BEYOND THE BADGE Architecting Engagement Through Game Design Thinking

Dustin DiTommaso | @DU5TB1N

INTRODUCTION: WHY GAME DESIGN THINKING?

GAMES ARE A MEANS TO AN END At the the Heart of It, we are designing Experiences

HYPE CYCLE: 2010/11 Saw a surge in ‘gami!ed’ systems & surrounding media frenzy. DEBATE: Lack of consensus on usable game-based vocabulary, including de!ning ‘game’ & ‘gami!cation.’ EVOLUTION: The de!nition and practice of ‘gami!cation’ is changing & differentiating. SUSTAINABILITY: Survival of the !ttest. With Evolution comes continued Presence.

INTRODUCTION: WHY GAME DESIGN THINKING?

GAMES ARE A MEANS TO AN END At the the Heart of it, we are designing Experiences

HYPE CYCLE: 2010/11 Saw a surge in ‘gami!ed’ systems & surrounding media frenzy. DEBATE: Lack of consensus on usable game-based vocabulary, including de!ning ‘game’ & ‘gami!cation.’ EVOLUTION: The de!nition and practice of ‘gami!cation’ is changing & differentiating. SUSTAINABILITY: Survival of the !ttest. With evolution comes continued presence.

INTRODUCTION: WHY GAME DESIGN THINKING?

GAMES ARE A MEANS TO AN END At the the Heart of It, we are designing Experiences

HYPE CYCLE: 2010/11 Saw a surge in ‘gami!ed’ systems & surrounding media frenzy. DEBATE: Lack of consensus on usable game-based vocabulary, including de!ning ‘game’ & ‘gami!cation.’ EVOLUTION: The de!nition and practice of ‘gami!cation’ is changing & differentiating. SUSTAINABILITY: Survival of the !ttest. With Evolution comes continued Presence.

BADGEVILLE

SOCIAL LOYALTY AWARDS VENDOR

A set.

09.2010 – Founded – 4 Employees 11.23.10 – Series A Funding – $2.5Mil

07.13.11 – Series B – 30 Employees

7.13.2011 $15MIL SERIES B FUNDING

SEE ALSO: Big Door Bunchball CubePoints Gamify Get Glue MindBloom Mojo

7.14.2011 GOOGLE NEWS ADDS BADGES

GAMES ARE A MEANS TO AN END At the the Heart of It, we are designing Experiences

HYPE CYCLE: 2010/11 Saw a surge in ‘gami!ed’ systems & surrounding media frenzy. DEBATE: Lack of consensus on usable game-based vocabulary, including de!ning ‘game’ & ‘gami!cation.’ EVOLUTION: The de!nition and practice of ‘gami!cation’ is changing & differentiating. SUSTAINABILITY: Survival of the !ttest. With Evolution comes continued Presence.

4.1.2010 GOOGLE APRIL FOOLS JOKE

GAMES ARE A MEANS TO AN END At the the Heart of It, we are designing Experiences

HYPE CYCLE: 2010/11 Saw a surge in ‘gami!ed’ systems & surrounding media frenzy. DEBATE: Lack of consensus on usable game-based vocabulary, including de!ning ‘game’ & ‘gami!cation.’ EVOLUTION: The de!nition and practice of ‘gami!cation’ is changing & differentiating. SUSTAINABILITY: Survival of the !ttest. With Evolution comes continued Presence.

FOURSQUARE

CURRENTLY, 10 MILLION USERS

A set.

Daily Check-ins/User dropped from 0.5 to 0.34 when growing from 2 to 8 million accounts (foursquare 2011)

21% report checking in for the Mayorship challenge and achievements 54% say they check in ONLY when discounts or coupons are involved

03.2009 – Launched! 09.2009 – 100,000 Users

08.2010 – 1,000,000 Users

BUT !!!

TOO MUCH FOCUS ON SHALLOW, EXTRINSIC REWARDS – POINTS & BADGES – DOES NOT LEAD TO PLAYER SATISFACTION OR SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT.

TOO MUCH FOCUS ON SHALLOW, EXTRINSIC REWARDS – POINTS & BADGES – DOES NOT LEAD TO PLAYER SATISFACTION OR SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT.

WHAT IS A GAME?

WHAT IS A GAME? A Structured, Voluntary Experience with Rules and Goals that is Engaging and Fun.

FUN!!??!!?? O RLY??!!??

FARMVILLE

THE PROBLEM WITH FUN

IT’S TOO DILUTED OF A CONCEPT

It doesn’t distinguish the unique psychological experience of gameplay that leads to SUSTAINTED ENGAGEMENT.

SEE: RAPH KOSTER – A THEORY OF FUN IN GAMES NICOLE LAZZARO – FOUR KEYS TO FUN MARC LEBLANC – EIGHT KINDS OF FUN

SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY

SDT argues that human beings seek out (and continue to engage in) activities if these promise (and succeed) to satisfy 3 intrinsic motivational needs:

SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY

SDT argues that human beings seek out (and continue to engage in) activities if these promise (and succeed) to satisfy 3 intrinsic motivational needs:

COMPETENCE

SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY

SDT argues that human beings seek out (and continue to engage in) activities if these promise (and succeed) to satisfy 3 intrinsic motivational needs:

COMPETENCE

AUTONOMY

SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY

SDT argues that human beings seek out (and continue to engage in) activities if these promise (and succeed) to satisfy 3 intrinsic motivational needs:

COMPETENCE

RELATEDNESS

AUTONOMY

COMPETENCE

THE PATH TO MASTERY:

+ The “Path To Mastery” is an Experience over Time

+ Nested, short-term achievable goals that lead to and support success of the overarching

long-term goal.

+ Wherever a player is on their quest there should be a next goal just around the corner.

+ Design Appropriate Challenges and Rewards for All Players along Player Experience Lifecycle.

N00B – Enthusiast – Master

MAKE PROGRESS VISIBLE:

+ Provide Real-Time Granular, Sustained and Cumulative Feedback on Overall Performance

+ Utilize Reward Mechanics to Light a Blazed Path of Accomplishment.

+ NOT About Shiny Digital Trophies, or Badges

+ Ensure that Rewards are Meaningful to Player Competence, during immediate play and

long-term engagement.

COMPETENCE

EXPERIENCE OF CHALLENGE

+ Build Player Skill Through Challenges That Cause Them To Reach Just A Bit Out of Their Level

+ Optimal Challenges Stretch Player Ability But Don’t Overwhelm

+ Allow Players to Fail, if they can Learn and Grow from it (Gami!cation does NOT do this)

+ Still, a High Success to Fail Ratio Works Best

EXPRESSION OF MASTERY

+ After Hard-Earned Rewards, Allow Players to Enjoy and Express their Dominance

+ Ease-Off Dif!culty for a Short Term

+ Provide Social Outlets for Bragging & Peacocking

+ Big “Juicy Feedback” for a Job Well Done.

AUTONOMY

THE GAME BELONGS TO THE USER

+ Choice, Control and Mastery lead players to Deep Engagement and Loyalty

+ Provide the Right Information for Players to Best Make Use of their Autonomy

+ Operant Conditioning Tactics such as Time-Based or Loss Aversion Mechanics are a Turn-Off to

those who recognize them and simply Predatory to those who don’t

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION!

+ Goal is to Maximize Opportunities for Action

+ Provide a Variety of Ways to Play (Competitive, Cooperative, Solo)

+ Provide a Variety of Available Actions (Challenge, Social, Side-Quests, Secrets, Unlocks, etc.)

+ Allow Multiple Paths through Nested Goals that still lead to Overarching Goal

IMMERSION & FLOW

Flow is completely focused motivation..

It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing emotions in the service of performing and learning.

- Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (1990)

RELATEDNESS

THE SPARK OF CONNECTION

+ We are intrinsically motivated to seek meaningful connections with others

+ Data shows that in multiplayer situations, allowing players to connect with others and build

relationships energizes, motivates and sustains ongoing engagement.

+ Focus on mechanics that allow players to both give and receive support of their goals

+ Provide for Communities of interest beyond one-on-one connections

BEYOND OTHER PLAYERS

+ Tap into content that people are passionate about (Health, Wealth, Career, Arts, ProSocial)

+ Allow users to inject their own short & long term goals into the system (Think Mint Goals)

+ Support your players with Informational Feedback that they care about

RELATEDNESS

RESEARCH INSPIRES DESIGN

Who are your Users? What are their needs and goals? Why are they Playing? What is their Primary Play Style? (Solo, Competitive, Cooperative) Who are they Playing With? What Social Actions do they !nd enjoyable – and why? What Metrics do they care about?

CRITICAL STAKEHOLDER QUESTIONS: 1. What is the main reason for Gamifying your product / service? 2. How does it bene!t the user? 3. Will they enjoy it?

PLAYER QUESTIONS:

What Actions do you want your players to take? What are the goals of the business? How do you get the users to ful!ll those goals?

BUSINESS QUESTIONS:

MAN THE PLAYER

CURRENT PLAYER TYPE MODELS

1996 Richard Bartle: 4 Type Model & 8 Type Model 2005 Nick Yee: 3 components, 10 subcomponents 2006 Klug, Schell: 9 Player Types 2010 Kallio, Mayra and Kaipainen: 9 Types of Players

BARTLE’S PLAYER TYPES

EXPLORER

Gets positive experience by !nding new things in the world around them (Secrets, Unlocks, Easter Eggs) Find own route around the game system Engage in Open-Ended Play Learn or acquire information during gameplay Achieve their Goals in their own way on their own time (Autonomous Play) Prefers to play at own pace. Likes to customize their experience and feels restricted when game forces them to move on before they are ready.

LIKES TO:

DESIGN CHALLENGE:

BARTLE’S PLAYER TYPES

ACHIEVER

Motivated by a Sense of Progress and Mastery of the System Measure Objectives in the Game Make Progress towards objectives Gain Recognition for their successes Complete Collections of Rewards Acquire Unique or Rare Objects or Status Analyze and Understand Game Mechanics Can be hard to design proper level of challenge for these folks. Flow State.

LIKES TO:

DESIGN CHALLENGE:

BARTLE’S PLAYER TYPES

KILLER

Similar to Achiever, except play Win/Lose game and want to show others ”Look at Me, I Won!” Compete Win Show-Off Trash Talk, Taunt

Hitting the right dif!culty level

Keeping them in Check from Hacking the System or Disrupting the Community

LIKES TO:

DESIGN CHALLENGE:

BARTLE’S PLAYER TYPES

SOCIALIZER

Play games mostly to connect with other people Gain Friends and In"uence People Join or Lead Groups Organize Cooperative Activities Comment, Share, Award Be Liked Gain Prestige Building a sustainable community for interaction among players

LIKES TO:

DESIGN CHALLENGE:

BARTLE’S PLAYER TYPES

CONSIDER THE CONTINUUM

BONUS TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT

Design the Experience Over Time Create Journey Maps (Timelines of player actions, reactions & emotions) What does that Journey Towards Mastery look like?

ENGAGEMENT IS A JOURNEY

Focus on N00B and First Time Experience The First 60 seconds are crucial to show First-Time Users how it works Get In, Get Busy, Tell People, Come Back Guide the Player Experience - N00B Can’t Lose, Give them endorphin releasing actions to perform.

ONBOARDING

GIVE THEN GET Provide Value immediately when users arrive. Give them the opportunity to engage, personalize and express preferences before asking them to register.

BONUS TIPS FOR ENGAGEMENT

Know your audience intimately and create enough Juicy Feedback for all levels of the Journey (N00B, Regular, Master) Light the Path of the Journey with Progress Mechanics Achievable short term goals that work towards overarching long term goals

PICK THE RIGHT REWARDS AND FEEDBACK

If you’ve created the RIGHT Rewards/Achievements then your Players will WANT to share their Status with others.

SOCIAL HOOKS

DESIGN ETHICALLY

Addiction is not the same as Engagement There is certainly ‘Click-Whir’ Behavioral Psych at work behind many mechanics. Use them Responsibly.

REFERENCES: A PATH TO MASTERY

Nic Kelman, “Yes, but is it a game?” from Games : Required essay from a not so required book. Raph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design : Fun arises from Learning & Mastery James Paul Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning & Literacy : Pairs nicely with Koster’s book Mihály Csikszentmihályi, Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience : Many implications for creating engagement architectures Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens, A Study of the Play Element in Culture : “It is ancient wisdom, but also a little cheap, to call all human activity ‘play’.” Ryan, Deci, The Handbook of Self-Determination Research : Perhaps the most well researched psychological theory of intrinsic motivation

GAME DESIGN THINKER

REFERENCES: A PATH TO MASTERY

Hunicke, Leblanc, Zubek, MDA a Formal Process of Game Design : Origin of the Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics framework Jesse Schell, The Art of Game Design – A Book of Lenses : Tactical and practical Bateman, Boon, 21st Century Game Design : Pragmatic approach to Game Design Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken : Serious Games will Save the World Zicherman, Linder, Game-Based Marketing : Enthusiastic, Behaviorist Argument for Gami!cation Pro!teering.

GAME MAKER

Bartle Player Type Quiz : http://www.game-on-book.com/bartle Jesse Schell, Visions of the Gamepocalypse [VIDEO] : http://bit.ly/jT6LvD

BONUS PLAY

Dustin DiTommaso Experience Design Director Email: dustin@madpow.net Twitter: @DU5TB1N

Portsmouth | Boston | Louisville

We deliver research-inspired design aimed at improving the experiences people have with technology, organizations, and each other.