2011 09-15 Gamification Summit NYC The magic potion of gamification

1. The Magic Potion
of Gamification
Michael Wu, PhD
Principal Scientist of Analytics
September 16th, 2011
Gamification Summit NYC

2. what’s the magic behind gamification?
CommunalR Response Collection CCountdown
d Discovery Variable Ratio
Cross Situational
Collaboration Fun Once, Delayed Lottery Reward Schedule
Reputation Fun Always Leader-boards
Mechanics
Fixed Ratio Status Free Lunch Serendipity P i t Points
Moral Hazard Social Shell Game Communal
Reward Schedule
Modifiers of Game PlayCohesion Interval Discovery Loyalty
Rank Leader-boards Avoidance Reinforcement
Reinforcer
d Schedules Urgent Appointment Schedules Virtual Items
Reward S h d l
R
Privacy Envy Optimism Dynamic Chain SchedulesSet Completion Companion
Epic MeaningMicro Leader-boards
Loss Aversion Cascading Rolling Social Fabric of Games Gaming
ContingencyViral Game Mechanics
Free Lunch Information Physical Level Up Virality
Pride Achievement Theory Goods Behavioral Contrast Endless
Infinite Gameplay Combos Games
Disincentives Ownership Variable Interval
Reward Schedules Progression Dynamic
Fixed Interval Behavioral Momentum Blissful Ratio Reward
Real-time
Reward Schedules Extinction Productivitytwitter: mich8elwu
Schedules
Quest Mechanics linkedin.com/in/MichaelWuPhD 2

3. behavior model
▪ F B h i M d l (FBM):
Fogg Behavior Model (FBM)
• 3 Factors underlying human behavior.
• Temporal convergence of 3 factors.
MotivationAction Ability Trigger
wants can told to
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4. behavior model
▪ F B h i M d l (FBM):
Fogg Behavior Model (FBM)
Trigger
• 3 Factors underlying human behavior.
• Temporal convergence of 3 factors.
vation
activation
threshold
Motiv
Action
Ability
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5. what motivates people
▪ Ab h M l ’ hi
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943)
h f d
Game mechanics/dynamics
being-needs
(meta-needs) status, achievements,
ranks, reputation, etc.
ranks reputation etc
deficiency social cohesion, virality &
needs most communal/community
dynamics
y
security, money
(gambling)
food, water, etc
, ,
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6. what motivates people
▪ Ab h M l ’ hi
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943)
h f d
Dan Pink’s intrinsic Game mechanics/dynamics
being-needs motivators (2009)
(meta-needs)
ownership, blissful productivity,
DRiVE
autonomy
Maslow’s
M l ’ meta-motivators:
t ti t serendipity, etc.
serendipity etc
mastery points, progression, level up, set
completion, etc.
l ti t
purpose epic meaning, quest, discovery,
justice, save the world, etc.
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7. Watson & Skinner: Learning & Conditioning
▪H
Human b h i
behaviors are l
learned th
d through conditioning
h diti i
• Radical: disregard innate needs, only use external conditions & reinforcement
• The conditioned reinforcers (which are
usually some kind of points) are learned
and they become the motivator
• However, points themselves are not
inherently rewarding
▪ Proper use of points depends on
the reward schedule
• When, how many, and at what rate the
points are given (or taken away)
• Progression and l
P i d level up d
l dynamics
i
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8. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow
▪ Fl an optimall state off iintrinsic
Flow: ti t t ti i
motivation
• Forget about physical feelings (e.g. hunger,
sleep), passage of time, and their ego
▪ Skill ~ Challenge Flow
▪ Certainty vs. Uncertainty
• People love the control state
• b/c it gives them a sense of security & safety
/ f f
• People hate the boredom state
• People like arousal
• People dislike worry
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9. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow
▪ P l acquire skills over ti
People i kill time move i t the
into th
relaxation/boredom state steep learning curve
to get back to flow
• We are motivated by challenges, shallow
surprises, and varieties, to avoid way t hard
too h d learning
boredom curve
• IRL, matching challenge to a bit too hard
people’s skills exactly i h d
l ’ kill tl is hard
• They are either too easy (boring)
or too hard (frustrating)
too easy
▪ Gamification must adapt
& evolve with the player
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10. ability: 2 perspectives
▪ U perspective: ability ( lit )
User ti bilit (reality)
▪ Task perspective: simplicity (perceptual)
activation
threshold
ation
2 ways to push a user beyond his
activation threshold
ti ti th h ld
Motiva
• Hard way: Increase his real ability
by motivating him to train & practice
• Easier way: Increase the task’s
perceived simplicity (or user’s perceived ability)
Ability
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11. what is simplicity
▪ T k thatt are ttruly simple mustt not require any resources
Tasks th l i l t i
you don’t have
▪ Simplicity is a measure of your access to the following 3
categories of resources at the time when y need to
g you
perform the task
• Effort resources: physical effort + mental effort.
• Scarce resources: time, money authority/permission attention etc
time money, authority/permission, etc.
• Adaptability resources: capacity to break norms, which may be personal
(routines), social, behavioral, cultural, etc.
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12. what is simplicity
▪ Si li it d d i
Simplicity dependencies
• Individual: different people have access to different resources
• Time & context: resource can be lost and become in accessible or gain
▪ Resource trade off
• Time + money
• Simplicity is a function of your scarcest resource at the time when you need to
perform the task
▪ Motivation + Ability can also trade off
• Usually happens at extreme the ends
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13. perceived simplicity
▪ A task iis perceived simple if you can complete it with ffewer
t k i d i l l t ith
resources than you expect
• You expect the task to be harder
▪ S game mechanics/dynamics d i d tto simplify
Some h i /d i designed i lif
• Divide and conquer
• Cascading information theory
• Chaining reward schedules
• Behavioral momentum (people’s tendency to follow personal norms, routines)
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14. what is a trigger and why is it needed
▪ S thi th t prompts or tells the users to carry outt the
Something that t t ll th t th
target behavior now.
• User must aware of the trigger.
• Must understand what the trigger means.
▪ Why a trigger is necessary
• Unaware of his ability (e.g. unaware of options or simplicity of task)
• Hesitant (e.g. question his motivation)
• Distracted (e.g. engaged in another routine activity)
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15. trigger depends on behavioral trajectory
▪ H ability b t nott motivated: S k
Has bilit but ti t d Spark
• built-in as part of the motivation mechanism
▪ Motivated but lack ability (or perceived
Motivated,
ability): Facilitator activation
ation
• highlights the task’s simplicity threshold
Motiva
• often used with the progress bar dynamics to
create anticipation as user improve towards his
goal
▪ Has ability and motivated: Signal
• should only serve as a reminder Ability
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16. trigger depends on gaming personality
Bartle type Characteristics Effective trigger
Killer (<1%) highly competitive challenge them
Socializer hate confrontation, followers, value
, , show that their friends are
~80% relationship doing it
Achiever spark trigger associated
driven by status (i.e. special access, etc.)
~10% with an status increase
Explorer driven by discovery & uniqueness of their call upon their unique skill,
~10% contributions, hate spatial & temporal limits no time pressure
▪ Trigger is all about timing!
• Poorly timed trigger: spam mails + p p ups ads
y gg p pop p
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17. an evaluative framework+ a design paradigm
▪ If we k why gamification works, th
know h ifi ti k then…
• We can evaluate the effectiveness of any gamification strategies
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18. speed camera lottery
▪ M ti ti
Motivation:
win $ lottery
▪ Abilit
Ability:
the player is driving,
and has the ability to
y
slow down the car
▪ Trigger:
gg
lottery sign on camera
fixture
• thi is a spark t i
this i k trigger
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19. an evaluative framework + a design paradigm
▪ If we k why gamification works, th
know h ifi ti k then…
• We can evaluate the effectiveness of any gamification strategies
• We can design and create new gamification that drives a specific action
• It’s all about driving players above the activation threshold by temporal alignment of
1. Motivating them by positive feedback
2. Increasing their ability (or perceived ability) by simplifying the behavior
3. A d th applying th proper t i
3 And then l i the trigger at the right ti
t th i ht time
▪ The magic formula of gamification
• Place the proper triggers in the behavioral trajectory of motivated players at
players,
the moment when they feel the greatest excess in their ability
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20. reference
▪ M bl articles on gamification (hyperlinked: clickable in pdf)
My blog ti l ifi ti
• Gamification from a Company of Pro Gamers
• The Magic Potion of Game Dynamics
• Gamification 101: Th P
G ifi ti 101 The Psychology of M ti ti
h l f Motivation
• Simplicity Counts - Even in Gamification
• The Final Touch: Trigger and Gamify
• No Game No Gain: Realizing the ROI of Your Facebook Fans
Game,
• The Future of Enterprise Software will be Fun and Productive
• Real Life Gamification: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
• What is Gamification, Really?
• The Gaming Industry, Gamification, and Work
• Gamification beyond Business and Future Challenges
• Few more to come before I close this chapter, so follow me on twitter or g+
p g
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21. Thank you
Q&A + Discussion
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