The gaming industry is huge, and it can keep its audience consumed for hours, days and even weeks. Presentation shows how it all started, some best and worst practices and main principles of gamification.

1. Introduction to Gamification
by Snizhana Bezhnar

2. ― What is Gamification?
― Psychology and motivation of
Gamification
― History
― Best Practices
― Gamification Theory
― Game Mechanics and Components
― A fly in the ointment
― Conclusion
Agenda

3. Gamification is the use of game thinking and game
mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in
solving problems MOTIVATE them to certain
behavior.
Nick Pelling coined the term “gamification” in
2002, meaning “applying game-like
accelerated user interface design to make
electronic transactions both enjoyable and
fast.”

4. How do you motivate
people to certain behavior?

5. Motivation before 1865

6. Motivation in the 20th
century

7. Pavlov
Classical
conditioning
Motivation theories
Skinner
Operant
conditioning
Maslov
Maslow hierarchy
of needs
Richard Ryan &
Edward Deci
Self-determination
theory (SDT)

8. Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter involved in the brain’s Limbic
“reward” system
Dopamine, Motivation, and Your
Brain

9. Reward

10. Reward
Status

11. Reward
Status
Power

12. Reward
Status
Power
Achievement

13. Reward
Status
Power
Achievement
Interest

14. Reward
Status
Power
Achievement
Interest
Purpose

15. Reward
Status
Power
Achievement
Interest
Purpose
Fear

16. Reward
Status
Power
Achievement
Interest
Purpose
Fear
...

17. Reward
Status
Power
Achievement
Interest
Purpose
Fear
...
GAME

18. Gamification is about figuring out
what makes games so engaging,
then applying those principles to
work, education, etc.

19. The history of gamification
S&H Green Stamps
And so it began. Marketers sold stamps to
retailers who used them to reward loyal
customers

20. The history of gamification
Charles Coonradt
Founds a consulting firm called “The game of
work”, and brings feedback loops found in
sports into the workplace

21. The history of gamification
MUD1
Is created by Roy Trubshaw at Essex
university. It was the first multi-user virtual
world game

22. The history of gamification
Thomas Malone
Publishes “What Makes Things Fun to Learn:
a Study of Intrinsically Motivating Computer
Games”

23. The history of gamification
American Airlines
Introduces AAdvantage, the first frequent
flyer program

24. The history of gamification
Holiday Inn
Launches the first hotel loyalty program

25. The history of gamification
Richard Bartle
Publishes “Who Plays MUAs”, which divides
video game players into four unique types

26. The history of gamification
Nick Pelling
Coins the term “gamification”

27. The history of gamification
Quest to learn
Accepts a class of 6th graders into a game-
based learning environment

28. The history of gamification
DevHub
Adds a Points system to its website, and
increases user engagement by 70%
Gamification Co.
Holds the first Gamification Summit in San
Francisco, CA

29. The history of gamification
45 000 people
Enroll Coursera online Gamification course
Mozilla open Badges
Initiative is launched. The open source
badges can be used to mark
accomplishments online

30. The history of gamification
M2 Research
Predicts that gamification will be a 2.8 billion
dollar industry by 2016

31. Does it really work so good?

32. Puzzle Game Foldit
(Washington’s Center for Game
Science) made breakthrough in
AIDS Research that Scientists
couldn’t solve for 15 years
15 Years vs
10 Days?

33. RPG Diary Game Pain Squad helps
Patients Combat Cancer by providing
both Purpose and Data
Combat
Cancer

34. Ananth Pai has incorporated games
to teach his students about reading
and mathematics. The result is that
within 4.5 months Mr. Pai's class
went from being a below average
3rd grade class to a mid level 4th
grade class
Mr Pai’s Class

35. Kevin Richardson, game designer at
MTV’s San Francisco office, re-
imagined the speed cameras
experience using game thinking.
When tested at a checkpoint in
Stockholm, average driver speed
was reduced by 20%.
Speed camera
lottery

36. 70% of NextJump employees
exercise regularly — enough to
save the company millions in work
attendance and insurance costs
over the medium term — all the
while making the workplace
healthier and happier
Get Fit:
NextJump

37. Game theory - MDA framework
Mechanics
Functioning components
The particular
components of the
game at the level of
data representation
and algorithms
Dynamics
Interactions
A game dynamics can
be defined as a
pattern of loops that
turns them into a
large sequence of play
Aesthetics
Fun parts
Is all about making
games “fun”,
desirable emotional
responses evoked in
the player

38. Game theory - the Elemental Tetrad (Schell 2008)
Mechanics
the procedures and rules of your game
(“space”, “objects”, “actions”, “rules”,
“skill”and “chance”)
Aesthetics
describes “how your game looks, sounds,
smells, tastes, and feels”
Story
Narrative aspect of the game
Technology
refers to the tools and systems used to
implement or deliver the gameplay (e.g.
cardboard game board, mobile phone screen,
game console).

39. Gamification elements
Gamification elements pyramid by Professor Kevin Webach’s

40. Gamification elements
Components
Specific installations
(nouns)
Achievements
Avatars
Badges
Collections
Combat
Content unlocking
Gifting
Leaderboards
Levels
Points
Quests
Goods
Mechanics
Processes, that drive
action forward (verbs)
Challenges
Chance
Competition
Feedback
Resource Acquisition
Rewards
Transactions
Turns
Win states
Aesthetics
Big-picture aspects
(Grammar)
Constraints
Narrative
Progression
Relationships

41. How Gamification Taps Into Your Motivation
Motivators Possible Supporters
Autonomy Customisation, Сhoice, Freedom
Mastery Levels, Challenges
Purpose Giving / Altruism, Narrative, Greater Meaning
Status Leaderboards, Achievements,
Social Connections Suggest similar users, Cooperative “play”
Rewards Points, Badges, Achievements, Real stuff, Lotteries
Peer Pressure Peer review / feedback / grading systems, Boasting /
Bragging system, Competitive “play”
Avoidance Lose Points, Lose Status, Game Over
Scarcity Exclusive / Unique Reward, Reward Schedules

42. Main gamification components
Game components are utilized to reward activity among
customers, employees, or other users.
The five most commonly used components are: Points,
Badges, Levels, Leaderboards, and Challenges.
Other components:
Achievements, Appointments, Behavioral Momentum, Blissful Productivity, Bonuses,
Cascading Information Theory, Combos, Community Collaboration, Countdown, Discovery, Epic
Meaning, Free Lunch, Infinite Gameplay, Levels, Loss Aversion, Lottery, Ownership, Points, Progression,
Quests, Reward Schedules, Status, Urgent Optimism, Virality...

43. Points
Increases the running numerical value of users work.
Points are a basic, simple way to obtain feedback on the
things we do, and they motivate us because they provide
immediate feedback.

44. Badges
Badges can perform a
number of functions for
gamified design, but mostly
they are used to
demonstrate consumer
status and progress.

45. Levels
Ramp up and unlock content.
Levels allow to quickly identify
various involvement levels, as well as
to create different challengers for
users. Users in the higher levels can
be shown more features , and given
much more complex challenges.

46. Leaderboards, Ratings
Public recognition, status
We all like to win: we all like to be
among the most relevant, influential,
“cool” people, or else among the
strongest, the most intelligent, etc.

47. Challenges
A challenge is a call to
engage in a difficult, but
achievable task.
Uncertain outcomes are
challenging because of the
variability depending on
the user’s actions, multiple
goals, hidden information
and randomness

48. User types (by Richard Bartle)
Killer
Defined by:
A focus on winning, rank
different peer-to-peer
competition
Engaged by:
Leaderboards, Ranks
Explorer
Defined by:
A focus on exploring and a
drive to discover the
unknown
Engaged by:
Obfuscated achievements
Achiever
Defined by:
A focus on status,
achieving preset goals
quickly and/or completely
Engaged by:
Achievements
Socializer
Defined by:
A focus on socializing and
a drive to develop a
network of friends
Engaged by:
Newsfeeds, Friends list,
Chat

49. Flow theory
Ten factors of flow:
• Clear goals
• A high degree of concentration
• A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness
• Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective
experience of time is altered
• Direct and immediate feedback
• Balance between ability level and challenge
• A sense of personal control over the situation
or activity
• The activity is intrinsically rewarding
• A lack of awareness of bodily needs
• Absorption into the activity

51. A fly in the ointment
The side effects

52. Cobra effect
Getting rid of cobras in Delhi

53. Unintended
behavior
BMW: fuel-efficient driving

54. Questions to ask yourself before gamifying your
product/service
• What is your main reason for gamifying your
product/service?
• Is your product ready for Gamification?
• What are your goals?
• What are your users goals? What motivates them?
• What are the main benefits you expect to achieve?

55. Questions to ask yourself during gamifying your
product/service
• Do you have Achievements a player would be proud of or
share?
• Do you have the right analytics tools and goals set?
• Do you know where players drop out, where do they lose
interest?
• What are the challenges? Do they require skill or luck?
• Have you thoroughly thought about your game design from
a cheater's perspective to see possible exploits they would
see?

56. Questions to ask yourself during gamifying your
product/service
• Do you give players meaningful choices? Would you benefit
from making them more or less frequent?
• How can you give your players more ways to contact or
interact with one another?
• Have you spent enough time on your User Interface and
insuring players really enjoy the graphical elements of the
Gamification?
• Do players value their virtual currency or goods?
• …

57. Questions