An Introduction to what gamification is. Examples of gamification applications, platforms, and methods. I put these slides together for a lecture I've given at the University of Waterloo, July 2016.

1. GAMIFICATION:
AN INTRODUCTION
Gustavo F. Tondello
July, 2016
Photo: Game Night by Randy Robertson (CC BY 2.0)

2. What is Gamification?
Photo: Gamification by michael davis-burchat (CC BY-ND 2.0)

3. Gamification can be seen as part
of Positive Computing
Sources: Positive Computing.
Yu-kai Chou. Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards. Octalysis Media: 2015.
Positive Computing
“design and development of technology to
support wellbeing and human potential.”
Human-Focused Design
“optimizes for human motivation in a system as
opposed to optimizing for pure functional
efficiency within the system.”
Two focuses:
wellbeing (goals) and motivation (means).

4. Source: Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, Nacke. From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining “Gamification”. MindTrek ‘11
What is Gamification
Playful
Design
Gameful
Design
(Gamification)
Toys Games
Parts
Whole
Play Games

5. Gamification is “the use of game design
elements in non-game contexts”.
Level Description Example
Game interface design
patterns
Common design solutions Badges, leaderboards, levels
Game design patterns
and mechanics
Reoccurring parts of the
design of a game that concern
gameplay
Time constraint, limited
resources, turns
Game design principles
and heuristics
Evaluative guidelines to
analyze design problems
solutions
Enduring play, clear goals,
variety of game styles
Game models Conceptual models of the
components of game
experience
MDA; challenge, fantasy,
curiosity; game design atoms
Game design methods Game design-specific practices
and processes
Playtesting, play-centric
design, value conscious game
design
Source: Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, Nacke. From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining “Gamification”. MindTrek ‘11

6. Gamification is “the use of game design
elements in non-game contexts”.
Source: Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, Nacke. From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining “Gamification”. MindTrek ‘11
Training Education Health Fitness
Nutrition
Customer
relations
Human
resources
Team
management

7. Gamification is mainly concerned
with users’ motivation.
Motivated users engage use a system or
application more often and for longer periods.
Motivated employees are more effective in their
activities.
A system may be great at performing its function,
but users must be motivated to use it!

8. Photo: Mike Linksvayer (CC0)
What do games make us experience
that motivate us to play?
How can we foster the same type of motivation in
activities that are not games?

9. Theory of Motivation
Sources: Self-determination theory (SDT).
Rigby and Ryan. Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound. Praeger: 2011.
Intrinsic Motivation: the activity is enjoyable by itself.
• Autonomy: feeling free to choose one’s own goals and
activities
• Competence: feeling capable of accomplishing one’s
goals and learning new things
• Relatedness: feeling connected with other people
Extrinsic Motivation: comes from the expectation of
earning something (a reward) in return from
completing an activity.

10. Motivation in Games
Bernard Suits
The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia.
3rd Ed. Broadview, 2014.
“Playing a game is a voluntary
attempt to overcome
unnecessary obstacles.”

11. Motivation in Games:
Autonomy

12. Motivation in Games:
Competence

13. Motivation in Games:
Relatedness

14. Motivation in Games:
Rewards

15. Gamification Examples and
Platforms
Photo: Gamification of Life by VFS Digital Design (CC BY 2.0)

16. Source: GamEffective
Gamification Example:
GamEffective

17. Source: Fitbit
Gamification Example:
Fitbit

18. Source: Habitica
Gamification Example:
Habitica

19. Source: Duolingo
Gamification Example:
Duolingo

20. Source: SuperBetter
Gamification Example:
SuperBetter

21. Gamification Platforms

22. Gameful Design
Photo: Gamification of Life by VFS Digital Design (CC BY 2.0)

23. Source: Brian Burke. Gamify: How Gamification Motivates People To Do Extraordinary Things. Bibliomotion: 2014.
Gameful Design Process
Define business outcomes
and success metrics
Define target audience
Define player goals
Define
engagement
model
Define play
space and
game
mechanics

24. Gameful Design Methods
Marczewski’s
Gamification Framework
Octalysis Framework
Lens of Intrinsic Skill
Atoms
Gamification Toolkit
Gamification Model
Canvas
Kaleidoscope of
Effective Gamification

25. Suggested additional material
An Introduction to Gamification in
Human-Computer Interaction
Photo: Gamification by michael davis-burchat (CC BY-ND 2.0)
What is Gamification?

26. Photo: A Board Game by Karen Borter (CC BY-ND 2.0)