In this thesis we set out to discover how to obtain a deeper insight into gamification and engaging HCIproducts from a motivational perspective. Gamification is very popular as a design strategy. Nontheless a surprising amount of gamification products today do not achieve success corresponding to the potential of the motivational game design elements that they draw upon. This thesis focuses on creating a theoretical analysis model with the ability to facilitate a deeper understanding of how basic game elements can be observed in HCI-products, how they relate to psychological needs, and how and why they motivate various types of users in the context of the product.
We start by examining HCI, gamification, game design, and motivational and psychological needs theory in general, to create and select the tools that we use as parts of the model.
For HCI, it is determined that a paradigm-based framework is needed to create an overview of the area. Following this insight, we create our own framework based on the historical work of Donald Norman, and the article “The Three Paradigms of HCI” from Harrison et. al. (2007). Through this we determine the first part of our analysis model as the ability to relate the product in question to the three main HCI-paradigms of the framework.
For game design, it is determined that there are five basic characteristics to the definition of a game - Room, goal, challenge, rules, and voluntary participation. These make out the game elements we look for throughout the analysis, and constitute the second layer of the model.
In motivational theory, we use McClellands Acquired Needs Theory to understand what parts of the game elements in products appeal to different motivational user types. These user types are defined through the use of Self-Determination Theory and Marczewskis definitions of player types. The theories mentioned here constitute the tools used in the last two parts of the model, which is then completed and presented conceptually. It is then used in three cases representing different non-game HCI-products: Microsoft Word/Excel, Tinder and Instagram.
Through the analysis it is determined that there can indeed be found relations between non-gamification HCI-products and basic play and game design elements. It is concluded that the use of the model produces a new way of gaining insights into how the presence of game elements, intentional or unintentional, provide the user with experiences that make use of game-like motivational elements.
Finally it is concluded that the analysis model constitutes a way to discover how game elements that are not imminently obvious in HCI-products can still be present. It also constitutes a way to discover how they affect users from a motivational perspective, and how this knowledge can help us reach a deeper understanding of gamification in development of future products. Simultaneously, it is proposed for future development purposes to examine the possibility to reverse the functionality of the model and use it as a digital design method instead of a tool for product analysis.