9.5 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Gamification

9.5 Theseson the power and efficacyof gamificationSebastian Deterding (@dingstweets)Interflex »Games, Life, and Utopia« Conference November 11, 2011, Potsdam

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1 Gamification isthe cool new kid in town.

Productivity

Sustainability

Activism

In Business Bibles

On Google Trends

On the Gartner Hype Curvehttp://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1763814

Everywhere

The blueprint (still)

PointsTracking, Feedback

BadgesGoals, surprise

LeaderboardsCompetition

IncentivesRewards

The Enablers

success stories

sensors & analytics practices & discourses

2 Gamification isnothing new.

»Mowing the lawn or waiting in a dentist’s office can become enjoyable provided on restructures the activity by providing goals, rules, and the other elements of enjoyment to be reviewed below.«

flow: the psychology of optimal experienceMihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Precursors(1980+)

man as computerCognitive sciences

man as machineErgonomics

man as meaning-makerHuman sciences

Repurposings(2001+)

UX(2002+)

Hedonic attributesGame UX

Ludic design(2002+)

Playfulness(2005+)

CSCW(2005+)

Persuasive Tech(2006+)

Harrison, S., Tatar, D., and Sengers, P. The Three Paradigms of HCI. Proc. AltCHI 2007, ACM Press (2007).

HCI Prehistory

Precursors (1980-)

Repurposings (2001-)

Dennis Chao, Doom as an Interface for Process Management (2001)

Louis von Ahn, Games with a Purpose (2006)

User Experience (2002-)

Game UX (2002-)

“Ludic Design” (2002-)

Playfulness (2005-)

CSCW (2005-)

Persuasive Technology (2006-)

Precursors(1980+)

Repurposings(2001+)

UX(2002+)


Playfulness(2005+)


Ludic design(2002+)

CSCW(2005+)

Game Studies Prehistory

Precursors(1980+)

Repurposings(2001+)

UX(2002+)


Playfulness(2005+)


Serious Games(1960+)

DigitalSerious Games

(2001+)

Alternate Reality/Pervasive Games

(2001+)Serious Gaming

(2006+)

Ludificationof culture

(2006+)

Ludic design(2002+)

CSCW(2005+)

Game Studies Prehistory

Serious Games (1960-)

Digital Serious Games (2001-)

Serious Gaming (2006-)

Alternate Reality Games (2001-)

Pervasive Games (2001-)

Ludification of Culture (2006-)

3 Gamification isthe use of game design elements in non-game contexts.

Gamification:The use ofgame design elements in non-game contexts

Gaming, not playing

Gaming

Playing

Gaming, not playing

Roger Cailloisman, play, and games (1958)

LudusPaidiaplay

improvisationtumultuousimmoderate

gameskill, effort

orderedrule-bound

Story

Elements, not whole systems

Story

Systems Elements

Elements, not whole systems

Game Design Elements

Game-based technology Controllers, AI, 3D engines, ...

Game-based practices Serious Gaming

Game-based design Gamification

Non-Game Contexts

Story

Syst

emElem

ents

Gaming

Playing

gamification(serious) games

playful design(serious) toys

4 Gamification isnot very playful.

Roger Cailloisman, play, and games (1958)

LudusPaidiaplay

improvisationtumultuousimmoderate

gameskill, effort

orderedrule-bound

… vs. Quality and VarietyTrust and Safety

http://www.flickr.com/photos/titanas/1051688629/sizes/o/

Surprise



Expressive, generative toys

… vs. Quality and VarietyBenign Breaks of Social Rules

Room for Mischief

5 Gamification isthinking inside the box.

The Box

The BoxGameA designed artifact

The BoxGameA designed artifact

PlayingA frame of engagement

debugging

playtesting/reviewing

presenting gameplay

making a machinima

a scientific study

learning (serious games)

sports (e-sports)

work (goldfarming)

“I need to be very routinized; I mustn’t let myself drift.” “I hammer it through.”“Often, you have to force yourself to do it.”“You’re under real pressure.”“It’s extremely exhausting.”“It wears you out.” “My friends usually cannot comprehend how stressful this is.”

“Sometimes, you have to play, you have to get further – and then, play is work.”

QuestionWhen work can make the best game tedious, why should games make work engaging?

Sociotechnical systemsInformation ecologiesSituated actionEmbodied interactionSocial contextures...

QuestionWhat about context?

“Sometimes, you have to play, you have to get further – and then, play is work.”

Johan Huizinga

»First and foremost, all play is a voluntary activity.«

homo ludens (1938)

Johan Huizinga

»First and foremost, all play is a voluntary activity.«

homo ludens (1938)

a.k.a.“autonomy”

6 Gamification isan inadvertent con.

Margaret Robertson

»Gamification is an inadvertent con. It tricks people into believing that there’s a simple way to imbue their thing ... with the psychological, emotional and social power of a great game.«

can’t play, won’t play (2009)

Confusion

#1

Earn 1,000,000,000,000 points

Score: 964,000,000,000,000(You rock!)

Raph Koster

»Fun is just another word for learning.«

a theory of fun for game design (2005)

Raph Koster

»Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun. With games, learning is the drug.«

a theory of fun for game design (2005)

Feedback without challenge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diego_rivera/4261964210

Extrinsic motivation



Intrinsic motivationhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/areyoumyrik/308908967

http://www.flickr.com/photos/areyoumyrik/308908967

http://www.flickr.com/photos/areyoumyrik/308908967

Edward Deci, Richard Ryan

»An understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.«

the what and why of goal pursuit (2000)

The fun in playing games chiefly arises from intrinsic enjoyment, not extrinsic incentives.

Con(fusion) number 1

Confusion

#2

Theodore Sturgeon

»Ninety percent of everything is crud.«

sturgeon‘s revelation (1958)

Games are not fun because they‘re games, but when they are well-designed.

Con(fusion) number 2

7 Gamification ispromising to designers.

As a source of patterns

As a source of lenses/heuristics

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0123694965?ie=UTF8&tag=htpcodingccc-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1638&creative=19454&creativeASIN=0123694965



As a source of models

Hard FunFiero

People FunAmusement

Easy FunCuriosity

SeriousFunRelaxation

emotion < choice < mechanic > choice > emotion

As a source of methods

As a field

8 Gamification isworth researching.

Motivational DesignMarrying the psychology of motivation with the practice of design.

Topic#1

Rule Design StudiesThe holistic study and design of rule systems.

Topic#2

Law

Economics

Sociology

CS

Game Studies

GovernancePublic PolicyInterpretation

Social orderInstitutionalizationScripts (STS)

AlgorithmsModeling, abstraction,automation, simulation

Game TheoryIncentivesBusiness processes

DesignDynamics & AestheticsSemiotics

Play StudiesUnderstanding playing and gaming in their relation to games and toys.

Topic#3

Player Studies

Are you “playing” or “using” it?

(IMHO)

9 “Gamification” isa terrible word to use.

Ian Bogost

»Unlike liars, bullshitters have no use for the truth. All that matters to them is hiding their ignorance or bringing about their own benefit. Gamification is bullshit.«

gamification is bullshit (2011)http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4294/persuasive_games_shell_games.php

Issue#1

Ian Bogost

»This is why gamification is such an effective term. It keeps the term game and puts it right up in front, drawing attention to the form’s mysterious power. But the kicker comes at the end: the -ify suffix makes applying that medium to any given purpose seem facile and automatic.«

exploitationware (2010)

What is a “game element”?** Most game definitions have multiple necessary conditions

Issue#2

gamification

Rules

Goals

Avatars

Story

Story

Redeemable rewards

Commitment

Analytics

NotificationsComments

Quantitative feedback

gamification

Rules

Goals

Avatars

Story

Story

not game-specific

Redeemable rewards

Commitment

Analytics



gamification

Rules

Goals

Avatars

Story

Story

not game-specific

Redeemable rewards

Commitment

Analytics


not game-related


Remember “Playfulness”?

Gamefulness!

Story

Syst

em/A

rtef

act

Elements

Gaming

Playing



Story

Syst

em/A

rtef

act

Elements

Gaming

Playing



Quality/mode

Story

Syst

em/A

rtef

act

Elements

Gaming

Playing



Gameful Design

Quality/mode

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9

Gamification is the cool new kid in town.Gamification is nothing new.Gamification is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.Gamification is not very playful.Gamification is thinking inside the box.Gamification is an inadvertent con.Gamification is promising to designers.Gamification is worth researching.»Gamification« is a terrible word to use.

9.5 Ceterum CenseoYou should all read The Well-Played Game

»It is through a community of people who care more about fun than winning that the Well-Played Game happens.«

Bernie de Koventhe well-played game (1978/2002)

»Inscribed in gold in our flag is the motto If you can’t play it, change it, and woven into our banner are the words If it helps, cheat.«

Bernie de Koventhe well-played game (1978/2002)

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@dingstweets

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Thank You.

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9.5 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Gamification

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