All the World is a Game: 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

The Fuel of your Gamified experience : what is the definition of Fun?

In order to create and fuel engagement, you need to figure out what is fun for your target group.

"Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

Obi-wan Kenobi

In our previous blog posts we shed light on how engagement and the flow experience can be created by gamified systems and applications. But this does not necessarily answer the question : what is fun for the individuals interfacing the experience? How can we figure out what are their motivations and their definition of fun?

For one thing it's very tempting to look at it very narrowly, and say that what is fun for most is fun for all. It's even more tempting to think that what is fun for us is fun for everybody.
However, if any of these hypotheses were true, why are there so many types of hobbies, pasttimes or games?
So this begs the question : can 'fun' be categorised? Can the participants (or better call them 'players') who are taking part in a gamified experience put into groups, and can we identify what are the motivations of a given group to take part?

Luckily, we can bring on research associated with early multiplayer games (called MUDs (Multi User Dungeons), text based multi-user adventure and role playing games) to help us determine what can be fun, and how we can categorise participants.

Richard Bartle, British writer, professor and game researcher (creator of the first MUD) used actual player feedback to try to determine what was fun for the early multiplayer gamers.

In his work, he identified four types of players, based on what they found fun in the game.

It's important to say that each player enjoyed a combination of factors in the game, so all of them was a little bit of each type, with one or two being the most dominant.

According to his research players' types can be determined based on their relation to two factors : action vs interaction and players vs environment.
Hence, the four player types are the following :

Socialiser : interacting, players
Explorers : interacting, environment
Achievers : acting, environment
Killers : acting, players

The four types can probably best described by the following picture :

What each type of player enjoys is different :

Socialisers enjoy meeting new people and talking to them, for them the environment (the game) is just a backdrop to meet and engage with interesting people
Explorers like discovering as many things as possible about the game, turning every stone, exploring every nook and crany, and being proud that they know the most about the game
Achievers must always collect all the points, achievements that is possible in the game, and be the best in the most quantifiable categories
Killers have to beat other players to have enjoyment and satisfaction, and be able to brag about their accomplishments

Based on the four types, we can make distinctions what is fun for our target group, and how we should build up our gamified experience.
We must taylor our gamification mechanics, based on the preferences of the target group, with the following examples of mechanics helping us to determine what we should use :

Socialisers : Like, Comment, Give, Gift, Share, Greet

Tools to engage : Newsfeeds (status updates), Friends Lists, Chat, Being able to give 'gifts'

Explorers : View, Explore, Rate, Review, Curate, Vote

Tools to engage : hidden pages, secret levels, exclusive content, undisclosed achievements

Achievers : Win, Challenge, Create, Showoff, Compare

Tools to engage : points, leaderboards, challenges

Killers : Hack, Harass, Cheat, Heckle

Tools to engage : leaderboards, ranks, head-to-head competitions

So what do you think, what are the major motivations in your target group?

How are you going to use any of the tools presented to engage people more?

Have you got any positive or negative experience, when the motivation was well placed or quite the opposite, it was totally misplaced?

About the author : Norbert Szigeti Csúcs is an online marketing, CRM and gamification expert with more than a decade experience working with global companies to create value. His latest endeavour is in the realm of gamification, as he does a lot of research at Aquilone Training and works with companies on the practical side of gamification to benefit their customers and employees.

About Aquilone Training : Business efficiency development by training, coaching and organizational development, working through corporate organizational maturity modelling.
Professional, rational, ethical.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Force behind Gamification : The Science of Flow

Gamification may well be the latest trend in human motivation, but it builds on many decades of psychological research and proven results.

"The Force is ... an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us."

Obi-wan Kenobi

So in my last post I described gamification as a way to use game mechanics and game thinking to motivate audiences and solve problems.

What are the scientific and psychological research results that support gamification?

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago, studied happiness and personal fulfilment and came up with the notion of flow, which is a state when we are completely absorbed by what we are doing, be it arts, reading or playing a game, without complete disregard to the outside world, or our basic necessities like eating or sleeping.
Mihály Csikszentmihályi is a Hungarian national who was born in Fiume, Italy in 1934, who moved with his family to Venice, when he was just 10 years old, fleeing from the horrors of war. He faced the inevitable effects of the war on people, but he was also intrigued by the fact, that some people seemed just as happy during the hard times, as before, and that made him curious about human happiness. At the age of 22, he moved to the United States and started studying psychology. He found it very interesting, that some people, could enter a kind of trance, a state of complete involvement and absorption of the self in the given activity. He interviewed many people, for example painters, and created the notion of flow, when we are completely involved and absorbed in the activity we are doing, and feel happy without being rewarded for it. Flow is also a state, where we enter due to our intrinsic motivation.

In order to achieve the state of flow, there must be a balance between the challenge of the activity and the skill of the person performing the activity. Otherwise if the challenge is too high compared to the skill (or the skill is too low for the challenge), the person becomes anxious, and if the challenge is too low (or the skill is too high for the challenge) boredom sets in.

Therefore this area is, where games and game design do very well. It builds on intrinsic motivation, and provides just enough challenge to be beatable at the particular skill level, in this way keeping the player "in the flow".
If we translate flow to the work environment, Csikszentmihalyi comes up with the following conditions needed to achieve flow :

1. goals are clear

2. feedback is immediate

3. a balance between opportunity and capacity

4. concentration deepens

5. the present is what matters

6. control is no problem

7. the sense of time is altered

8. the loss of ego

Some points sound familiar from game mechanics?
Not coincidentally.

Gamification may well be the latest trend in human motivation, but it builds on many decades of psychological research and proven results.

So how are we translating these results into everyday applications?

In any gamified system, the following principles have to be kept in mind :

1. Intrinsic motivation is important : a good gamified system must build on the intrinsic motivation of the player (customer, employee, user etc.), so through gamification, the designed solution has to be able to help motivating with going through the personal journey, what the player wants to take. If we take the goal of losing weight as an example, the 'player' must have an intrinsic motivation to lose weight and the system must build on, strengthen and nurture this motivation via taking the player through the journey.

2. The challenge has to equal the skill, special care to be taken at the beginning : It's very important to give a sense of accomplishment all through the process, but especially at the beginning, when our player is new to the process and needs a lot of encouragement and support to take the first few steps, so that he or she can see that it really works as they expected. It's a good idea to put him or her in a sort of 'safe zone' or tutorial level, if you will, where it is very easy to succeed and at the same time, there is very little chance of failure or doing the wrong thing.

3. Give feedback, and a lot : always keep your 'players' in the loop about what they are doing right, what they have accomplished and what their next goals are and how to reach those goals. If you think you've given enough feedback, give some more. Positive reinforcement is key to the success of a gamified system.

4. Challenge low and high : As you go along, add additional challenges as well as abilities, in order to keep them engaged and keep them challenged and rewarded for the positive actions. It's a very good idea to start with a minimum number of tasks and challenges, and add more in number and more challenging ones, not just in magnitude but in variety to the mix. You can at the same time combine earlier smaller challenges into series of challenges in later phases (levels), so that you can combine the familiar with the new challenging tasks. Not all people are equal, some like more challenge, some like less, so provide for all type by adding challenges, but only in a ramped up manner, never give more than just what they can accomplish based on their current skills.

5. Add a social layer : Many individuals appreciate to be able to share their progress and be able to compare themselves to others, or even challenge or help them in the goals. Therefore, add a social aspect to the system, that will motivate them to come back and be motivated to achieve in the context of the achievements of their peers. It not only motivates but also reinsures them in what they are doing.

Obi-wan, I understand all this, but I was thinking that games are just an easy way of satisfying oneself, isn't it the case then?

I would like to take a moment to dispel one of the misconceptions about gamification. It's often said, as criticism, that games or gamified systems are just cheap and easy ways of satisfaction, and they are just feeding the individuals with easy things to do and reward them for it. Now, if a game or gamified system is like that it's a bad representation of it. Since, by human nature, if something is too easy, we will get bored with it, and will not pursue the activity any further. As humans we do like to be challenged (might be amazing really for some), but at the same time we would also like to be rewarded for it.

In our next post we will look at what each player is motivated by.

What do you think it is each person motivated by regarding the player journey?
Are the end results important or the way to get there?
Are we the same or are we different in this respect?

Monday, January 16, 2012

Gamification
The new trend that has the potential to change how we motivate ourselves

All the world’s a game.

(And all the men and women merely players.)

'Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are my last hope.'

Why a Star Wars quote?
This is what has come to my mind when I started writing my blog about gamification. What is gamification? Gamification is a recent trend which uses video games design methods and techniques to engage and motivate audiencies in areas such as marketing, education, workplace or health.

(Then how is it connected to Star Wars again?

Well, just before last Christmas the latest MMORPG came out titled Star Wars : The Old Republic.

I found myself having played close to a hundred hours of this game in 3 weeks. According to my regular playing habits, it’s very much, though I have met people who played 200 hours or more (you do the maths, how much that is in a day). So I got really curious : what is this phenomenon that keeps people in the loop so much and for such a long time? What motivates them? So I started a journey into gamification, and I invite you to come with me.

And how is Obi-Wan Kenobi going to help us?

Like a sage, he guides us through the secrets of the 'Force', and help us understand the powers and techniques of the motivation behind gamification and how it could help improve many areas of life.)

'Learn about the Force, Luke!'

What is gamification?

According to Wikipedia gamification is the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences.

Gamification is a very new discipline, which is inspired by videogames design. If you have ever played a Facebook game, like Farmville, or any kind of online game, it is apparent that these games can wonderfully engage players, and can motivate to play more. But what are these motivational powers thatm motivate players to play on? As it’s the game designers best interest to keep the players playing, games are designed with techniques and methods, that enables them to keep their players.

What are the drivers behind gamification?*

Autonomy : players voluntarily play games, at their own pace, at their style of play
Progress to Mastery : games provide a unique way of learning to succeed
Purpose : an epic goal, to be a part of something larger than yourself

*Based on David Pink’s book Drive :

What principles are used to cater for the above needs?*

Clear goals and rules of play (Autonomy, Progress to Mastery)
A compelling narrative (Purpose)
Accelerated feedback cycles (Autonomy, Progress to Mastery)
Group tasks that are challenging, but achievable (Purpose, Progress to Mastery)

*Based on Jane McGonigal's presenation

What are the basic human desires in play that gamification caters for?*

Reward : the basic human need for being rewarded for our positive actions
Status : to be able to show what we have achieved
Achievement : to be able to be successful what we do
Self expression : to be able to express ourselves, and be accepted as we are
Competition : to be able to play and compete with friends and family or just others
Altruism : to be able to give and share with others what we have

*(Gamification 101 whitepaper by Bunchball) (can only be downloaded after registration)

What are the techniques and mechanics of game design used to serve the above desires?

Points : to reward desired behavior
Levels : to acknowledge and celebrate success and progress
Challenges (aka Trophies, Badges, Achievements) : missions to accomplish and rewards for doing so
Virtual Goods : the means to spend your well earned points for creative expression or just to show off your status
Leaderboards : for competing with others for the fame, designed for driving desired actions further
Competitions : for competing with other players head on, giving a social edge

Wait, wait, wait Obi-wan. OK, I understand all this, but aren’t games for children? Isn’t playing games childish?

Well, partly true, but let’s examine why is that we think about it that way. Because children still have the time to play games, and their ’work’ to learn about anything is playing games. Adults have to invest much more time into everyday activities like work, chores and errands. However let me point out that according to research the average gamer (in the US) is 37 years old, with average age growing and more gamers above 50 (26%) than below 18 (25%)!

What are the areas that can benefit from gamification?

Marketing : to better engage with customers through game mechanics and techniques in an enjoyable and fun way
Health : to celebrate and reward healthy living and working out and give an emotional boost
Education : why isn’t education and learning made of fun and fame, instead of guilt and shame?
Enterprises : we could really improve the workplace with the use of gamelike elements for better productivity and for a better workplace athmosphere
Anything really : the list could go on, only imagination is the limit, and time will tell what else is worth gamifying

In true gamification fashion, I rally you to come with me on the epic quest of exploring gamification.

Achievement unlocked : Gamified.

In the next post, you will find out the science behind the Force of Gamification.

What do you think?

How do you think we could harness the power of motivation behind game mechanics in real life?