designing with gamification: tips for creating fun & engaging user experiences

Designing with GamificationTips for creating fun and rewarding

user experiences

Your Mission (if you choose to accept):

• Level 1: Understand ‘Gamification’• Level 2: Know the Audience• Level 3: Think like a Game Designer• Level 4: Planning for Gamification• End-Goal: Apply Gamification into your own

User Experiences after achieving all 5 ranks:

Level 1: Understand ‘Gamification’

Your starting rank:Gamification Initiate

Gamification – What is it?

• Meaningful play– The use of game theory/game mechanics being

applied in a non-gaming context– Game ≠ Play

• Goals:– Create a sticky, viral and engaging experience– Inject fun into everyday mundane tasks– Drive specific user behaviors

Example: Hot lava game

Example: Star chart

Example: Rewards program

Example: Urinal Fly Sticker

Game ≠ Play

What is play?• Unstructured,

flexible, imaginative & freeform

• Driven by imagination• Goal =

What is a game?• Structured, rigid,

stimulating & focused

• Driven by rules• Goal =

fun WIN

Game ≠ Play

• Great games are built around a narrative the players/users interact with as they complete tasks, get rewarded, level up and have fun.

• A game is bounded, specific problem solving• A game has a predictable resolution,

whereas play may not.

Congratulations, you’ve successfully completed Level 1

Your rank has been upgraded to: Gamification Trainee

Level 2: Know the AudienceBegin your Gamification Training by

gathering intelligence about your target audience…

Bartle’s Player Types

AchieversAttaining status & completing preset goals quickly Engaged by: Achievements

ExplorersExploring and discovering the unknownEngaged by: Achieving their own goals

KillersWinning, rank & direct peer-to-peer competitionEngaged by: Leaderboards, Rankings

SocializersSocializing & developing a friends/contacts networkEngaged by: Newsfeeds, Friends Lists, Chat

Actions Based on Player Type

Achievers

Explorers

Killers

Socializers

Acting

Interacting

Play

ers

Gam

e Space

Things Guys Like in GamesMastery Doesn’t need meaning, just challenging Competition Love to prove we are the best Destruction We like destroying things – a lotSpatial Puzzles Especially puzzles navigating 3D spacesTrial and Error Men hate reading instructions!

Things Girls Like in GamesEmotion Exploring the richness of human emotionReal World Prefer games that connect meaningfullyNurturing Relationships & healing others (vs. winning)Dialog & Verbal Puzzles Love books & cross-word puzzlesLearning by Example Appreciate tutorials that lead step-by-step

50+

Age DemographicsPreschoolers Games with parental guidance

KidsAge of reason: read, make decisions & solve problems

Preteens/tweens Age of obsession: braingrowth and passion

Teens Boys: competition & mastery; Girls: real-world issues & communication

Young adults Firmly established tastes for entertainment & games

Adults starting families Casual gamers due to families; hardcore gamers very influential

Adults w/ children Casual gamers due to careerand families; seek family play

Adults w/ older children Empty nesters lots of time for games – enjoy social components

4-6

7-9

10-13

13-18

18-24

25-35

36-50

Level 2 training completed – Your target has been identified…

Congrats! You’ve been promoted to Gamification Analyst

FREE Coffee Power-Up!Every analyst needs an extra boost!

Earn a Starbucksgift card by being the first

audience member to correctlyyell out Bartle’s 4 player types

Level 3: Think like aGame Designer… Game Theory

Field assignment 1: Rendezvous with mLevel’s wise Agent “M” to uncover insider

secrets for creating successful games

Mental Abilities:Making Gameplay Possible

• Modeling – illusions create experiences that feel real• Focus – interesting enough to hold player’s

attention as long and as intensely as possible• Imagination – engage as a storytelling partner

and have a sense of the problems they will/won’t solve

• Empathy – imagining or projecting yourself in the shoes of the game character(s)

Human brainsare amazing!

Motivation: Hierarchy of Needs

Physical Needs

Safety

Belonging

Self-Esteem

Self-Actualization

Motivation: Hierarchy of Needs

Food, Water, Shelter, Warmth

Security, Stability, Freedom from Fear

Family, Community, Love

Achievement, Rank, Mastery, Recognition

InnerTalent,

Fulfillment

People areso needy…

Game PleasuresLeBlanc’s Taxonomy

SensationSight, sound & touch (game aesthetics)

Fantasy Imaginary worlds (something you cannot be)

NarrativeDramatic unfolding of a sequence of events

ChallengeCore pleasure of gameplay, problem solving

Fellowship Enjoying friendship, cooperation & community

Discovery Exploring game world, discovery of secret feature

Expression Build & share your own things (characters, levels)

Submission Leaving the real-world behind for a new, more enjoyable set of rules/meaning

Flow TheoryBalancing Challenges & Skills

Anxiety

BoredomLow

HighCh

alle

nges Flow

Channel

Low HighSkills

Game DesignThe 4 Basic Elements

MechanicsProcedures and rules

StorySequence of events that unfolds, may be linear or branching

Aesthetics How the game looks, sounds and feels

Technology Any high technology, materials and/or interactions that make the game possible

Aesthetics

Technology

Mechanics Story

More Visible

Less Visible

Game Mechanics

1) The Game Space2) Objects, Attributes & States3) Actions (What can players do?)4) Rules (Constraints & consequences)5) Define Skills Needed6) Chance & Surprise

Let’s learnmore aboutmechanics…

The Game SpaceDefines the various spaces that can exist in a game and how

those places are related to one another

Objects, Attributes & StatesObjects are anything that can be seen or manipulated in the

game space (characters, tokens, props, etc)

Objects, Attributes & StatesObjects are anything that can be seen or manipulated in the

game space (characters, tokens, props, etc)

Pac-ManPowerPellet

InkyPellets

Objects, Attributes & StatesObjects have Attributes such as the current position in the

game space, or other categories of information

Pac-ManMovesIs YellowEats ObjectsCan Die

PowerPelletStrategically PlacedWhite, Round & LargeEnables Power-Up

InkyMovesIs BlueKills Pac-ManCan Go to Cage

PelletsStatic Position, Fills the MazeWhite, Round & SmallIs Worth Points

Objects, Attributes & StatesEach Attribute’s current State can be static or dynamic,

as shown in the classic Pac-Man example above

Operative ActionsOperative Actions are the base actions that a player can

take in the game space (think VERBS)

Operative ActionsOperative Actions are the base actions that a player can

take in the game space (think VERBS)

Climb Up

Duck/Climb Down/Enter Warp Tube

MoveLeft

MoveRight

Jump/Swim Up

Dash/Throw

Resultant ActionsResultant Actions are strategic actions that use operative actions

(or a combination of them) to achieve a goal

Resultant ActionsResultant Actions are strategic actions that use operative actions

(or a combination of them) to achieve a goal

Jump +

Land on amushroom

= Kills it

Jump +

Hit brick

= Coins

Jump +

Hit ? Box

= Power up

Jump +

Land on Yoshi

= Ride

RulesDefines the space, objects, consequences & constraints of

actions, and the overall goals of the game

Concrete – players understand and can clearly state what they are supposed to achieve

Achievable – players must think they have a chance to achieve the goal (if it seems impossible, they’ll give up)

Rewarding – needs the right level of challenge, but also use of “Pleasures” to reward players by giving them something to make them feel good/proud

Define Skills NeededDefine the various types of skills (both real & virtual) within the

game needed to engage and interest your audience

Define Skills NeededDefine the various types of skills (both real & virtual) within the

game needed to engage and interest your audience

Physical • Strength• Dexterity• Coordination• Physical

Endurance

Mental• Memory• Observation• Puzzles• Problem

Solving

Social• Reading

Opponents• Teamwork• Leadership• Banter

Chance & SurpriseConsider interactions with other mechanics along with the

human element to create uncertainty & surprise

• Can’t always perfectly predict human behavior• People seek out options that create the most pleasure,

but also avoid the ones that cause the most pain• The human mind may inflate some

risks completely out of proportion• Everyone loves positive surprises

that add delight

Balance: Skill & ChanceA balance of skill and chance, along with various levels

of risk can create a great game dynamic

• Estimating chance is a skill• Estimating an opponent’s skill is a skill• Skills have a probability of success – every action has

some level of risk. Players must know when to play it safe and when to take a big risk.

• Predicting or controlling pure chance is an imagined skill – we seek patterns, but lucky streaks and gambler’s fallacy do not actually exist

You survived Level 3 field training – Now participate in a top-secret assignment that’s for

the birds…

Excellent work! You’ve earned the rank of Gamification Intelligence Officer

Congratson the

promotion!

Bonus Round!@_jeffgen_

Be the 20th person to retweet my Designing with Gamification tweet and

you’ll be enjoying a coffee on me!

Level 4: Planning for Gamification

Field assignment 2: Gather field intelligence to unlock the final keys to

decoding the gamification cipher!

Back to Gamification

Apply to Business NeedsHow can we take these psychological theories and mechanics and apply them into our businesses products, processes and services?

3 Basic StepsLet’s take a quick look at how to get started…

Step 1 Define Users & Goal

What’s your Goal?• Drive specific user behaviors• Create brand loyalty• Re-engineer daily processes to make

them more engaging and efficient. Note: Do not gamify within highly efficient business processes.

• Create sticky, viral and engaging experiences

• Inject fun into a mundane task to make it more manageable

• Create competition

Know your Audience• What are their needs/ what’s

holding them back?• What’s the primary playing style

(solo, competitive, cooperative)?• Who are they playing with?• What metrics do they care about?• Achievement of goals v.

enjoyment of experience• Structure and guidance v.

freedom to explore• Self-interest in actions v.

social interest in actions

Step 2 Use Mechanics that Work

There are typically 3 kinds of gamification worth pursuing in a business context:

ValidationCompletionPrizes & Rewards

ValidationA strong driver of long-term, quality engagement that forms

communities and allows users to share & express

CompletionGuide user progression and persuade them to make useful

contributions, enhancing the experience for themselves & others

Prizes & RewardsReward users with upgraded status, exclusive access, additional

power (budget/business decisions) and money, gifts or trips

Step 2 (cont’d) Tips for Success

• Provide a reason to play and way to feel progression and accomplishment.

• Make sure players understand the goal of the game and why they should play it.

• Let players set their own goals or suggest goals to help motivate mastery

• Use global goals that everyone can help work towards to inspire collaboration & teamwork

Step 3 Analyze the Data

• Performance and player behavior• Have analytics tools and goals in place

to gauge your progress• Pinpoint where users:– Drop out or lose interest– Have the most fun

• Use that data to optimize the experience by adding or removing features

• Important: Play test & iterate before launch!

Now you’re ready to apply gamification into your own

user experiences!

Congratulations! You’ve achieved the final rank of Gamification Field Agent.

Last Chance for a FREE Coffee!• Need 2 Volunteers to play a game.• Each will have 2 opportunities to answer a

question first earn 10 points for a correct answer

• If the player answers the question wrong, the other player will have the opportunity to answer and earn 5 points for the steal.

• Let’s Start!

P1-Q: Name one thing that Men like in games…

P2-Q: Name one item from the motivational ‘heirarchy of needs’ pyramid…

P1-Q: Name 3 of the 6 game mechanics that we reviewed in detail…

A: Mastery, competition, destruction, spatial puzzles, trial & error

A: Physical, Safety, Belonging, Self-Esteem, Self-Actualization

A: Game Space, Objects/Attributes/States, Actions, Rules, Skills, Chance

A: Validation, Completion, Prizes/Rewards

P2-Q: Name the 3 Game Mechanics that work best in a business context…

About MeJeff Steffgen

User Experience & Design Director @ mLevel (game-based learning app & platform)

Follow me on twitter: @_jeffgen_

Q1: Name one thing that Men like in games.

Q2: Name one item from the motivational ‘heirarchy of needs’ pyramid.

Q3: Name 3 of the 6 game mechanics that we reviewed in detail.

A: Mastery, competition, destruction, spatial puzzles, trial & error

A: Physical, Safety, Belonging, Self-Esteem, Self-Actualization

A: Game Space, Objects/Attributes/States, Actions, Rules, Skills, Chance

A: Validation, Completion, Prizes/Rewards

Q4: Name the 3 Game Mechanics that work best in a business context