The term gamification emerged around 2010. It serves as collective term for including game-based elements into non-game-based activities and applications. Using game elements should increase the engagment of users and enhances User Experience. Most importantly it make non-gmae-based tasks more interessting, engageing and the user is more motivated to finish those tasks. (656-657) [1]
It is worth to take a look at the concept of gamification pattern. There are certain pattern that are very successfully used within non-game apps and software. It is well reasearched that certain pattern can lead people to get addicted to games, so some of those pattern should also work in normal environments, and indeed it does. Still it is important to distinguish between motivational design patterns and game design patterns. While motivational pattern offer more autonomy and flexibility, they can be combined in parallel, Game design pattern are influencing each other. A motivational pattern must meet user needs to be successful. It is not neccessary for the user to understand the functionality. For successful implementation, a motivational design pattern must meet user needs, even if users aren’t consciously aware of its functionality. Whereas recognising a pattern is important for gamification makes it possible to find order in chaos and/or recognise connections between different types of information. Humans are used to recognize pattern, existing in concepts, behaviors, historical events. They are important or us to make the future more predictable and guide our decision-making across various fields. So it is also a part of the gamification pattern to find those patterns. Successfull and effective gamification relies on our motivational drivers rather than just on including game elements ike badges, points, or leaderboards. Yu-kai Chou is a researcher in the filed of games. He created the „Octalysis framework“, in which he outlines eight core drivers of motivation. Those are essential for successful games. While this is very interesting for games, it is not so neccessary for gamification. (665-667) [2]
Nadya Direkova is a known designer and User Experience Manager at Google Fitbit. She previously directed R&D at Airbnb and helped establishing Google’s Sprint Leader Academy. She is also very exerienced with game design pattern. [2]
According to her, in gamified applications there are three critical aspects of user engagement: the first one is to encourage users to try, second is the social participation, and keeping the users commitment. Each one involves specific design patterns used for various stages of the user journey.
Direkova defines three gamifaction stages that are neccessary for successfull user engagement:
- “Come and try the new gamified product or service,”
- “Bringing Friends to try the new gamified product or service”
- “Come back to retry the new gamified product or service (as frequent customers)”
These aspects are crucial for successful gamified applications and they rely on the implementation of various game mechanics. These can be categorized under each of the three stages:
- Prize and Awards: This is used to attract user interest, often seen in gaming and non-gaming contexts.
- Visual Storytelling: Integration of visual features to increase engagement and effectively communicate values
- Visual Cues: Visual elements in software applications are specifically designed to ease user interaction.
- Tutorials and Coaching: Those are designed to help users with navigation and specific features.
- Reward Schedule: Rewaring user for tasks in moderate dosage to maintain motivation
- Gated Trial-Form a team to start: This encourages social engagement by inviting users to work together.
- Design Conversations: Easy social feedback and bondage through chat and comments.
- Structured Social Feedback: Urges users to express opinions and preferences, allowing vital feedback.
- Reputation: Establishes user status within a community or platform, fostering belonging and engagement.
- Sharing Achievements: Allows users to showcase their achievements to others, boosting engagement.
- “Come back to retry the new gamified product or service (as frequent customers)” patterns:
- Create Scores: Monitoring and displaying scores that drive specific behavior or actions.
- Throttle Actions: Gradually presents challenges after achieving scores, maintaining user interaction.
- Advanced User Paths: Offers simple-to-complex tasks, such as assigning privileges based on user ranks, fostering continuous engagement.
These patterns are engaging users at different stages. Implementing those pattern is fundamental for successful gamification in software applications. [1] (667-671)
Those design patterns can be also be used in other environments, they can play a vital role in teaching and learning. Ivanov and Breuer colleced a set of 36 design patterns that can be used in the field of innovations.
These patterns are structured across four dimensions:
I. Domains of challenges: 12 domains linked to operational, strategic, and normative innovation management
II. Challenges tackled by gamification: Focused on typical innovation and entrepreneurship challenges
III. Flow patterns: These are reusable interactions among participants that address specific innovation or entrepreneurial challenges. There are 11 flow patterns such as Agile Retrospective, Ideation, and Workshop Facilitation.
IV. Component patterns: These are standalone game elements. There are 25 component patterns like Challenges, Rewards, Storytelling, and Voting.
The study focuses on innovation management, but also has potential for application in other areas. These patterns provide solutions for abstract concepts to translate them into working practices. Flow patterns get participants to understand values in different organisations. Gamification workshops raise awareness of new values and encourage experimentation with real-life tasks.
[1] Gamification Design Patterns for User Engagement, Serafeim A. TRIANTAFYLLOU1, Christos K. GEORGIADIS, Informatics in Education, 2022, Vol. 21, No. 4, 655–674
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadyadirekova/; 02.01.2023
[3] Design Patterns to Teach and Learn About Gamification for Innovation, Kiril Ivanov, Henning Breuer, This paper was presented at The ISPIM Innovation Conference – Innovating Our Common Future, Berlin, Germany on 20–23 June 2021. Event Proceedings: LUT Scientific and Expertise Publications: ISB
