This presentation looks at why transmedia storytelling is important for audience engagement and how transmedia storytellers can design for engagement by understanding human needs and intrinsic motivations

1. Audience Engagement:
Designing for Intrinsic Motivations
Robert Pratten
CEO & Founder, Transmedia Storyteller Ltd
@robpratten

2. The Need to Engage
• If we are to engage audiences – especially
over an extended period of time – we have to
design experiences that satisfy core human
needs
• Or to phrase another way, design experiences
that appeal to intrinsic motivations

3. What is engagement?
• Being engaged means being “in the moment”
of an experience
• Being “in the moment” is sometimes referred
to as “being present” e.g. one’s mind is not
elsewhere but focused to the exclusion of all
else

4. Immersion (Rigby & Ryan)
• Physical presence
– player feels physically transported to
game environment
• Emotional presence
– player feels as they might in real life to
real world events
• Narrative presence
– player feels able to affect the story
http://www.amazon.com/Glued-Games-Spellbound-Directions-ebook/dp/B004NYAH66/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1352200740&sr=8-1

5. Emotion leads to immersion
• Competency Intrinsic • Physical presence
• Autonomy Motivational Immersion • Emotional presence
• Relatedness Needs • Narrative presence
In games, satisfying intrinsic motivational needs is important for immersion and more you
design to create immersion so the more you’ll satisfy intrinsic motivation needs.
http://www.amazon.com/Glued-Games-Spellbound-Directions-ebook/dp/B004NYAH66/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1352200740&sr=8-1

6. Self-determination Theory
“People have innate psychological needs that are the basis for self-motivation”
• Competency
– To be in control and seek mastery
• Autonomy
– Free to act
• Relatedness
– To be connected to others
Used as the basis for The Player Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS) model which seeks
to understand player experience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination_theory
http://www.immersyve.com/research-updates/2007/1/27/immersyves-player-experience-of-need-satisfaction-pens-model.html

7. Human needs
• Significance (special, important, unique)
• Certainty (comfort & control)
• Variety (surprise)
• Connection (love)
• Growth (learning, mastery)
• Contribution (giving back)

8. Fandom meets human needs
Storyworld
Comfort Comfort
Growth Growth
Learning Learning
Surprise Surprise
Fan Fan
Community
Significance
Contribution

9. Use transmedia storytelling to match
intrinsic motivations
http://www.itc-arts.org/uploaded/documents/Theatre%20handbook.pdf

10. Audience Experience Framework
This framework, developed to assess theatre experiences can be used during the
design process because it helps relate intrinsic motivations to expected audience
satisfaction
http://www.itc-arts.org/uploaded/documents/Theatre%20handbook.pdf

11. Transmedia storytelling
• Note: Our brains don’t differentiate between fictional
stories and real life
• Create a mix of “private” and “public” experiences
– Understand which human needs these satisfy
– Understand which commercial needs these satisfy
• Interaction with fictional characters:
– Relatedness & connection
– Significance, Importance, Uniqueness
• Game-based stories
– Control, mastery, competence, learning

12. TV show + multi-platform
• TV show
– Episodic = Consistency/Habit
– Time-shifted & availability on other devices = Control/Autonomy
• Story
– Learning, Understanding
• Social media (Twitter, Facebook)
– Relatedness, Connection. Maybe significance.
• Missing Engagement?
– Competence & Mastery
Games, UGC, interaction with
– Significance
fictional characters
– Growth
– Contribution

13. Branded Entertainment
Commercial Goals
http://www.slideshare.
net/OgilvyWW/making
-magic-using-logic-
12262018
For brands to
engage, they
must embrace
transmedia
storytelling
because TS can
Human Needs
satisfy intrinsic
motivational
needs

14. Transmedia storytelling must weave story,
participation & social into single experience
Long-term engagement demands:
• Good story
• Participation/Interaction
• Social aspect – fan-to-fan and/or fan-to-character

15. The End
Conducttr
Pervasive Entertainment Platform
Robert Pratten
robert@tstoryteller.com
@robpratten
USA: +1 415 287 4150
Europe: +44 207 193 4567