Gamification: The Chemistry of an Enhancement Drug

Gamification: Kemien bag et præstationsfremmende middel

Lund, Mikkel

4. term

Interactive Digital Media, Master

2018

2018-05-30

60

Dette speciale er en teoretisk undersøgelse af gamification som middel til at understøtte indre motivation i virkelige aktiviteter som læring og arbejde. Med udgangspunkt i gamifications fremkomst på Gartners Hype Cycle stilles spørgsmålet: Hvordan kan gamification bruges til at fremkalde og nære indre motivation? Specialet sammenfatter litteratur om spil og leg, flow og selvbestemmelsesteori (autonomi, kompetence og tilhørsforhold) med grundlæggende principper i spildesign for at forklare, hvorfor gamification nogle gange lykkes og andre gange ikke, og for at tydeliggøre fordele og faldgruber, herunder risici knyttet til engagement og afhængighed. På dette grundlag formuleres en definition af gamification som brugen af spildesignelementer i ikke-spilkontekster for at skabe spillignende rammer, der forbinder opgaver med indre drivkræfter, og der foreslås en praktisk vejledning (“gamification-protokol”) til at afstemme designelementer med motivationsbehov og forme udfordringer, så flow fremmes. En illustrativ personlig case—udviklingen af en gamificeret to-do-liste (ToDoALot)—bruges til at forankre diskussionen. Arbejdet er konceptuelt og rapporterer ikke empiriske evalueringer; bidraget er en struktureret begrundelse og designorienterede retningslinjer til en mere målrettet anvendelse af gamification i digitale og ikke-digitale sammenhænge.

This master’s thesis offers a theoretical examination of gamification as a means to support intrinsic motivation in real-world activities such as learning and work. Framed by the rise of gamification on Gartner’s Hype Cycle, it asks: How can gamification be used to elicit and nurture intrinsic motivation? The thesis synthesizes literature on games and play, flow, and self-determination theory (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) with fundamentals of game design to explain why gamification sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails, and to clarify advantages and pitfalls, including risks tied to engagement and addiction. Building on this analysis, it articulates a definition of gamification as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts to create game-like settings that connect tasks to intrinsic motivators, and proposes a practical guide (“gamification protocol”) for aligning design elements with motivational needs and shaping challenge to facilitate flow. An illustrative personal case—the ongoing development of a gamified to-do list (ToDoALot)—is used to ground the discussion. The work is conceptual and does not report empirical evaluation; its contribution is a structured rationale and design-oriented guidance for more deliberate applications of gamification in digital and non-digital contexts.

[This summary has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project (PDF)]

gamification ; game ; play ; flow ; intrinsic motivation

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