GamificationINTERACTION DESIGN

A referential book such as a handbook or manual.

Interaction Design: Gamification

INDEX

Overview

Game Mechanisms

Visual Elements

Rewards

Interaction Design: Gamification

Overview

Interaction Design: Gamification

Gamification is the use of game mechanics and game design techniques in non-game contexts. Typically gamification applies to non-game applications and processes, in order to encourage people to adopt them, or to influence how they are used.

Gamification works by making technology more engaging, by encouraging users to engage in desired behaviors, by showing a path to mastery and autonomy, by helping to solve problems and not being a distraction, and by taking advantage of humans’ psychological predisposition to engage in gaming.

The technique can encourage people to perform chores that they ordinarily consider boring, such as completing surveys, shopping, filling out tax forms, or reading web sites.

Available data from gamified websites, applications and processes indicate potential improvements in areas like user engagement, ROI, data quality, timeliness and learning.

OVERVIEW

Interaction Design: Gamification

Game Mechanisms

Interaction Design: Gamification

The first and fundamental step is to create and adopt a mechanism of play that defines the relationship be- tween the users and content and offering a fun and positive experience with the brand.

The Discovery The mechanics of the discovery is fun because everyone loves to explore. Be the first to discover something can be exciting knowing that there are more reasons for a player to continue browsing. Earn points each time you discover something or a badge for loyal users to visit with more often your sites and/or applications.

MotivationTo some extent users want to become more involved with using a website because all these incentives make sense to them and make them feel good. As a designer, you can create a more compelling experience by using simple incentives or game-like scenarios. There are multiple rewards and incentives throughout the game, to keep them focused, motivated and excited about the final outcome. In UX design incentives take the form of badges (Foursquare), scores (Klout), numbers reflecting popularity (Facebook, Twitter) and usage (Digg), memberships and experience related symbols or tags (pro, new user).

Sharing and Collaboration Since prehistoric time, man has always clustered in tribes since relation- ships with other individuals and active participation in the groups produces a high degree of satisfaction the human nature. The active participation of the user in the collaboration process becomes a strategic choice for every brand.

GAME MECHANISMS

Interaction Design: Gamification

Visual Elements

Interaction Design: Gamification

The visual elements are part of the Gamification ecosystem. The audience aspect these specific of visual elements in any game mechanism world:.

Notifications objects The object provides instant feedback for user actions thus involvement in- creases dramatically. The Notifier informs the user about the points and badges earned, levels that he/she has reached and all other information important to the users. The user chooses which informa- tion to receive and how often to receive it.

Progress BarThe progress-bar is a simple concept in the process of determining the gamification. The instant feedback provided by the progress bar visually motivates the user to complete activities despite of the time that these require.

Leaderboard The Leader-board al- lows users to confront each other and create competition. The Lead- erboard normally includes a variety of formats, comparing only friends, users of any platform or users who share a relationship with the player (usually people in proximity to the player) Profile The user profile is the “home” user. View the details of his identity, his badge and more information relevant to show in his stats.

SocialSharing and invite friends in the same game environment.

Avatar An avatar is a visual repre- sentation of the player. The avatar can be a simply picture (like Face- book) or a more structured. Giving a face to a player is a key factor in engaging with others.

VISUAL ELEMENTS

Interaction Design: Gamification

Rewards

Interaction Design: Gamification

The reward system is the last element to close the Gamification process circle. The aspected form of rewards are:

Points Points are a reward for players who purchase through ac- tions and are allocated according to the player’s achievement. Rewarding a player with more points for specific actions is a method to influence the actions of the user. The definition of points is one of the first things to do in the project preparation.

Levels The levels represent a method for players to show their status and seniority in a community. The players are motivated to hear what action they need in the game to earn points necessary to advance the level and unlock new benefits.

BadgesBadges are the motivation for unlocking and completing cer- tain actions. The easiness or the difficulty to earn badges are not relevant but become an attraction to share with friends.

Virtual goods The virtual goods prizes are virtual or “accessories” for the avatar. These items add depth to the project and motivate people to socialize and express themselves. The virtual prizes in the process of gamifcation can be added late.

CouponsThe Coupons are a sort of special prize for the player’s achievement and emphasize the connection between the user and the brand.

REWARDS

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Thank you.

Author: Mirco Pasqualini, April 2014