Definition, Concepts & Criticism Sample Clauses

Definition, Concepts & Criticism. During the last few years, gamification, or the use of game design elements in non-game contexts [136], has been widely and successfully used to provide motivating experiences in a variety of different situations. In general, it has been highlighted that the role of gamification in conventional services is to invoke experiences that are usually linked to computer games, thus enhancing these services with motivational affordances in order to create value for a user [137]. In short, the underlying assumption of the concept of gamification is that the inclusion of game-elements would make tasks in the health domain, such as tracking of FI data, increasing levels of PA, improvement in sleep quality or reduction of stress through given tasks more enjoyable [5]. Given the increasing popularity of gamification since its definition, gamification has even been proposed as a general design pattern in persuasive systems, particularly in the area of social interaction and social influence [138]. Formally, structures underlying gamification have been drawn from common definitions of games and gameplay. Generally, a game is composed of one or more potentially interconnected challenges which the user is trying to master by taking actions to reach certain goals, with rules making the achievement of the goal difficult to a varying degree [139]. Challenges require a specific kind of skill and non-trivial effort to overcome, and are at the heart of designing a gameful experience [140]. At the heart of these gameful experiences is the fact that games can provide basic psychological need satisfaction [141], for instance competence need satisfaction by overcoming challenges, autonomy need satisfaction by being able to direct the game in terms of choices to make and thus acting highly self-determinedly, or the relatedness need satisfaction through virtual collaborations or combats. When these needs are satisfied, intrinsic motivation is enhanced. On the other hand, the reverse effect will take place when they are thwarted according to SDT [25]. Non-trivial challenges further require focus, binding attention and cognition, thus limiting the users’ capacity to deal with unpleasant thoughts or memories [140][142]. This state has already been referred to within this report as Flow [57] (see 2.2.2). One of the most commonly leveraged frameworks in game design is referred to as the MDA [143][144] framework: • Mechanics – rules specifying player actions • Dynamics – run-time behaviour ...