Exploring the Disruptor User Type

January 22, 2015January 9, 2015 by Andrzej Marczewski

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 ...

4 essential Neurotransmitters in gamification

October 21, 2024January 5, 2015 by Andrzej Marczewski

In gamification, there is often a lot of mention of things like “Neuroscience”, “Neurochemistry”, “Neurotransmitters” or “Brain Chemistry”. In particular, you will hear people speak about neurotransmitters such as Dopamine.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit signals around the brain. They all have different functions and have different effects on us. In this blog I am going to discuss 4; Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins (DOSE). Read More ...

Page Views for 2014 posts

1) Defining gamification – what do people really think?

Posted on April 16, 2014As many of you know, I recently took exception to a particular definition of gamification that was doing the rounds. However, the positive effect was to make me think about what it really means and also started to make me wonder what other people think of it. So, I asked them – I did a… More… Read More ...

2014 Blog Round Up

December 29, 2014 by Andrzej Marczewski

Wow, nearly 90 posts this year! 2014 saw some fantastic speaking opportunities, a new deck of cards, a new theory around fun (that I really need to finish soon!).

Massive thanks to all of you, roll on 2015!!!

[list-posts vars=”year=2014|posts_per_page=-1″]

3 C’s to reduce negative uncertainty

December 17, 2014 by Andrzej Marczewski

I have spoken about mystery and the like in the past and you would be forgiven for thinking that uncertainty sits in a similar space. The difference is that mystery or surprise are designed and deliberate.

TL:TR?

Defining Uncertainty

In this instance I am defining uncertainty as “The lack of certainty. A state of having limited knowledge where it is impossible to exactly describe the existing state, a future outcome, or more than one possible outcome.” ¹

Uncertainty can be both negative and positive. As with mystery, sometime snot knowing all the details leads to a healthy curiosity and motivates you into “opening the box” (though that didn’t work out so well for Pandora…). There has be research done on how uncertainty can actually boost motivation as well. A paper called “The Motivating Uncertainty Effect” ² This study showed that if people were given a limited amount of information about the reward they would receive, it could actually boost motivation. Read More ...