Desperately Seeking Theory
•
6 likes•1,856 views
My keynote for the ICA 2017 Preconference "My So-Called Gamified Life" in San Diego, CA, May 25, 2017.
Report
Share
Desperately Seeking Theory
- 1. Image: JosephB DESPERATELY SEEKING THEORY Gamification, Theory, and the Promise of a New Science of Interaction Design ICA 2017 Preconference Sebastian Deterding @dingstweets
- 3. meet alberto linguini I want to know how to bake a delicious cake.
- 4. Interventions: Eating Research and Practice EATING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE The 67th Annual Conference of the International Eating Association ABOUT #iea17 IEA 67th Annual Conference of the International Eating Association
- 5. Coating required? The Impact of Patisserieness on Taste in Baked Goods
- 6. low patisserieness medium patisserieness high patisserieness
- 7. 12.2 Implications for Cooking 12.2 Implications for Cooking … “For more tasty baked goods, consider a higher degree of patisserieness, such as cupcakes or cakes.” …
- 9. Hi, I’m a chef and read your paper. Can I ask you a question? Sure, my pleasure. How do I bake a delicious cake? Our results show that people find high patisserieness very tasty. So how do I do that? Have you thought about baking a cake? Yes. I’m already making a cake. How do I make a delicious cake? Well, make it … very caky I guess?
- 11. How do ingredients, mixtures, and preparation methods reliably create desired flavor profiles?
- 12. too abstract, coarse design constructs too abstract, coarse effect constructs
- 14. the theoretical question of gamification how do cognitive states afford behaviour affect design features ?
- 15. This is a grand question inviting a science of experience design
- 16. So how are we doing?
- 17. chapter 2 The Status Quo
- 19. we are stuck in groundhog day
- 21. Mu.
- 25. “A muddle of things we here call ‘gamification’ affect a muddle of things we here call ‘engagement’, unless when they don’t, in ways we assume but never tested. More research is needed.” the resultant default contribution
- 26. which doesn’t help our friend I want to know how to bake a delicious cake.
- 27. we need to ask better questions Does medicine work? What active substance in what dosage affects what condition under what circumstances? HOW? Do 500mg orally administered acetylsalicylic acid affect migraine in adult chronic migraine patients? How? Does gamification work? Do public displays of achieved difficult goals support goal- setting in achievement-oriented individuals? HOW?
- 28. To ask better questions, we need theory.
- 29. A set of statements expressing a nomological network of constructs and their relations, tied to observable phenomena through operationalisations. what is theory (quick refresher) Whitney, Kite & Adams, 2013; Cronbach & Meehl, 1955
- 30. without theory, no science
- 32. the current basic mediation model design element 2 magic motivation! behaviour design element 1 design element 3 e.g. Hamari, Koivisti & Sarsa 2014
- 33. the current state of gamification theory
- 35. the issues with design elements design element 2 magic motivation! behaviour design element 1 design element 3
- 36. #1 when is “a badge” a badge?
- 37. #2 we have chinese encyclopedias “… a certain Chinese encyclopaedia entitled ‘Celestial Empire of benevolent Knowledge’. In its remote pages it is written that the animals are divided into: (a) belonging to the emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) sucking pigs (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies.”
- 38. Hamari, Koivisti & Sarsa 2014
- 40. #3 all exegesis, no new species
- 41. #4 stuck on low-level design instantiations where the action is today Deterding et al., 2011
- 42. the issues with processes design element 2 magic motivation! behaviour design element 1 design element 3
- 43. #1 motives are multiple
- 44. “Motivation’s new paradigm is one in which behavior is energized and directed not by a single grand cause but, instead, by a multitude of multilevel and coacting influences.” johnmarshall reeve Reeve, 2009
- 45. design element 1 design element 2 design element 3 behaviour competence autonomy relatedness meaning curiosity ...
- 46. #2 none of this is empirically tested
- 47. the underlying issues of both design element 2 magic motivation! behaviour design element 1 design element 3
- 48. #1 elements are multi-functional goal-settinginstruction group identification status reputation Antin & Churchill, 2011
- 49. #2 function results from active appraisal Deci & Ryan, 2001 feedback appraised as controlling thwarts autonomy motivation appraised as informing supports competence + –
- 50. #3 appraisal and function are contextual Reeve, 2006
- 51. #4 function is systemic-emergent
- 52. #4 function is systemic-emergent aesthetics Boring end game mechanics dynamics Slow poverty gap +$ !+ -$ !-
- 53. #4 function is systemic-emergent aesthetics Boring end game mechanics dynamics Slow poverty gap +$ !+ -$ !- Function arises from this
- 54. #4 function is systemic-emergent aesthetics Boring end game mechanics dynamics Slow poverty gap +$ !+ -$ !- Not this
- 55. function is a dynamic person-situation relation e.g. in flow difficulty skill/time frustration boredom flow Csikszentmihalyi, 1990
- 56. e.g. in curiosity Silva, 2006
- 57. Wong, 2012 points badges leaderboards Progress Goal-setting Achievement we focus on concrete yet underspecified instantiations … … when we should look at what features in relation to what dispositions and contexts afford what motivational functions
- 58. Simon, 1996 “Fulfillment of purpose involves as relation among three terms: the purpose, the character of the artifact, and the environment in which the artifact performs.” herbert simon
- 59. functions emerge from functional mechanisms …
- 60. … that can be instantiated in many ways.
- 61. locating functions in isolated surface instantiations is cargo cult thinking.
- 62. which results in design by copy & paste …
- 64. … and zero scientific progress.
- 65. we need different, mechanistic constructs and models Deterding, under review motivational affordance The complex of necessary and sufficient relations of actor dispositions and environment features that render an action or event functionally significant for a specific motive
- 66. fuelling different kinds of questions Do badges (on average) drive engagement (via achievement motivation)? What complex of necessary and sufficient environmental features and actor dispositions reliably gives rise to achievement motivation?
- 67. and then we need a linné
- 68. an empirically grounded, well-operationalised, well-formed taxonomy
- 69. this is a massive undertaking
- 70. • Gamification research takes the design elements of early industry literature for granted, testing their average effects • “Design elements” as analytic units are both over- determined and under-specified • We need theory modeling and testing functional mechanisms behind specific motives a.k.a. affordances • We need systematic bottom-up empirical work identifying affordances underneath and beyond industry literature in summary
- 73. “Facebook has created a laboratory of human behavior the likes of which we’ve never seen.” jad abumrad NPR, 2015
- 74. At any moment, software companies are running millions of a/b tests to optimise user engagement, each an experiment in waiting.
- 75. ( )
- 76. fuelling the automation of design
- 77. the scale for a massive undertaking
- 78. But to know what to test and how to automate, you need theory.
- 79. LOMAS, 2015 “Online hypothesis testing can accelerate both applied and basic Interaction Design Science by making it fast and easy to obtain ecologically-valid measures of the effects of designs on user behavior. Online controlled experiments can help build practical, generalizable, and scientifically-validated theories of how and why designs affect human interactions.” derek lomas
- 80. LOMAS, 2015
- 81. an example
- 84. basic question: what’s the optimal curve? difficulty skill/time Alexander, Sear & Oikonomou, 2013; Sampayo-Vargas et al., 2013; Brazil & Blau, 2014
- 86. practical challenge: ordering unknown, immutable tasks difficulty skill/time ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
- 87. Performance data Improvement suggestions Task length design Task descriptions Initial balancing theories Initial indicators of skill Optimal difficulty curve Indicators for skill, difficulty researcher designeruser Task sequence & task support & feedback Engagement & performance data data/ai
- 89. gamification could seed a grand new science of design … how do cognitive states affect behaviour affect design features ?
- 90. … but is stuck in groundhog day.
- 91. to begin systematically building knowledge …
- 92. … we need to start asking better questions.
- 93. To ask better questions, we need theory.
- 94. we need to replace industry scholasticism …
- 95. and cargo cult design …
- 96. … with better constructs and mechanistic models … Deterding, under review motivational affordance The complex of necessary and sufficient relations of actor dispositions and environment features that render an action or event functionally significant for a specific motive
- 97. … and empirical, bottom-up taxonomies.
- 98. this is a massive undertaking …
- 99. ( ) … with a matching massive opportunity.
- 100. we can be at the forefront of design evolution …
- 101. … if we loop industry and research together.
- 103. Hide-and-hint We are curious about potentially relevant information and resources that are hinted at but hidden. If we know about something, but not its content, we wonder: "What is there?" ▪ What information or resources are relevant to players at this point? ▪ How might you hide their specific content away? ▪ How might you hint at their existence? ▪ How might you signal their potential relevance? ▪ How might you help players feel that they can follow that hint safely? Instantiations: Cliffhanger, Fog of War, Hidden Information, Locked Abilities, Locked Content, Locked Items, Skill Tree, Tech Tree. CU
- 104. command & conquer: fog of war
- 106. linkedin: teaser