Towards Context-Independent Gamification: An Evaluation of Intrinsic Motivation in Gamified Contexts

• Author / Creator

  Herman, Ashley

• Gamification is becoming widely adopted as a way of making applications fun and engaging, in order to motivate adoption and use. Despite its popularity, the question of whether gamification actually has any effect on user motivation remains open [1].

  For many years, video game designers have leveraged Self Determination Theory (especially the concept of intrinsic motivation to create games that are immersive and interesting. Many gamification frameworks are also based on Self Determination Theory [2], although more evidence is required to establish a link between intrinsic motivation and gamification.

  Gamification can be implemented in a variety of contexts, such as adopting sustainable habits, quitting smoking, drinking more water, or learning a new skill. Some researchers believe that the activity which is being gamified has a profound influence on how effective a gamified application is [3].

  This thesis explores the questions of whether gamification works, whether gamified applications have an effect on intrinsic motivation as proposed by Self Determination Theory, and whether or not certain game mechanics are effective cross-contextually.

  We have developed a general gamification layer, as a framework implementing the following game mechanisms: teams, leaderboards, predefined teammate messages, and email notifications.

  We have evaluated this framework with two case studies. The first, SU Perks, is a reward-based application which encourages students to attend campus events and learn about University of Alberta campus resources. The second, FrancoPass, is an application which encourages students to attend events in the French community with the goal of increasing their motivation to learn a second language. Both studies rely on our gamification ‘layer', the motivational effectiveness of which is analyzed through these studies.

  Both the SU Perks and FrancoPass study demonstrated that users who joined teams tended to participate more in the gamified activity. Different responses to the same game mechanics were found between the two applications: for example, FrancoPass users may have been more intrinsically motivated, which is expected because second language acquisition requires more intrinsic motivation.

  The results reinforce the theory that the principles of Self Determination Theory [4] can be used to create applications which are motivating and engaging across differing contexts.

  [1] J. Hamari, J. Kovisto, and H. Sarsa, Does gamification work? a lit-
  erature review on empirical studies on gamification, in 47th Hawaii
  International Conference on System Sciences, Jan. 2014.

  [2] A. Mora, D. Riela, C. Gonzalez, and J. Arnedo-Moreno, Gamication:
  A systematic review of design frameworks, Journal of Computing in
  Higher Education, May 2017. doi: 10.1007/s12528-017-
  9150-4.

  [3] K. Finckenhagen, Context in Gamication: Contextual Factors and
  Successful Gamication, https://www.ntnu.edu/documents/
  139799/1279149990/09+Article+Finalkarolirffors\%C3\%B8k_
  2017 - 12 - 08 - 05 - 35 - 05 _ TPD4505 . Karoline . Finckenhagen . pdf /
  4f269657-0e54-4999-9de8-6ba8e109d386.

  [4] R. Ryan and E. Deci, “The what and why of goal pursuits: Hu-
  man needs and the self-determination of behavior, Psychological In-
  quiry, vol. 11(4), 2000.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Gamification
  • Software
  • FrancoPass
  • SU Perks
  • Self Determination Theory

• Graduation date

  Fall 2020

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-6cf9-hk06

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.