian gamers

53%Male

47%Female

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf

Video games have become big business

The video game industry in Australia netted $1.161 billion in revenue last year

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012http://www.igea.net

In the US consumers spent $24.75 billion on video games, hardware and accessories in 2011.

Entertainment Software Association, 2011 - http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.aspThe Numbers, 2011 - http://www.the-numbers.com/market/

Video games have become mobile

Mobile phones are used to play games in 43% of game households, tablet computers in 13%

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf

Video games have become social

1 in 5 gamers play social network games1 in 10 play massively multiplayer games

Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2012http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf

Games are incredibly engaging

World of Warcraft

One of the most engaging games out there is this one.

You create a character...

...and then embark on quests and adventures in the world with other players.

You get quests.

Kill 3 boars

Like this one.

You go off and complete them.

And then get a reward.

Wait... this is just like work

After playing for 8 hours straight it hit me...

But it was really fun work

12 million subscribers in 2010

Others think it’s fun as well, even many years after it was released.

So what is a game?

Most games boil down to solving a problem...

• Find a way to kill 3 boars

• Find a way to get more points than the other team

• Find a way to get to the finish line before the other players

• Find a way to complete this level

• Find a way to destroy the other player before they destroy you

Last four examples are from The Art of Game Design, Jesse Schell, 2008

It’s how this activity is presented that plays an important part in creating a fun experience

"Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun. In other words, with games, learning is the drug”

- Raph KosterA Theory of Fun, 2005

Hang on, if games are so engaging...

...could we use them to make other things engaging?

Gamification

Now we’re seeing where this concept of gamification comes from...

Serious games

...but wait, the concept of serious games has been around long before gamification.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/02/09/oregontrail.jpg

Oregon Trail - 1971

http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/files/ReaderRabbit/ScreenGrab_1/reader_rabbit_shot.gif

Reader Rabbit - 1986

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

http://www.abandonia.com/games/13

Why gamification? Why now?

First, video games have become really popular...

...and second there has been a change in technology like no other. In particular mobile devices, constant connection and sensors.

With our powers combined...

The world is our playground

Gamification

Framing real life activities like a video game, in order to make these activities more engaging

Gamification

Sustainability - Nissan My Leaf

Sustainability Nissan CARWINGS

Sustainability - Nissan My Leaf

Sustainability Nissan CARWINGS

Exercise Nike+

Exercise Nike+

Lifestyle Health Month

Lifestyle Health Month

Education Khan Academy

Education Khan Academy

Finance Mint

Finance Mint

Productivity Epic Win

Google Glass

If technology continues to evolve...

http://pctechmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/google-glasses.jpeg

Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo, 2012, https://vimeo.com/46304267

But can it actually work?

2. Designing Gamification

Gamification Blueprint

•Points•Badges•Leaderboards•Levels

Became popular with Foursquare

•Points•Badges•Leaderboards•Levels

•Points•Badges•Leaderboards•Levels

= Rewards}

Behaviour + Rewards = Fun!

Behaviour + Rewards = Fun!Behaviour + Rewards = Fun!

progresswars.com

Otherwise this would be the best game out there...

So what’s missing?

"Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun. In other words, with games, learning is the drug”

- Raph KosterA Theory of Fun, 2005

Where’s the puzzle? Where’s the challenge?

So how can we design engaging gamification experiences?

Motivation

There are two types...

Extrinsic Motivation

http://2bgr8stock.deviantart.com/art/Money-Cash-113445826

Motivation for an external reward

Behaviour + Rewards = ExtrinsicMotivation

Intrinsic Motivation

Tim Pierce http://www.!ickr.com/photos/48439369@N00

When an activity is performed for the internal satisfaction of under the activity itself

Intrinsic Motivation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allisonjohnstonn/6332963681/

The act of playing a game is generally considered an intrinsically satisfying activity

So what makes a game motivating to play?

• Autonomy - choice to play and choice over actions

• Competence - ability to optimally challenge players

• Relatedness - connection with others

(Ryan, Rigby, and Przybylski, 2006)http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-006-9051-8

Flow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allisonjohnstonn/6332963681/

Proposed by Csíkszentmihályi

• Intense and focused concentration

• Merging of action and awareness

• A loss of reflective self-consciousness

• A sense control or agency over the activity

• A distortion of time

• Experience of the activity as being intrinsically rewarding

Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow theory and research. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 195-206). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Factors of a flow experience

• A clear goal

• Clear progress

• Clear and immediate feedback

• Balance of challenge and skill

Conditions for flow

Based off a graph proposed by Csíkszentmihályi

These are important factors to consider when trying to design a game.

These are important factors to consider when trying to design gamification.

Designing gamification

Start with an activity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoteldelapaixgeneve/5726470040/

Ask, do you really need gamification?

• Have you got an engagement or motivation problem, or is it something else? E.g., Usability

• Ask yourself is this a problem that can’t be improved in any other way?

• If motivation is lacking... looking towards game elements and theory might be worthwhile.

Ask why is this activity boring? What’s missing?

• Clear and interesting goals?

• Feedback?

• Interesting and playful mechanics?

• Challenge?

• Progression and Mastery?

Determine the goals

The goals of the activity you’re trying to encourage (e.g., getting fit)

Derive goal metrics

Work out how you can measure these goals

Sensors?

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/10/fitbit-zip/

People

http://gamingtheclassroom.wordpress.com/syllabus/

Design the gamification

Design like a game

http://www.flickr.com/people/8473570@N02

Think of the player

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allisonjohnstonn/6332963681/

What are their demographics? What do they like playing?

http://bizfest.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/bartle.png

Test and playtest!

http://www.flickr.com/people/8473570@N02

Dangers of Gamification

Games get boring

What happens after your user gets bored of the gamification? Will they keep using it?

Cheating

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheating.JPG

People cheat, it’s a challenge. How will cheating affect your underlying activity?

Cheating

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheating.JPG

Real life dangers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellenm1/6050529448/

In games you get many lives... however in real life you only get one. Gamify carefully.

A good example...

• Clear and interesting goals

• Feedback

• Interesting and playful mechanics

• Challenge

• Progression and Mastery

• Aesthetics and Narrative

•Handles potential dangers

Billie Weiss, Original uploader Rschuman at en.wikipedia http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zombie_Chase.jpg

Wrapping it all up

Gamification is more than just badges

Design it like a good game

It’s easy, so start trying it!

•Name: Zac Fitz-Walter

• Class: PhD Candidate from QUT

• Abilities: Research, Teaching, iPhone Development

•Weaknesses: Cats and Mangoes

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Zac Fitz-Walter• Email: z."tz-walter@qut.edu.au

•www: http://zefcan.com

•Newsletter: http://gami"cationweekly.com

• Twitter: @zefcan