Exploring the Disruptor User Type

Disruptor3 Exploring the Disruptor User Type

As time passes and I learn more, I often re-evaluate my past blogs and ideas – none more-so than my User Types! Now, don’t panic, I am not about to release version 3 – the User Types Dodecagon. The purpose of this post is to just clarify my current thinking around the disruptor type, based on what I know now.

The basic idea is still the same. Disruptors disrupt a system in some way. This may be by acting on users or on the system itself. As with the Player type, the Disruptor type is a group rather than a single type. However, I don’t tend to go into the detail as the effect on your design is generally similar for all the variations of the type. Read More ...

User Types – an expansion to consider

I have not mentioned User Types for at least a couple of blog posts – so though it was time to mess with your heads a little.

When I first started the user types, there were four intrinsic types (Socialiser, Free Spirit, Achiever, Philanthropist) which represented the four intrinsic motivators I speak about in RAMP (Relatedness, Autonomy, Master, Purpose). There was also one extrinsic type called the Player.

I later moved to eight types by expanding the player into four basic types that mirrored similar actions to the intrinsic types, but for rewards. These new types were; Networker, Exploiter, Consumer and Self Seeker. Read More ...

Why User Types?

Second post in a day, not very SEO clever, I know.

I wanted to take a moment to explain my view on User and Player types and their use in gamification.

First up, some bullets so you get the idea quickly.

What User Types are not;

  1. Perfect
  2. Applicable to every situation or project
  3. The same in all contexts
  4. Pure science

What User Types are;

  1. A tool in an overall toolkit
  2. Easy to use and get your head around
  3. Useful if you understand their limitations
  4. In my case based on motivation (eg Self Determination Theory), observation and research

I created the my User Types, because I wanted to use something in my thinking and design that focused on users, but was not built for games. I had been using Bartle’s types, but they just did not fit well with gamification – this is something he repeatedly tells people! It was also very hard to talk to people in enterprise about killers (i.e. people who take pleasure in the harm they can cause others). I also wanted to approach my types from the perspective of what motivated people rather than how they behaved. Read More ...

Gamification User Types: Free Spirits

I thought I would dig into some of the User Types a little more deeply from time to time. This week I would like to look at Free Spirits – as they have been causing a little confusion for some.

These types are looking for autonomy and some form of freedom, both of “movement” and expression, in your system. This can come in several forms, but for our purposes I want to concentrate on two main variations of our Free Spirit.

[inlinetweet tweeter=”daverage” suffix=”#gamification”]Free Spirits want to explore your system or change it in some way [/inlinetweet] Read More ...

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