Achievement, Not Just for Achievers!

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Victory Achievement Not Just for Achievers

Achievement is a word that, in gamification especially, has several potential meanings and can cause significant confusion. In gamification, it is often associated with things like points and badges. The same can be said for video games these days (think Xbox achievements and Playstation trophies).

To confuse things more, people can be categorised in gamification and video games (using my user types or Bartle’s player types) as achievers. This makes it look a little like only one type of user will actually experience achievement. Read More ...

Purpose – A little bit can go a long way

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Recently I have been thinking about purpose or meaning a lot. It’s one of the four motivators from RAMP that seems to be the hard to explain and achieve.

When I first started looking into gamification, people used to talk about Epic Meaning when speaking of game mechanics (incorrectly, but that is another story).  This is the feeling of being part of something greater. An example I often use is Wikipedia. People contribute to that, freely, because many of them like to feel that they are contributing to something that is larger than themselves and has great meaning to others. So for Wikipedia contributors that is their purpose – “epic meaning”. Read More ...

Bartle’s Killers . A misunderstood group of people.

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Last week I had the opportunity to present at the fabulous Gamification World Congress 2013. Among other things, it was the first and probably only times I would see my face on a 10 foot screen on the front of a building!

Another highlight in a day of highlights, was getting the opportunity to spend a few hours with Richard Bartle.  Many of you will have seen me mention him before, the creator of the Bartle Player Types. These types are often spoken about by people involved in gamification and are one of the main inspirations for my User Types.  Originally written to model the behaviour of players in his MUD virtual world (the grandfather of all MMO’s like World of Warcraft), the Bartle Player Types have also been adopted by many in gamification. Read More ...

Money, Motivation and Common Sense

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Here I am again, considering extrinsic rewards and their effect on motivation.

Recently I was told that it is obvious that if a person is given more money to do their job, that they will do it better and probably enjoy it more. I stopped myself quoting Deci or Pink, I smiled, politely disagreed and went on with my day. However, it got me thinking. Ignoring the research, I was wondering, what does common sense tell us about that statement.

  1. I am unhappy in my job, will I be happier if I am given more money?
    1. If I am unhappy because I am not paid enough, then yes – I will become happier if given more money. This will most likely lead to me being more motivated and engaged.
    2. If I am unhappy for other reasons, then no – more money won’t help!
    I am not engaged by the job, will this improve with more money
    1. No. There is obviously something else wrong here. If the role is not engaging me, then you can throw all the money in the world at me, it will not make the role more engaging. It may make me happier in the short term, but long term I will still not be engaged or motivated by the role itself.
    I am engaged and happy, will giving me more money make me work harder.
    1. If money is a concern for me, if it is on my mind a lot – then yes, that is quite likely.  This is because it will be one less thing on my mind to distract me from doing my best work.
    2. If money is not a concern for me, then money won’t really have much of an impact!

    Very unscientific of course, but it makes sense to me.  Money is part of the most basic needs in a modern world, it is part of survival.  If you don’t have enough of it to cover your needs, it will be a concern for you and will potentially affect the way you are working. However, if you are not engaged in the job, maybe it is a deeper problem, either the job is not right for you or you are not right for the job. Read More ...

Gamification User Types and the 4 Keys 2 Fun

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I am pretty excited about this one.

Gamification User Types

When I created my gamification User Types definitions, it was with a mind to help people consider who is going to be in their gamified systems and what may motivate them. I started with the intrinsic motivation RAMP I keep talking about, Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. From this I created the Socialiser, Free Spirit, Achiever and Philanthropist user types. That covered the who and the what – who the user may be and what it is that may motivate them. One of the things it didn’t cover was why. Why would people engage in this way and god forbid, why would they find it fun? Read More ...

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