A presentation going into the details surrounding the gamification player and user types HEXAD from Andrzej Marczewski at Gamified UK. This is aimed at game and gamification designers as a tool for helping design better solutions that focus on the wants and needs of the users. The original artical can be found at http://www.gamified.uk/user-types/

1. A PLAYER TYPE
FRAMEWORK FOR
GAMIFICATION
DESIGN
Andrzej Marczewski’s Core Principles
of Gamification Series

2. Player Types are not a new concept in the
field of games or gamification, however
there are a lack of such models designed
specifically for gamification.
In my model, the Gamification User Types
HEXAD, I propose six types of users (at a
basic level); four intrinsically motivated
types and two others.
Achiever, Socialiser, Philanthropist and Free
Spirit. They are motivated by Relatedness,
Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose - RAMP.
The other two types, whose motivations
are a little less black and white are
Disruptor and Player.

3. In BriefA quick outline of the
basics

4. • Socialisers are motivated by Relatedness. They want to
interact with others and create social connections.
• Free Spirits are motivated by Autonomy and self-
expression. They want to create and explore.
• Achievers are motivated by Mastery. They are looking
to learn new things and improve themselves. They want
challenges to overcome.
• Philanthropists are motivated by Purpose and Meaning.
This group are altruistic, wanting to give to other people
and enrich the lives of others in some way with no
expectation of reward.
• Players are motivated by Rewards. They will do what is
needed of them to collect rewards from a system. They
are in it for themselves.
• Disruptors are motivated by Change. In general, they
want to disrupt your system, either directly or through
other users to force positive or negative change.
Players are happy to "play" your game, where points and
rewards are up for grabs. Disruptors want nothing to do
with it and the others need a bit more to keep them
interested. This looks a bit like this

5. Intrinsic User Types
Deeper into the
Intrinsically Motivated
User Types

6. • Socialisers (as in the original Player Type) are the ones who want to
interact with others. They like to be connected to others. They are
interested in parts of the system that help them do this. These are the
ones will evangelise your internal social networks. Most motivated by
the social connections aspects of relatedness.
• Free Spirits like to have agency. They have two basic subtypes, Creators
and Explorers. Explorers don’t want to be restricted in how they go
through their personal journey, to explore the system. They are also
likely to f ind the most holes in a system. Creators want to build new
things.They will have the fanciest avatars and create the most personal
content. They seek self-expression and autonomy.
• Achievers are the ones who want to be the best at things or, at least, be
achieving things within the system. They want to get 100% on the
internal learning system. They do this for themselves and are probably
not that bothered with then showing off to others about it. (This differs
from the original definition, but I could not think of a better word!!).
Will compete with others, but as a way to become better than others.
The system provides the platform, other "players" are just things to be
overcome and mastered. May also be motivated by status as a
representation of their personal achievement They need a system that
will enrich them and lead them towards mastery.
• Philanthropists want to feel that they are part of something bigger.
They want to give to others but expect nothing in return. These are the
ones who will answer endless questions on forums, just because they
like to feel they are helping. They want a system that allows them to
enrich others and feel a sense of altruism and purpose.

7. Player (Extrinsic)
User Sub-Types
Deeper into the
Extrinsically Motivated
User Sub-Types

8. Essentially the Player is motivated by rewards, plain and simple. They will do
similar things to the intrinsically motivated group, but only if there is a reward at
the end of it!
• Self-Seeker: This group of users will act in a similar way to Philanthropists.
They will answer people's questions, share knowledge and be helpful – but
for a cost. If there is no reward, don’t expect them to get involved! They can
be useful, however, if they are being asked to get involved for rewards, expect
quantity over quality!
• Consumer: Consumers will do what is needed to get rewards. If that requires
them to learn new skills or take on challenges (like an Achiever), then they
will do it. However, if they can get rewards for just doing what they were
already doing – even better. Think of them as the ones who will enter
competitions just for the prize or who shop at one store just for the loyalty
programme.
• Networker: Where a Socialiser connects to others because they are looking
for relatedness, Networkers are looking for useful contacts that they can gain
from. They follow the big influencers on social networks, not because they
are interested in them, but because they hope it will get them noticed,
increase their influence and lead to a reward.
• Exploiter: Like Free Spirits, these guys are looking for the boundaries of the
system, where they can go and what they can do. However, for them, it is a
way to find new ways to rewards. If they find a loop-hole, don’t expect them
to report it unless they feel others are earning more than them exploiting it!

9. Disruptor
User Sub-Types
Deeper into the
Disruptor User Sub-
Types

10. Disruptors disrupt or change a system in some way. This may be by acting on
users or on the system itself. As with the Player type, the Disruptor type is a
group rather than a single type.
• Griefer: This is our killer. I have chosen to use Bartle’s description from his 8
types because this is the pure arsehole type. They want to negatively affect
other users, just because they can. It may be to prove a point about the fact
they don’t like the system, it may just be for fun. They have no place in most
gamified systems, so you need to find ways to either change their minds – or
get rid of them.
• Destroyer: This type of user wants to break the actual system directly. This
may be by hacking or finding loopholes in the rules that allow them to ruin
the experience for others. Their reasons again may be because they dislike
the system or it may just be because they find it fun to hack and break things.
If you can’t convince them to at least convert to an Improver, then you have
to get rid of them.
• Influencer: These users will try to change the way a system works by exerting
influence over other users. This is not to say they are a negative type, far
from it. If they feel the system needs to change and you actually allow them a
voice to help change it, they could become massive advocates. Make use of
them or lose them – worse still the could end up switching to a Griefer!
• Innovator: Innovators will interact with the system with the best intentions in
mind. They may hack it or find loopholes, but their aim is to change the
system for the better. They are similar to the Free Spirit type, in reality, they
want to have the chance to explore the system, find problems and try to fix
them. Take care of these users as they can help you massively. Mistreat them
and they may well become Destroyers.

11. The Dodecad of
User Types
Putting it all together

12. The Dodecad is a visual summary of
the 12 user types. Some have found
it very useful for understanding the
full picture, so you may as well!
If you look at the chart, closer to
12 o’clock and 6 o’clock are the
Player user types.
9 o’clock and 3 o’clock are the
Disruptors and the rest are the
Intrinsic types.

13. Using the User Types
Strategies to make use
of the User Types in
your designs

14. This is my personal favourite way of
using the user types. The basic idea
is to put yourself in a different
position to view a problem from a
different perspective. Jesse Schell
created an amazing deck of lenses
to go with his seminal game design
bible The Art of Game Design.
Each one challenges you to ask
certain questions about your game
to try and get a new perspective on
it.
Find out more in my other
SlideShare on Gamification Design
Lenses!
Design Gamification for Types

15. Design Gamification for Types
An alternative is to come at designing for gamification types from another direction. Define the problem your gamification is
trying to solve. Next work out what kind of user types are most likely to be able to help solve it – and build the system to
encourage and support them.
For instance, if you are looking for innovation in your company and you want to get people to submit new ideas, what types of
people are most likely to give up their time to do this? Well, initially it would make sense that Philanthropists would be up for
the challenge. Their “joy” comes from helping others and adding to the greater meaning of life the universe and everything.
This being the case, you need to create an environment that allows them to give their ideas, but also to advise others and
support them with their ideas. You may also want to consider Free Spirits. They are creative and could be the ones who have
explored areas where there can be the most innovation. This means you would create a system that encourages and supports
their involvement. You give them tools to think creatively and develop their ideas.
That is not to say you ignore the other types. You can create social networking opportunities for Socialisers or add voting
systems with points and badges for the Players, but remember they are not the ones who will be helping you directly solve
your problem – the need for innovation. Also, remember that different motivations appeal to people in varying degrees and
combinations. Although they may be a socialiser, they can still have traits that a Philanthropist may have.
This approach will help you build a system that solves your problem. Yes, users may evolve their type during usage, but the
system will still encourage others to come along and use it. In addition, designed well, you can keep the evolved users on board
in other capacities.

16. Survey the Populous
A final option is to survey your intended target audience to find out what types they are. Then you can design a system that
focuses mostly on those types.
Although surveying is a reasonable thing to do, it does have a couple of drawbacks. It assumes the questions are relevant. It
requires people to self-report with honesty, something that we intend to do, but at times, we do not recognize that cognitive
biases can prevent this from happening.
The final and most important drawback is the nature of people themselves. You see, the survey provides snapshot information
on the type for a potential user before they interact with the system and out of context. As we have seen, over time it has been
found that the user types can change. The user type you are when you first start using a system may not stay the same.
Therefore, surveying and building your system based on initial types may actually be counter-productive.
This is the approach if you are looking for a short-term campaign; you just need to work out what your potential users want
over the immediate term.

17. Get in Touch
Gamified.uk
@daverage
andrzej@gamified.uk
If you found this interesting and want to know more, get in
touch.
Check out my book, Even Ninja Monkeys Like to Play on
Amazon or my Website for even more content on player types,
motivation and gamification!