Participation and motivation are the keys to gamification design

Author: Kelly Rued

Recently, I've had a lot of fun with Gabe Zichermann's article "Top 5 Ways to Make Your Site More Fun." Zichermann is exploring how social networking sites and their rewards programs can effectively use game mechanics. He dug up a great deal of valuable information that can be used in interactive software design for non-gamers. He believes that the people responsible for designing websites, business applications, marketing plans and fundraising conferences can now learn the benefits of gaming mechanics.

gamification (from joannapenabickley.typepad.com)

Interesting significance lies

However, I do not entirely agree with the idea of ​​seeing "fun" as the main concern for using game mechanics on websites or apps. I believe there is a common view among all game designers that entertainment is only achieved after a successful or satisfactory solution (including victory, saving the world, completing a so-called hero tour, and eventually earning enough points to buy what you crave for The virtual props, etc.) will end. Focusing solely on fun is also why game design can not be a great success as an art medium. In game design, it is generally accepted that interest is a positive experience that puts pressure on people. Many serious game design books are trying to explain how to construct interest properly. However, people consume media content, people tend to treat the game as a dessert, not a steak staple food.

The problem with fun is that successful and effective entertainment does not necessarily have to be interesting. People are likely to be deeply attracted, motivated and ultimately entertained from the frustrating experiences that lead us to think more about issues. And, people can experience entertainment from completely boring, repetitive, and frustrating games, media, and experiences (for example, it's a bothersome thing to earn experience in your favorite massively multiplayer game , Although eventually rewarded, but the process is not always interesting).

What makes me interesting is that even though people seem to have understood the ubiquitous gamification of everyday life, they still focus on the funniest elements. It is as if life, work, and all the important things in the world should first be thought of as interesting. I suspect that if there is tinted glasses, then everything may be potentially interesting, but the reality is that I do not think that all of the experiences have interesting potentialities. The feeling is even stronger for those transactions that we carry out in the marketplace for goods and services.

I think wise marketers use game mechanics to increase engagement and induce key behaviors, setting interest only based on how consumers perceive the product and exchange it for value. For example, consumers find it expensive and fun to book large amounts of airline tickets and book hotel rooms. However, buying everyday items such as toothpaste and toilet paper is less of an issue.

Motivation to win

Game design involves the participation of design nirvana is not interesting, but motivation. How do you keep some people interested in doing something? There are many ways we can use it, and the game mechanics is one of the most reliable technologies available to software designers, leaving end-users with passion to continue doing what you want them to do.

If you are making mainstream video games, then fun is very important. If you are designing a bonus program for loyal Charmin lovers, the goal is to sell more toilet paper, what you really need to learn from the mechanics of the game is the motivation to drive a marketing campaign. Interest and sense of humor no longer play a big role.

In addition, what do you think of "fun elements" if everything you buy or use wants to transform that experience into a game? Do you want to earn points when buying toilet paper? Or is it just adding more complexity to your otherwise complex life? You should consider user motivation and choose the appropriate mechanics of the game rather than "paint the game" for everything.

"Game coloring" = more tedious work

"Game coloring" is my own term that refers to the game mechanics and unnecessary fun to add to the pragmatic experience. The net result is often that games and metagames generate more chores because of this "pretend" fun task.

For example: Chore Wars. I'm a hardcore creator in the game, and earning XP from everyday life sounds really appealing, but the opposite is true if XP's job is to generate more work. The longer I stay in this game, the more I think "Chore Wars" is just the smart way someone can motivate others to do more than before. It is more like a game that people can use to influence a family, roommate or colleague. Chore Wars is clearly not a game that players play for self-satisfaction.

Challenge = motivation

Have you ever experienced that the game is still interesting after it has crossed a certain point of interest? The reason why you continue to play the game is that fun is just a positive side effect of a deep engagement that is motivated by the game or experience. Even if it does not seem interesting, but we can still keep doing something, because something inspired us. Sometimes the challenge of a gaming experience feels frustrating, but we can still hold on because there is motivation in our hearts to overcome that challenge. Thus, defeating the experience is sometimes why the game has player engagement and motivation. This reality may be the opposite of what you think (many people think that a successful game will set 100% of the content as a fun content).

No one will deny that "Tetris" is a successful game. But the higher tempo, faster checkpoints in Tetris are not fun for most, unless you're a fan of extreme self-punishment (or maybe expert). However, the mechanics of the game still keep me working hard and hope to get better performance in the game. Some may argue that this frustrating challenge is also interesting, but when I'm nervous, nearing the top but failing, the first thing that comes to my mind is not "this game is fun." Kind of idea.

Sometimes, good games do not have 100% interesting content, just as good movies, books and life itself are not 100% interesting. However, while fun is not coherent, we are still willing to participate and have fun.

So, think about the most obsessive game you've played over and over again. If you are not a gamer, think of the most challenging romantic experiences you once had. Sometimes we do not need to use the fun to build engagement (for example, assuming that the site and community being built discuss bereavement or bankruptcy, then perhaps fun is not a suitable target experience).

Game mechanics are not universal Dan

It must also be pointed out that the mere adoption of game mechanics does not create fun.

Coke Rewards is a rewarding success award program, and I do not mind having kids enter the code. However, I do not think it is fun to participate in Coke Rewards. Enter the code is a household chores. This is something I love to delegate to my children, rather than spending my time on it, though it has a point system, proximity and many well-designed features. The plan can produce a medium motivation, but usually the amount of work to be done outweighs the rewards. But Coke is sure to get a lot of benefits from it, such as site engagement, page views (including ad traffic) and some market research data. The program is really playful, but I do not think most of the participants would find it interesting to spend most of their time participating in the Coke Rewards program.

In many applications and experiences, you can not get into the fun experience because engagement and motivation are also important, and both are user-based. In these cases, aggressive gaming mechanics only adversely affect user experience. Negative game mechanics may be useful, but there is not a totally negative game system.

As Zichermann said in his article, Quicken (a home and personal financial management software) will not make you feel happy after use, I think most people realize that the use of Quicken is the most daily They may feel frustrated after the important things. Remember the Clippy that made Microsoft Office even more enjoyable and personal? I know it's a well-crafted help function and Microsoft hopes to help your Office work, but most people just think it interferes with the job and gives them more work (for example, you need to click Close In order to make it disappear from the interface).

Do not add too much "fun" to your app, as this may prevent users from using the site or app. And, fun is not what you really need to pursue, motivation and engagement.

Game Note: This article was published on August 16, 2010, the time involved, events and data are subject to this.

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