Ian P. McCarthy

IS IT ALL A GAME? UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCIPLES AND VALUE OF GAMIFICATION

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P. M

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• This presentation is based on research in the following papers, which you can download:

– Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. (2015) Is it all a Game? Understanding the Principles of Gamification. Business Horizons, 58. 411-420

– Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. (2014). Understanding Gamification of Consumer Experiences. Advances in Consumer Research, 42, 352-356

– Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamification.Business Horizons (forthcoming, late 2015)

LET THE GAME BEGIN

• What is gamification?

• What does gamification do?

• Gamification principles - the MDEframework

• Gamification at work

– Jay-Z Decoded

– American Idol

• Some takeaways

• Quiz

GAMIFICATION DEFINED

• A game

– a physical or mental activity or contest that has rules and that people do for pleasure

• I’m game

– eager and willing to do something

• Gamification = “the application of lessons from the gaming domain in order to change stakeholder behaviors and outcomes in non-game situations” Robson et al. (2014: pg 352)

GAMIFICATION: WE LIKE TO COLLECT THINGS

GAMIFICATION EXAMPLES

• Interactive advertising campaign• 50 million views on YouTube• Created 30% more business for the brand• Won more than 20 international awards

GAMIFIED BOOK LAUNCH

• Every day for a month each of the 320 pages in the book are posted in 200 locations across the world

• The book is assembled online by fans who find the pages

• The pages are hidden in places that relate to the page content and life of Jay-Z

This Cadillac is wrapped in a page, that paid homage to the birth place of hip-hop in New York.

Part of page as a plaque in the Marcy Projects where Jay-Z spent his child hood.

A page at the bottom of the Delano Hotel in Miami where Jay-Z stayed

A page on the plates of his favorite burger joint

A page in the lining of a Gucci jacket

PAID FOR AND POWERED BY BING

• High levels of player engagement

• Jay-Zs Facebook fans grew by 1 million that month

• Decoded entered the best seller’s list for 19 consecutive weeks

• Campaign earned 1.1 Billion global media impressions in one month

• Jay- Z paid nothing for the $2 million campaign. It was paid for by Bing

WHY GAMIFICATION?

• The growth of the computer game industry

• The pervasiveness of social media, mobile, and web-based technologies

• The quest to better influence the behaviors of employees and customers

Look at their expressions. That is ENGAGEMENT!

WHY GAMIFICATION? • Modern Warfare 3 = $775 million in first 5 days

• 1,900 years of playing time every day

• 25 billion hours, or over 2.85 million years of total playtime.

• Outliers and the 10,000 hour rule

Kevin Werbach

15

SELF DETERMINATION THEORY

Autonomy• Player-centered• Experimentation (less fear

of failure)• Customization

Relatedness• Sense of purpose or goals• Creation of meaning• Social interactions

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Competence• Problem solving• Progress toward mastery• Frequent and direct

feedback

GAMIFICATION PRINCIPLES: PARTICIPANTS

• Designers - develop and design, as well as often manage and maintain, the gamified experience

• Players - compete in the gamified experience

• Spectators – often present, but are defined in that they can influence how the gamified experience works

• Observers – watch, often from outside, but defined as those that can’t influence the game

See Robson et al. (2015)

GAMIFICATION PRINCIPLESDesigner Player

Observer

Spectator

TYPES OF PLAYERS

Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamification. Business Horizons (forthcoming, late 2015)

GAMIFICATION MECHANICS FOR PLAYER TYPES

Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamification. Business Horizons (forthcoming, late 2015)

MechanicsSet up, rules and

progression

DynamicsPlayer behavior

EmotionsPlayers’ state of mind

Gamified Experience

GAMIFICATION PRINCIPLES

Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. (2015) Is it all a Game? Understanding the Principles of Gamification. Business Horizons, 58. 411-420

MECHANICS

• Mechanics: the goals, the rules, the setting, the context, the types of interactions, and the boundaries

• Setup mechanics: where it is to be played, what objects are needed for it, and how these are to be distributed

• Rule mechanics: shape the concept or goal of the gamified experience

• Progression mechanics: badges, trophies, winnings, and other instruments that show standing

DYNAMICS

• Dynamics: types of player behavior that emerge as players partake in the experience

• A product of the strategies and interactions that emerge.

• Dynamics are impacted by observers and spectators

http://www.tournamentterminator.com

EMOTIONS

• Emotions: the mental affective states and reactions evoked among individual player.

GAMIFICATION AT WORK

• From 2003 – 2011 the top ranked US show in terms of ratings.

• Produced 345 Billboard chart-toppers

• Uses gamification principles to:

– Engage customers (i.e., viewers)

– Engage potential employees (i.e., the artists)

• It gamifies a TV show and a talent search process

AMERICAN IDOL PARTICIPANTS

• Designer = Simon Fuller and 19 Entertainment

• Players = contestants

• Spectators = live studio audience, judges, and voting TV viewers

• Observers = non influencing (i.e., non voting) viewers

AMERICAN IDOL MECHANICS

• Setup mechanics:

– auditions online and in various cities in the U.S.

– live studio audience of more than 7,000 members

– broadcasted to millions via TV and Internet

• Rule and progression mechanics:

– once a week, for an average of ten weeks

– contestants take turns performing songs based on a weekly theme (e.g. Motown, Elvis, Number 1 hits)

– Voted to stay on

AMERICAN IDOL DYNAMICS

• Survival and winning

• Collaboration (e.g. duets or group performances)

• 19 Entertainment issues contracts that have extreme control over players

• Ringers planted by producers

• Strong spectator dynamics:

– Ethnic and gender bias voting

– Power voting call and texts

– “Vote for the worst” campaign

AMERICAN IDOL EMOTIONS

• “juicy feedback” –imagine the show with no judges providing feedback

• “on the rails” the illusion of freedom

SOME TAKEAWAYS

1. All the world’s a game. Gamification practices existed long before the term did

2. Why gamify? Because you want behaviors and outcomes linked to intrinsic motivation

3. Recognise the different participants. Designers, Players, Spectators and Observers

4. Recognise the different players. Scholars, Slayers, Strivers and Socialites have different motivations and the skills that produce different outcomes

Overcoming disengagement

Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. (2015) Is it all a Game? Understanding the Principles of Gamification. Business Horizons, 58. 411-420

SOME TAKEAWAYS

5. Gaming the game. How might participants change and cheat the game?

6. Rewards are not enough. It is the playing and progress that makes the experience fun

7. Life cycle of the game. What is the ending? Is the game replayable?

8. It is not a game. It is all about designing business processes, not games

Robson, K., Plangger, K., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., & Pitt, L. (2015) Is it all a Game? Understanding the Principles of Gamification. Business Horizons, 58. 411-420