"Beyond Nudges: Gamification as Motivational Architecture," presentation to the 2013 Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection conference, Brussels, Belgium
1. Gamification as Motivational
Architecture
Prof. Kevin Werbach
Dept. of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania
werbach@wharton.upenn.edu
Twitter: @kwerb
3. Nudges
• We are “predictably irrational” (Ariely), prone
to mental “mistakes” (Kahnman & Tversky)
– E.g., loss aversion, anchoring, temporal biases
• Insight: leverage this knowledge to create
“choice architectures” (Sunstein & Thaler)
– E.g., changing defaults,
mandating disclosure
– Governments applying,
especially U.S., U.K.
4. My Grudge with Nudge
• Not the standard conservative critique!
– (the “Nanny State”)
• Choice limited to behaviorist conception
– What people do, not why they do it
– Deviations from “rationality” aren’t all “mistakes”
– Good data (“RECAP”) doesn’t always produce good results
• Architecture reduced to construction
– Real architecture is a design practice
5. Missing Piece: Motivation
• How does the experience satisfy human needs?
• Why do people comply?
• Can we go beyond basic compliance?
• Behaviorism is right… until it isn’t
– Teresa Amabile’s research on creativity
– Deci & Ryan on motivation in the workplace, school, etc.
6. Games as Motivational Design
• Good games are fun
– Challenges, contingency, competition, teamwork, etc.
– Voluntariness necessitates engagement techniques
• Games are designed artifacts
– Process: iterative, human-centered, goal-oriented
– Rich palette (e.g., points, levels, avatars, virtual goods)
– Developed practice (e.g. playtesting, narrative, balance)
– Focus on the player journey
– Recognition that users will game the system
16. Data Protection Issues
• All interactions trackable
• Granular user data feeds analytics
– “We’re running several hundred tests at any given time for every
one of our games.” – Mark Pincus, Zynga (2010)
• To whom do achievements belong?
17. Reasons for Optimism
• Public sector doesn’t need to monetize
– Nascent industry of gamification vendors and adopters
seeking guidance
• Player-centric design
• Gamified UX for privacy policies (Calo)