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Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards
The new era of Gamification and Human-Focused Design optimizes for motivation and engagement over traditional Function-Focused Design. Within the industry, studies on game mechanics and behavioral psychology have become proliferate. However, few people understand how to merge the two fields into experience designs that reliably increases business metrics and generates a return on investment. Gamification Pioneer Yu-kai Chou takes reader on a journey to learn his twelve years of obsessive research in creating the Octalysis Framework, and how to apply the framework to create engaging and successful experiences in their product, workplace, marketing, and personal lives.
510 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2015
1311 people are currently reading
5666 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
June 6, 2016
I didn't finish the book. Where do I start in my dislikes? Just a few things I disliked about the book:
(1) 500+ pages! For a business title. The author seriously needed an editor; most business books, unless it is a narrative (i.e., books about Enron, etc) are shorter.
(2) Overly complex schema -- the "octalysis." Again, this could be simpler: his discussion of "white hat" v "black hat" game design made more sense.
(3) Although I have not yet read Predictably Irrational, I suspect that book and other popular treatments of behavioral economics make more sense that the "Octalysis."
(4) I happy that the author found Jesus, but a book on gamification is probably not the best forum to share the news. Again, an editor would have been helpful.
On the positive side, the author does seem to know a bit about gamification. Maybe his blog or his TED talks would be a better starting point for those wanting to learn about the subject.
(1) 500+ pages! For a business title. The author seriously needed an editor; most business books, unless it is a narrative (i.e., books about Enron, etc) are shorter.
(2) Overly complex schema -- the "octalysis." Again, this could be simpler: his discussion of "white hat" v "black hat" game design made more sense.
(3) Although I have not yet read Predictably Irrational, I suspect that book and other popular treatments of behavioral economics make more sense that the "Octalysis."
(4) I happy that the author found Jesus, but a book on gamification is probably not the best forum to share the news. Again, an editor would have been helpful.
On the positive side, the author does seem to know a bit about gamification. Maybe his blog or his TED talks would be a better starting point for those wanting to learn about the subject.
March 22, 2021
Yu Kai Chou did not invent any of the gamification drives, various researchers have independently discovered them. Here is a list of books that the author quotes and these techniques were taken directly or indirectly from their work. But, the techniques by themselves aren't the greatest contributions of Yu kai Chou, the greatest contribution of Yukaichow is that he has carefully crafted the octalysis framework mapping the core drives with the gamification features. His framework which encompasses all the disparate theories related to behavioral sciences into a single actionable framework. His one framework brings together all the theories, more like a universal formula.
ONE FRAMEWORK TO RULE THEM ALL.
Often when authors try to stitch together theories from various books and then try to claim it as their own they get a suit stitched with rags, which looks ugly. But in this case, since author has done his independent research and then mapped these motivation theories back to his research with respect to games, he is able to produce a book that is unique and keeps the user on his feet till the last page.
The author has definitely added value with this book. - I know of all the core drives before i began this book, but I must also admit that I could not put them to use, for they are far too many and they are not organized to have a cheat sheet for a quick look up when i need them the most - This is the contribution of Yu Kai Chou. Also one might ask, what is the application, for a product manager like me, this book is a like a gold mine reference book.
This book has definitely added great value, The book is also designed according to the gamification theories that the author refers to, thus making the book very gamified, and very engaging.
Most value add happens till chapter 12 once the core drives are done, the promotion begins, the last five chapters are merely spacefillers.
The game of work - Charles kumrad
Gamification by design
Electric dreams
The google story
Predictably irrational
Drive
Jessie shell - The art of game design
a theory of fun for game design
David and Goliath
Thinking fast and slow
Influence
Pitch anything - Kraft
Yes 50 scientifically proven ways to be persuasive
Influence- Robert cialdini
Flow
Mindless eating
Hooked - nir eyal
Enterprise gamification
Reality is broken
Documentary
The hacks life
Game later on the top of the world - ted. X
Marketing gamification- shoot the duck
E-commerce gamification- eBay, woot
White hat vs black hat gamification
Human focused design vs function focused
Human centred design by ideo vs human focused design - gamification
Gamification not escapism
Ukaichow.com - 90 case studies - gamification yukaichow.com/roi
Ch 2. The PBL fallacy
Grinding - in games is grunt work in real world
Points badges and leader boards - shell of a gaming experienceStrategy, challenge, friends - intrinsic motivation
A Trojan horse without soldiers - shallow - a pbl
Learn from the design don’t copy the shell
Game mechanics and game play dynamics
Oktalosis frame work - octagon + core drives
8 core drives
1. Epic meaning or calling
2. Development and accomplishment
3. Empowerment of creativity and feedback
4. Ownership and procession
5. Social influence and relatedness
6. Scarcity and impatience
7. Unpredictability and curiosity
8. Loss and avoidance
Left brain - extrinsic | Right brain - intrinsic drives
Short term - extrinsic | long term - intrinsic focused
Left brain core drives - logic, analytical thought and ownership
Right brain core drives - creativity, self expression and social dynamics
Designing for extrinsic motivation which impairs intrinsic motivation - The over justification effect
Top core drives - positive - white hat gamification
Bottom core drives- negative - black hat gamification
Positive black hat gamification design
9th core drive - sensation
Yukaichow.com/tools
Four Levels of octalysis - four phases of player user journey
1. Discovery
2. Onboarding
3. Scaffolding
4. End Game
Octalysis Gamification Designer
Richard Bartles
Four player types:
1. Achievers
2. Socializers
3. Explorers
4. Killers
Chapter 4 - putting gamification in its place
The G summit
Zikkermann vs dietering debate
Serious games and advergames vs pure games - semantics
Loyalty programs
Handful
Gameful design
Implicit vs explicit gamification
Types of implentations- four types
Four application fields of gamification
1. Product
2. Workplace
3. Marketing
4. Lifestyle
Product gamification - reason to use the product- saves money, time and makes life easy
Status quo sloth
Workplace gamification- environments and systems - inspire and motivate employees
Pay check and not get fired - black hat motivation- left brain.
Marketing gamification
Fun and unique experience
Ad blockers - tunes out tv ads- skip- fast forward.
Seo - sem- target the right people at right time
SMM - social media marketing -
Lifestyle gamification- applying gamification to life - habits - to do list - exercise
Tracking - big data - game remembers and customizes
Wearable tech and quantified self
Career - health - education gamification
1. Finding their game
2. Analysing initial stats
3. Formulating skill trees
4. Connecting with allies
5. Finding the right quests
6. Beating the game
Chapter 5 - first core drive - epic meaning and calling
White hat core drive - self less
Wikipedia policing - apple product loyalty
Pown - domination - powned
During discovery and on boarding- this must be communicated
Apple sells meaning - the crazy ones 1984
Think different campaign- 1998
Apple sold vision - no products in commercials
Waze app - gps with user - snake monster - traffic - community of wazers fight it
Xiao- Chinese parenting - you owe your parents from birth
Engaging narrative to give context for higher meaning
Zamzee- exercise for kids
Humanity hero - toms shoes - Free rice - donate to third world
Elitism - pride groups- act against rival groups
USC vs UCLA
Irrational activities - outside enemies
Donate to alma matter
Fan of an institute- athletic teams
Kiva - micro lending- donate to third world
Christians vs atheists
Beginners Luck - few chosen ones
Moats- obsessiveness
Free lunch - freebies for selected people
Believability is the key
Chapter 6 - development and accomplishment
Most common - kindergarten starts
PBL- point badges and leaderboards
A win state - progress
Stages and boss fights - levels
A feeling of accomplishment
Necessary obstacles we volunteer to overcome
eBay - gamification of e-commerce
Achievement symbols - yellow gift certificate
Anonymous bid - bidding war - gets users to come back to check
Scarcity and impatience- Torture break - user has to wait for a time
Selling on eBay - gamified
Buyers - pay to play - not buying items on eBay
General Mills Betty Crocker cake mix - no accomplishment or competence
Count down timer and last mile drive - users feel they are so close
Gamification of Amazon - ownership and pocession
My Amazon - Alfred effect - recommendation engine -
Social proof and relatedness - 30 percent Amazon sales increase
User reviews and ratings
Never make users feel dumb: unified motivating experience
Feel smart - a product that makes user feel stupid fails - 4 seconds- google search engine vs yahoo Portal strategy
Org strategy- what they insist on not doing
Google plus - users feel dumb
Brute force distribution - forcing people into golds through YouTube or gmail or for seo
Star of Bethlehem- guiding users forward
Candy crush - shows a glowing choice - possible solution - might not make you win
Sense of progress vs stuck and confused
Amazon makes users feel they are smart - 4 sec rule
Desert oasis - visually guiding users to desired action
Bogus list price crossed out and savings - make users feel smart
People think they are making a smart choice
Jc penny fired Ron Johnson - for removing fake discount numbers
Users don’t make economical choices - they make choices that make them feel smart
Gamification- human focused design vs usability - ux
Motivation vs ease - use & flow - intuition
Gamification = tech platform + business systems (roi) + ui + ux + behavioural economics + game design + game dynamics + neuro biology + motivation psychology + reward schedules + dopamine fires and win states
Linked in - progress bar
Progress wars - meaning less level ups - without core drives
The rock star effect - everyone is dying to interact with you
Twitter - one way follow - influences and competition for followers
First reach one million- Ashton kitchen vs news outlet - cnn breaking news
Achievement symbols -
Badges stars belts - reflect achievements- Military badges
Status points - and exchangeable points
Status point - to keep track of progress
Absolute status points vs marginal status points
One way vs two way status points
Captain up - gamification platform
Leader boards - position exactly at the user
Set up group leader boards - combined efforts of the group - social influence and relatedness
Micro leader boards - for your network only
The bigger picture -
Apm- actions per min - star craft players - esport games - RTS games
Gamification fatigue- short life time of gamification efforts
Reason to stay on - purpose
Continuous motivation - end game motivation
Core - empowerment of creativity and feedback
Effect of games on brain - memory, visual search and filtering
Tic-tac-toe vs chess
Intuition and creativity games
Not one chance to win
Crowdsourcing - xprize - kaggle- folded - mason Pfizer monkey virus - interactive game play interface - protein game - biochemists- epic meaning and calling
Long term user engagement and high productivity
The fun theory - The piano stair case
Empowerment of creativity and feedback in corporations
Corporate ladder - risk averse
Draw something- creativity to find loop holes
Boosters - mario mushroom
Super book.tv
Funneling strategy
Milestone unlock - level up and gain new skills and power up - plays vs zombies - tower defence
New plant to counter the zombie at the end of each stage
Choice perception- free will with fluency
Choice itself is not meaningful but empowering
Two lenses - constraints to player choices
Incentivise player to make choices
Create interface to guide users
Visual designs to attract players sight
Provide social guidance
Music control that affects behaviour
Plant picker - meaningful choices
If all players have the same choices - this isn’t possible
Farmville art - black hat game mechanics
FarmVille artists - end game creativity - evergreen mechanic
Basic components- infinite choices
Triangularity - Jessie shell
Small risk small reward, safe play vs big risk big reward
Ch8 - ownership and procession
Improve protect and obtain more of it
Natural association with things that we own
If a beer is placed beside you - you would be unhappy if somebody snatches it
Math becomes engaging when you start counting your own money
Desire to collect things- emotional comfort
Painting - cars -
Rye currency of yapp island yappies
Rye stone ownership that was sunk in the ocean
Happens every day in modern world -
Perfect pet - pet rock - Gary doll - 1975
1.5 million pet rocks sold
First virtual pet game - tamagachi- pet egg
The animal becomes the type of food you feed - was targeted to girls -76 million sold
Ownership and procession
FarmVille - pet society
The endowment effect - longer you remain top bidder the more aggressive you would bid
For sale, not for use - novice traders
Identity consistency and commitment
Careers similar to their own names
People also move to places that are similar to their names
Brands and spouses
Consistency- self herding
Race horse confidence
The power of writing something down
Car salesmen and reservations get commitment first
Ask users to fill their own forms to decrease cancellation rates
Testimonial contests
I like the product because ..... contests
Build from scratch - vested ownership- engage users in the development process
IKEA effect - personal ownership
Collection sets - desire to complete the set
Geomon - monster capture - four season deers - compelled to capture all four
3-6 months to capture seasonal pets - forced to spend money to finish the set
Attached to geomons they raised and trained
Monopoly McDonalds game -
Gamification is not cookie cutter but context dependent
Exchangeable points - status points
Very difficult to run an economy
Just having an economy will not guarantee success in gamification
Monitor attachment - state of something
Favourite local shop - liking something we are familiar with - cognitive ease
Google analytics - keeps bloggers going - constant staring - unpredictability and curiosity
Alfred effect - so personalised that they can’t imagine anything else
Big data personalisation of experience
Level of personalisation is taken for granted
Shallow static experience vs customised system that understands the user.
Amazon waze app - Alfred effect
Designs where core drives sabotaging each other.
Ch 9 - social influence and relatedness
Desire to connect and compare with each other
Double edged sword
Parallel kingdom - massively multiplayer online game - GPS based
Kingdom over their home location
User x is assigned as a mentor - gave gear and tips - quitting now would be a huge disappointment
Mentor gives a demo of powers - effortlessly complete - develops a feeling of awe or envy
Realistic path to follow and over come envy
Or we get user denial and disengagement
To impress mentors - join the kingdom
This is the power of mentor ship
Draw from volunteer group to live up to expectations
Keep America green - ad campaign
Back by popular neglect - re did the ad - but failed
Theft losses of petrified wood - increased after posting the ad - anti core drive
Please don’t be like them - core message
It is actually popular to pollute - people do what others do
Social norm override - nazi
Pinnocchio- wanted to be a normal boy just like everyone else
Majority think that they are above average
Social proofing messages - towel reuse program - 75 percent reused
Relatedness principle - elitism
Everyone else like you is doing it
Leadership and group
Leaders goal - create passion and motivation towards epic meaning and calling
Not social proof - insecure leadership- ineffective
Corporate competition- oxymoron -
Self interest above company and customer
People hate constant state of competition- adrenaline burst must be short
Assists - immediate passes that led to scores
Collaborative play and team work
Risks and benefits -
People quit dysfunctional work places - rank and yank in GE - firing 10 percent lowest performing- led to hiring weak candidates
Stack ranking - prevented peers from giving any good feedback - how they were ranked among peers decides the hike
Collaborative dynamics in startup’s - due to equity
When competition works when players:
Mastery of the task
In gain oriented mindset’s
Optimal functioning
Care about welfare of team
Overcome obstacles and not goals
ONE FRAMEWORK TO RULE THEM ALL.
Often when authors try to stitch together theories from various books and then try to claim it as their own they get a suit stitched with rags, which looks ugly. But in this case, since author has done his independent research and then mapped these motivation theories back to his research with respect to games, he is able to produce a book that is unique and keeps the user on his feet till the last page.
The author has definitely added value with this book. - I know of all the core drives before i began this book, but I must also admit that I could not put them to use, for they are far too many and they are not organized to have a cheat sheet for a quick look up when i need them the most - This is the contribution of Yu Kai Chou. Also one might ask, what is the application, for a product manager like me, this book is a like a gold mine reference book.
This book has definitely added great value, The book is also designed according to the gamification theories that the author refers to, thus making the book very gamified, and very engaging.
Most value add happens till chapter 12 once the core drives are done, the promotion begins, the last five chapters are merely spacefillers.
The game of work - Charles kumrad
Gamification by design
Electric dreams
The google story
Predictably irrational
Drive
Jessie shell - The art of game design
a theory of fun for game design
David and Goliath
Thinking fast and slow
Influence
Pitch anything - Kraft
Yes 50 scientifically proven ways to be persuasive
Influence- Robert cialdini
Flow
Mindless eating
Hooked - nir eyal
Enterprise gamification
Reality is broken
Documentary
The hacks life
Game later on the top of the world - ted. X
Marketing gamification- shoot the duck
E-commerce gamification- eBay, woot
White hat vs black hat gamification
Human focused design vs function focused
Human centred design by ideo vs human focused design - gamification
Gamification not escapism
Ukaichow.com - 90 case studies - gamification yukaichow.com/roi
Ch 2. The PBL fallacy
Grinding - in games is grunt work in real world
Points badges and leader boards - shell of a gaming experienceStrategy, challenge, friends - intrinsic motivation
A Trojan horse without soldiers - shallow - a pbl
Learn from the design don’t copy the shell
Game mechanics and game play dynamics
Oktalosis frame work - octagon + core drives
8 core drives
1. Epic meaning or calling
2. Development and accomplishment
3. Empowerment of creativity and feedback
4. Ownership and procession
5. Social influence and relatedness
6. Scarcity and impatience
7. Unpredictability and curiosity
8. Loss and avoidance
Left brain - extrinsic | Right brain - intrinsic drives
Short term - extrinsic | long term - intrinsic focused
Left brain core drives - logic, analytical thought and ownership
Right brain core drives - creativity, self expression and social dynamics
Designing for extrinsic motivation which impairs intrinsic motivation - The over justification effect
Top core drives - positive - white hat gamification
Bottom core drives- negative - black hat gamification
Positive black hat gamification design
9th core drive - sensation
Yukaichow.com/tools
Four Levels of octalysis - four phases of player user journey
1. Discovery
2. Onboarding
3. Scaffolding
4. End Game
Octalysis Gamification Designer
Richard Bartles
Four player types:
1. Achievers
2. Socializers
3. Explorers
4. Killers
Chapter 4 - putting gamification in its place
The G summit
Zikkermann vs dietering debate
Serious games and advergames vs pure games - semantics
Loyalty programs
Handful
Gameful design
Implicit vs explicit gamification
Types of implentations- four types
Four application fields of gamification
1. Product
2. Workplace
3. Marketing
4. Lifestyle
Product gamification - reason to use the product- saves money, time and makes life easy
Status quo sloth
Workplace gamification- environments and systems - inspire and motivate employees
Pay check and not get fired - black hat motivation- left brain.
Marketing gamification
Fun and unique experience
Ad blockers - tunes out tv ads- skip- fast forward.
Seo - sem- target the right people at right time
SMM - social media marketing -
Lifestyle gamification- applying gamification to life - habits - to do list - exercise
Tracking - big data - game remembers and customizes
Wearable tech and quantified self
Career - health - education gamification
1. Finding their game
2. Analysing initial stats
3. Formulating skill trees
4. Connecting with allies
5. Finding the right quests
6. Beating the game
Chapter 5 - first core drive - epic meaning and calling
White hat core drive - self less
Wikipedia policing - apple product loyalty
Pown - domination - powned
During discovery and on boarding- this must be communicated
Apple sells meaning - the crazy ones 1984
Think different campaign- 1998
Apple sold vision - no products in commercials
Waze app - gps with user - snake monster - traffic - community of wazers fight it
Xiao- Chinese parenting - you owe your parents from birth
Engaging narrative to give context for higher meaning
Zamzee- exercise for kids
Humanity hero - toms shoes - Free rice - donate to third world
Elitism - pride groups- act against rival groups
USC vs UCLA
Irrational activities - outside enemies
Donate to alma matter
Fan of an institute- athletic teams
Kiva - micro lending- donate to third world
Christians vs atheists
Beginners Luck - few chosen ones
Moats- obsessiveness
Free lunch - freebies for selected people
Believability is the key
Chapter 6 - development and accomplishment
Most common - kindergarten starts
PBL- point badges and leaderboards
A win state - progress
Stages and boss fights - levels
A feeling of accomplishment
Necessary obstacles we volunteer to overcome
eBay - gamification of e-commerce
Achievement symbols - yellow gift certificate
Anonymous bid - bidding war - gets users to come back to check
Scarcity and impatience- Torture break - user has to wait for a time
Selling on eBay - gamified
Buyers - pay to play - not buying items on eBay
General Mills Betty Crocker cake mix - no accomplishment or competence
Count down timer and last mile drive - users feel they are so close
Gamification of Amazon - ownership and pocession
My Amazon - Alfred effect - recommendation engine -
Social proof and relatedness - 30 percent Amazon sales increase
User reviews and ratings
Never make users feel dumb: unified motivating experience
Feel smart - a product that makes user feel stupid fails - 4 seconds- google search engine vs yahoo Portal strategy
Org strategy- what they insist on not doing
Google plus - users feel dumb
Brute force distribution - forcing people into golds through YouTube or gmail or for seo
Star of Bethlehem- guiding users forward
Candy crush - shows a glowing choice - possible solution - might not make you win
Sense of progress vs stuck and confused
Amazon makes users feel they are smart - 4 sec rule
Desert oasis - visually guiding users to desired action
Bogus list price crossed out and savings - make users feel smart
People think they are making a smart choice
Jc penny fired Ron Johnson - for removing fake discount numbers
Users don’t make economical choices - they make choices that make them feel smart
Gamification- human focused design vs usability - ux
Motivation vs ease - use & flow - intuition
Gamification = tech platform + business systems (roi) + ui + ux + behavioural economics + game design + game dynamics + neuro biology + motivation psychology + reward schedules + dopamine fires and win states
Linked in - progress bar
Progress wars - meaning less level ups - without core drives
The rock star effect - everyone is dying to interact with you
Twitter - one way follow - influences and competition for followers
First reach one million- Ashton kitchen vs news outlet - cnn breaking news
Achievement symbols -
Badges stars belts - reflect achievements- Military badges
Status points - and exchangeable points
Status point - to keep track of progress
Absolute status points vs marginal status points
One way vs two way status points
Captain up - gamification platform
Leader boards - position exactly at the user
Set up group leader boards - combined efforts of the group - social influence and relatedness
Micro leader boards - for your network only
The bigger picture -
Apm- actions per min - star craft players - esport games - RTS games
Gamification fatigue- short life time of gamification efforts
Reason to stay on - purpose
Continuous motivation - end game motivation
Core - empowerment of creativity and feedback
Effect of games on brain - memory, visual search and filtering
Tic-tac-toe vs chess
Intuition and creativity games
Not one chance to win
Crowdsourcing - xprize - kaggle- folded - mason Pfizer monkey virus - interactive game play interface - protein game - biochemists- epic meaning and calling
Long term user engagement and high productivity
The fun theory - The piano stair case
Empowerment of creativity and feedback in corporations
Corporate ladder - risk averse
Draw something- creativity to find loop holes
Boosters - mario mushroom
Super book.tv
Funneling strategy
Milestone unlock - level up and gain new skills and power up - plays vs zombies - tower defence
New plant to counter the zombie at the end of each stage
Choice perception- free will with fluency
Choice itself is not meaningful but empowering
Two lenses - constraints to player choices
Incentivise player to make choices
Create interface to guide users
Visual designs to attract players sight
Provide social guidance
Music control that affects behaviour
Plant picker - meaningful choices
If all players have the same choices - this isn’t possible
Farmville art - black hat game mechanics
FarmVille artists - end game creativity - evergreen mechanic
Basic components- infinite choices
Triangularity - Jessie shell
Small risk small reward, safe play vs big risk big reward
Ch8 - ownership and procession
Improve protect and obtain more of it
Natural association with things that we own
If a beer is placed beside you - you would be unhappy if somebody snatches it
Math becomes engaging when you start counting your own money
Desire to collect things- emotional comfort
Painting - cars -
Rye currency of yapp island yappies
Rye stone ownership that was sunk in the ocean
Happens every day in modern world -
Perfect pet - pet rock - Gary doll - 1975
1.5 million pet rocks sold
First virtual pet game - tamagachi- pet egg
The animal becomes the type of food you feed - was targeted to girls -76 million sold
Ownership and procession
FarmVille - pet society
The endowment effect - longer you remain top bidder the more aggressive you would bid
For sale, not for use - novice traders
Identity consistency and commitment
Careers similar to their own names
People also move to places that are similar to their names
Brands and spouses
Consistency- self herding
Race horse confidence
The power of writing something down
Car salesmen and reservations get commitment first
Ask users to fill their own forms to decrease cancellation rates
Testimonial contests
I like the product because ..... contests
Build from scratch - vested ownership- engage users in the development process
IKEA effect - personal ownership
Collection sets - desire to complete the set
Geomon - monster capture - four season deers - compelled to capture all four
3-6 months to capture seasonal pets - forced to spend money to finish the set
Attached to geomons they raised and trained
Monopoly McDonalds game -
Gamification is not cookie cutter but context dependent
Exchangeable points - status points
Very difficult to run an economy
Just having an economy will not guarantee success in gamification
Monitor attachment - state of something
Favourite local shop - liking something we are familiar with - cognitive ease
Google analytics - keeps bloggers going - constant staring - unpredictability and curiosity
Alfred effect - so personalised that they can’t imagine anything else
Big data personalisation of experience
Level of personalisation is taken for granted
Shallow static experience vs customised system that understands the user.
Amazon waze app - Alfred effect
Designs where core drives sabotaging each other.
Ch 9 - social influence and relatedness
Desire to connect and compare with each other
Double edged sword
Parallel kingdom - massively multiplayer online game - GPS based
Kingdom over their home location
User x is assigned as a mentor - gave gear and tips - quitting now would be a huge disappointment
Mentor gives a demo of powers - effortlessly complete - develops a feeling of awe or envy
Realistic path to follow and over come envy
Or we get user denial and disengagement
To impress mentors - join the kingdom
This is the power of mentor ship
Draw from volunteer group to live up to expectations
Keep America green - ad campaign
Back by popular neglect - re did the ad - but failed
Theft losses of petrified wood - increased after posting the ad - anti core drive
Please don’t be like them - core message
It is actually popular to pollute - people do what others do
Social norm override - nazi
Pinnocchio- wanted to be a normal boy just like everyone else
Majority think that they are above average
Social proofing messages - towel reuse program - 75 percent reused
Relatedness principle - elitism
Everyone else like you is doing it
Leadership and group
Leaders goal - create passion and motivation towards epic meaning and calling
Not social proof - insecure leadership- ineffective
Corporate competition- oxymoron -
Self interest above company and customer
People hate constant state of competition- adrenaline burst must be short
Assists - immediate passes that led to scores
Collaborative play and team work
Risks and benefits -
People quit dysfunctional work places - rank and yank in GE - firing 10 percent lowest performing- led to hiring weak candidates
Stack ranking - prevented peers from giving any good feedback - how they were ranked among peers decides the hike
Collaborative dynamics in startup’s - due to equity
When competition works when players:
Mastery of the task
In gain oriented mindset’s
Optimal functioning
Care about welfare of team
Overcome obstacles and not goals
September 17, 2016
Most impressive and useful motivational model I've ever seen. Amazing.
October 10, 2017
This book has potential for telling of good practical techniques, and the methodology framework seems almost sane. But the endless, relentless pestering from the author about how awesome his blog is, how successful he is, how he have met such and such namedropped person, and how you will learn X in the next chapter if you just listen to the rants a bit longer, makes it impossible for a thinking person to persist this pile of self-praising crap. This is mostly a narcissist project about the author's image of himself. I gave up (I managed 5 or 6 chapters).
October 16, 2016
This is pretty disappointing...and self-serving. Chou seems more concerned about padding his resume, name dropping & ego stroking (yes, I'm quite clear on your URL now) than he does adding any substance to this conversation. I mean, good lord...Octalysis? You named your "theory" after its shape?
September 28, 2017
Actionable Gamification (AG) is a great handbook for anyone who has decided to design a service, a game, or improve his/her life with little (or big) gamification tricks. This book provides a lot of value. I mean, really a lot – a little investment in it will bring huge benefits in whatever you're creating.
First half of the book is like an epiphany – human motivations are catalogued and keys to unlock them revealed. Every story or a hint described by Yu-kai Chou took me some time to analyze and helped me to significantly alter the education platform I was planning at the time.
The second half, though was a bit boring – after you get the idea about the drives, the initial excitement fades. And, I need to tell that: the book could have been edited better and could be at least half of the size.
Nevertheless, it's a book worth buying, reading, an implementing!
First half of the book is like an epiphany – human motivations are catalogued and keys to unlock them revealed. Every story or a hint described by Yu-kai Chou took me some time to analyze and helped me to significantly alter the education platform I was planning at the time.
The second half, though was a bit boring – after you get the idea about the drives, the initial excitement fades. And, I need to tell that: the book could have been edited better and could be at least half of the size.
Nevertheless, it's a book worth buying, reading, an implementing!
September 17, 2019
Wow... I've just finished. This book is going directly to my short list of the most valuable work-related books I've read. It is a must-read lecture not only for those who have anything to do product design, but also anyone who is even remotely connected with designing human interactions and processes.
I had very negative connotations with the word gamification, as I was thinking about it only in terms of extrinsic motivation - "points, badges and leader boards". Author of this book completely debunks this way of perception, offering truly actionable insights into human focus design. By the way, this is what this book is about - Human Focus Design. And it is brilliant! (and if you read some of my reviews, you know, that I rarely feel so strongly about a book). Like seriously... read it! :)
I had very negative connotations with the word gamification, as I was thinking about it only in terms of extrinsic motivation - "points, badges and leader boards". Author of this book completely debunks this way of perception, offering truly actionable insights into human focus design. By the way, this is what this book is about - Human Focus Design. And it is brilliant! (and if you read some of my reviews, you know, that I rarely feel so strongly about a book). Like seriously... read it! :)
December 29, 2020
O nome Octalysis surgiu devido à sua forma geométrica (octogonal), oito eixos, em que cada um deles representa diferentes tipos de motivação, que dão suporte ao envolvimento do jogador com os videojogos: meaning, empowerment, social influence, unpredictability, avoidance, scarcity, ownership e accomplishment. Na parte superior do modelo temos os aspetos positivos, na parte inferior os aspetos negativos, à direita do eixo, a motivação extrínseca, e à esquerda a motivação intrínseca.
1) Meaning
Visa disponibilizar uma experiência que tenha significado para o utilizador, em que o utilizador sinta que fará algo muito importante para si e para os outros. Algo com significado varia de acordo com o íntimo do individuo, todavia, para desenhar este eixo é necessária uma correta avaliação dos objetivos a alcançar, assim como identificar o perfil do utilizador que irá desenvolver a experiência e se essa experiencia é valorizada pelos pares. Neste eixo o foco está no humano, as suas necessidades e desejos de realização. Uma das técnica utilizadas para envolver o utilizador é a narrativa, fornecer um contexto para a atividade, porque tem de ser executada esta ação, quem deverá executar, os objetivos a atingir, identificar os métodos e constrangimentos da sua execução, etc. A chave mestre é acreditar que esta experiência tem significado para o humano.
2) Accomplishment
Desenvolvimento e realização determina o que o utilizador valoriza, o estabelecimento de desafios. Os desafios propostos devem vir juntos com as recompensas expressas de maneira muito clara. Os desafios são os elementos de mudança. A recompensa é o que cria o sentido para manter os indivíduos envolvidos na atividade e a enveredarem esforços para se aperfeiçoarem. Superar problemas, mudar comportamento e desenvolver habilidades podem ser exemplos de desafios, contudo, os desafios não podem ser demasiado fáceis em que qualquer individuo consegue alcançar rapidamente e sem muito esforço, perdendo assim o interesse, mas também não devem ser intransponíveis de forma a que ninguém consiga chegar à vitória. Os desafios devem ser compreensíveis para o público-alvo que o vai experienciar, com obstáculos inteligentes, mas superáveis, com indicação explicita do caminho que o utilizador deve seguir (sistema de setas, cores, texto, etc). Algumas das mecânicas, que podem ser usadas neste eixo consistem em mostrar barra de progressão; onde o jogador identifique a quantidade de tempo ou atividades dedicadas à tarefa e o que falta para que este a conclua, o feedback; orienta utilizador na progressão da sua atividade, definição marcos e recompensas; recompensar o utilizador pelos marcos superados, através de medalhas, trofeus, equipamento, etc. Na atribuição das recompensas deve-se balancear os pontos atribuídos em cada atividade, com os pontos a atingir para superar um nível de forma a que o aluno não chegue ao topo antes de concluir todas as tarefas que lhe estão incumbidas, senão o interesse em permanecer na atividade diminui drasticamente, quadros de líderes; em que o aluno sabe a sua posição, quais os colegas que estão imediatamente à sua frente ou atrás de si, em que lugar se encontra a sua equipa, e as outras, de forma a redefinir estratégias para alcançar a vitória.
3) Empowerment
O ser humano é, por natureza, criativo, gosta de aprender, imaginar e inventar, deseja sentir-se realizado, por isso tende a envolver-se em processos criativos. Um bom sistema de gamificação deve garantir que não existe apenas um único meio de atingir a vitória, deve apelar à criatividade do aluno e dar-lhe a possibilidade de escolha dos instrumentos a usar, e da estratégia que melhor se adapta para superar um nível, ou atingir determinado conhecimento ou habilidade. Se os meios de concretização da tarefa forem impostos ao aluno e este falhar, ele irá atribuir esse falhanço ao professor, uma vez que as opções não foram suas e por não se identificar com o método nem com os instrumentos impostos, por sua vez, se as escolhas forem do aluno, este envereda esforços suplementares para conseguir concluir a tarefa, devido a não querer reconhecer a sua opção como errada.
Os alunos envolvem-se num processo criativo onde têm que repetidamente descobrir soluções e tentar combinações diferentes para solucionar os desafios, não existe penalização, o aluno experimenta uma primeira vez, se errar, pensa porquê e tenta novamente, e assim sucessivamente, sempre que erra aprende, quando resolve com sucesso compreende porque tem de ser assim e não de outro modo. Algumas mecânicas que se podem utilizar são os poderes, a invocação do poder, limitado no jogo, confere ao utilizador uma emoção durante um período, devido a este sentir-se beneficiado, e isso leva-o a enveredar esforços para conseguir superar os desafios que tenta solucionar, uma vez que ao armazenar pontos, poderá utilizar os poderes. Subir de nível é outra mecânica utilizada neste eixo, ao resolver um desafio o utilizador ganha novas habilidades que o vão fazer progredir no jogo, descobrir novos puzzles novos desafios, e isso motiva-o intrinsecamente.
4) Ownership
Nosso cérebro forma uma associação natural com as coisas que possuímos, sempre que temos posse de algo, o nosso estado cerebral altera-se, por exemplo, no colecionismo, as pessoas gostam de colecionar coisas e raramente se desfazem delas, porque gostam dos objetos e as sentem como sua propriedade, mesmo que essas coisas não tenham qualquer significado para os outros. Uma das técnicas que melhor se adaptam neste eixo são: a criação e personalização de avatares, os alunos identificam-se com os personagens que criam e modificam-nas com prazer, só para as ver com outro aspeto, com mais uma artefacto, diferentes equipamentos, com um animal de estimação associado, etc, decoram-nas de acordo com os seus gostos pessoais; pontos trocáveis é outra técnica bastante utilizável, ao adquirir pontos no jogo, o utilizador trocar por bens ou comprar recursos, na economia do jogo, pode desenvolver estratégia de equipa e trocar pontos entre os membros da equipa. Outra técnica igualmente usada é a estatística, que lhe permite ver o seu progresso no jogo, o progresso dos colegas de equipa e das outras equipas.
5) Social influence
Envolve as atividades influenciadas por outras pessoas, os seus gostos e opiniões em relação a determinados assuntos, envolve o que o outro faz, diz ou pensa. O ser humano deseja conectar-se com outros, com a proliferação das redes sociais, as interações sociais têm vindo a aumentar de forma exponencial, mantendo as pessoas ligadas a toda a hora a partilharem informação, discutir ideias, a verem o que os outros fazem, dizem e pensam, em especial, com as pessoas com quem se identificam e admiram. Este eixo traduz um ponto forte na motivação do aluno, porque eles não querem dececionar os outros, muito pelo contrário, tem o desejo de agradar e serem admirados pelos seus pares. Algumas mecânicas que se podem aplicar neste eixo são: a tutoria, incentivar a partilha de saberes entre um aluno experiente e um aluno neófito. Mostrar os feitos alcançados pelo aluno em determinada atividade, sob forma de medalha ou trofeu que distinga o aluno, ou emitir um certificado de conclusão para que o aluno se sinta realizado e orgulhoso por ter alcançado a vitória. Estruturar as equipas por clãs ou grupos de interesse, que se entreajudam em prol de um objetivo comum. Providenciar um sistema de recompensas ou presentes que podem ser doados a amigos ou membros do grupo. Incentivar a partilha de opiniões em fóruns, para trocas de mensagens entre membros, onde veteranos e novatos possam trocar ideias sobre determinados temas, tarefas ou atividade a desenvolver.
6) Scarcity
As pessoas atribuem valor à escassez, o sentimento de possuir algo único ou que existe em muito pequena quantidade, faz encaminhar esforços adicionais para conseguir obter os recursos, atribuindo-lhes assim um valor especial. Compramos um item não pelo seu valor real, mas sim pela perceção que temos do valor desse bem, o que significa para nós. Por natureza, o ser humano persegue o que se afasta dele, sonha em ter aquilo que é difícil de obter. Limitar a quantidade do recurso faz com que os alunos se esforcem para o obter, investiguem mais, desenhem as estratégias mais eficazes para conseguir obter o recurso, tanto pode ser uma carta rara que falta na sua coleção, como atingir determinado poder que o possa fazer progredir mais rápido no jogo, como também apoderarem-se dum segredo que poucos conhecem. As técnicas envoltas deste eixo visam a possibilidade do utilizador acumular pontos para comprar determinado recurso, e assim evoluir no jogo, partilhar poderes e recursos com os colegas de equipa. Limitar os recursos disponíveis faz com que aumente a procura desses recursos por serem raros. Emocionalmente é motivador para o aluno ter em sua posse bens cobiçados pelos colegas, fá-los sentir especiais e bons estrategas.
7) Unpredictability
O ser humano é curioso por natureza, apesar de sentir receio quando se depara com algo que desconhece. Ao longo dos milénios o ser humano tem vindo a desvendar mistérios, a sua curiosidade e a permanente necessidade de compreender os fenómenos do seu meio ambiente, leva-o a criar e a comprovar a suas hipóteses. Uma das técnicas utilizadas consiste em guiar o aluno na tarefa, ou seja, ter algo que indique ao utilizador o que ele tem de fazer, de forma sequencial e ordenada, dar muitas orientações em simultâneo confunde-o. A condução pode ser através do desbloqueamento de atividades, sempre que o aluno conclua uma atividade desbloqueia a seguinte, ou com setas direcionais para guiar o utilizador no caminho que deve percorrer, utilizar ou cores incandescentes nos recursos para chamar a atenção do utilizador sobre o recurso ou atividade que deve seguir. Estas técnicas são muito importantes implementar na fase de descobrimento da aplicação ou numa nova tarefa. Se os alunos não conseguirem descobrir o que fazer dentro de 4 segundos, eles deixarão de ficar envolvidos e desistem. (p. 295). Outra técnica consiste na emissão de baús (com pontos ou recursos), que de tempos a tempos desencadea um evento e recompense o aluno, ou abrir um baú do tesouro, em que o aluno não sabe o que se encontra lá dentro, cria uma expectativa que excita o aluno, envolvendo-o ainda mais nas tarefas, na perspetiva de voltar a ser recompensado e sentir de novo essa excitação. O nosso cérebro sente-se atraído pelo elemento surpresa, se de vez em quando atribuir uma recompensa totalmente inesperada ao aluno, ele sentir-se-á com sorte e isso traz-lhe felicidade e mantém-no envolvido e motivado emocionalmente.
8) Avoidance
O ser humano não gosta de perder, o sentimento de derrota ou de aversão leva à frustração do individuo, deprimindo-o por sentir que perdeu tempo, recursos e esforço em vão, e por vezes muito dinheiro. Contudo, em certa medida deve-se incluir num sistema gamificado este requisito, porque motiva o aluno a desenvolver estratégias e a esforçar-se para não ficar em último na tabela ou ser excluído do jogo antecipadamente, atribuindo-lhe a figura de incompetente, o que consiste numa vergonha para o aluno perante os seus pares. Um sistema equilibrado não deve permitir que o aluno perca permanentemente, se os obstáculos forem muito complicados de superar o normal é que o aluno deixe de estar envolvido na tarefa e desista, por outro lado, se ganhar sempre e nunca sentir a sensação de risco, torna-se aborrecido, porque é demasiado fácil e qualquer um chega ao topo sem sacrifício.
Existem várias técnicas que se podem utilizar, através de cartas promocionais em que o utilizador tem um período reduzido para pensar e agir em conformidade, se não se decidir naquele espaço de tempo perde uma oportunidade. O temporizador de contagem regressiva, em que o aluno vê no mostrador os minutos a passar e fica pressionado a agir. O temporizador pode ter dois efeitos: para mostrar ao utilizador quanto tempo falta para iniciar determinada tarefa que ele aguarda ansiosamente, ou, para mostrar o tempo que falta para terminar determinada tarefa, o que significa o fim de uma oportunidade de realização.
O autor
Yu-Kai Chou is an Author and International Keynote Speaker on Gamification and Behavioral Design. He is the Original Creator of the Octalysis Framework, and the author of Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards.
He is currently President of The Octalysis Group and the Founder of Octalysis Prime.
Yu-kai has been a regular speaker/lecturer on gamification and motivation worldwide, including at organizations like Google, Tesla, Stanford University, LEGO, TEDx, Boston Consulting Group, Gamified India, Huawei, the Innovation Center in Denmark, Kingdom of Bahrain government, and many more.
Para saber mais sobre o autor http://yukaichou.com/gamification-exp...
1) Meaning
Visa disponibilizar uma experiência que tenha significado para o utilizador, em que o utilizador sinta que fará algo muito importante para si e para os outros. Algo com significado varia de acordo com o íntimo do individuo, todavia, para desenhar este eixo é necessária uma correta avaliação dos objetivos a alcançar, assim como identificar o perfil do utilizador que irá desenvolver a experiência e se essa experiencia é valorizada pelos pares. Neste eixo o foco está no humano, as suas necessidades e desejos de realização. Uma das técnica utilizadas para envolver o utilizador é a narrativa, fornecer um contexto para a atividade, porque tem de ser executada esta ação, quem deverá executar, os objetivos a atingir, identificar os métodos e constrangimentos da sua execução, etc. A chave mestre é acreditar que esta experiência tem significado para o humano.
2) Accomplishment
Desenvolvimento e realização determina o que o utilizador valoriza, o estabelecimento de desafios. Os desafios propostos devem vir juntos com as recompensas expressas de maneira muito clara. Os desafios são os elementos de mudança. A recompensa é o que cria o sentido para manter os indivíduos envolvidos na atividade e a enveredarem esforços para se aperfeiçoarem. Superar problemas, mudar comportamento e desenvolver habilidades podem ser exemplos de desafios, contudo, os desafios não podem ser demasiado fáceis em que qualquer individuo consegue alcançar rapidamente e sem muito esforço, perdendo assim o interesse, mas também não devem ser intransponíveis de forma a que ninguém consiga chegar à vitória. Os desafios devem ser compreensíveis para o público-alvo que o vai experienciar, com obstáculos inteligentes, mas superáveis, com indicação explicita do caminho que o utilizador deve seguir (sistema de setas, cores, texto, etc). Algumas das mecânicas, que podem ser usadas neste eixo consistem em mostrar barra de progressão; onde o jogador identifique a quantidade de tempo ou atividades dedicadas à tarefa e o que falta para que este a conclua, o feedback; orienta utilizador na progressão da sua atividade, definição marcos e recompensas; recompensar o utilizador pelos marcos superados, através de medalhas, trofeus, equipamento, etc. Na atribuição das recompensas deve-se balancear os pontos atribuídos em cada atividade, com os pontos a atingir para superar um nível de forma a que o aluno não chegue ao topo antes de concluir todas as tarefas que lhe estão incumbidas, senão o interesse em permanecer na atividade diminui drasticamente, quadros de líderes; em que o aluno sabe a sua posição, quais os colegas que estão imediatamente à sua frente ou atrás de si, em que lugar se encontra a sua equipa, e as outras, de forma a redefinir estratégias para alcançar a vitória.
3) Empowerment
O ser humano é, por natureza, criativo, gosta de aprender, imaginar e inventar, deseja sentir-se realizado, por isso tende a envolver-se em processos criativos. Um bom sistema de gamificação deve garantir que não existe apenas um único meio de atingir a vitória, deve apelar à criatividade do aluno e dar-lhe a possibilidade de escolha dos instrumentos a usar, e da estratégia que melhor se adapta para superar um nível, ou atingir determinado conhecimento ou habilidade. Se os meios de concretização da tarefa forem impostos ao aluno e este falhar, ele irá atribuir esse falhanço ao professor, uma vez que as opções não foram suas e por não se identificar com o método nem com os instrumentos impostos, por sua vez, se as escolhas forem do aluno, este envereda esforços suplementares para conseguir concluir a tarefa, devido a não querer reconhecer a sua opção como errada.
Os alunos envolvem-se num processo criativo onde têm que repetidamente descobrir soluções e tentar combinações diferentes para solucionar os desafios, não existe penalização, o aluno experimenta uma primeira vez, se errar, pensa porquê e tenta novamente, e assim sucessivamente, sempre que erra aprende, quando resolve com sucesso compreende porque tem de ser assim e não de outro modo. Algumas mecânicas que se podem utilizar são os poderes, a invocação do poder, limitado no jogo, confere ao utilizador uma emoção durante um período, devido a este sentir-se beneficiado, e isso leva-o a enveredar esforços para conseguir superar os desafios que tenta solucionar, uma vez que ao armazenar pontos, poderá utilizar os poderes. Subir de nível é outra mecânica utilizada neste eixo, ao resolver um desafio o utilizador ganha novas habilidades que o vão fazer progredir no jogo, descobrir novos puzzles novos desafios, e isso motiva-o intrinsecamente.
4) Ownership
Nosso cérebro forma uma associação natural com as coisas que possuímos, sempre que temos posse de algo, o nosso estado cerebral altera-se, por exemplo, no colecionismo, as pessoas gostam de colecionar coisas e raramente se desfazem delas, porque gostam dos objetos e as sentem como sua propriedade, mesmo que essas coisas não tenham qualquer significado para os outros. Uma das técnicas que melhor se adaptam neste eixo são: a criação e personalização de avatares, os alunos identificam-se com os personagens que criam e modificam-nas com prazer, só para as ver com outro aspeto, com mais uma artefacto, diferentes equipamentos, com um animal de estimação associado, etc, decoram-nas de acordo com os seus gostos pessoais; pontos trocáveis é outra técnica bastante utilizável, ao adquirir pontos no jogo, o utilizador trocar por bens ou comprar recursos, na economia do jogo, pode desenvolver estratégia de equipa e trocar pontos entre os membros da equipa. Outra técnica igualmente usada é a estatística, que lhe permite ver o seu progresso no jogo, o progresso dos colegas de equipa e das outras equipas.
5) Social influence
Envolve as atividades influenciadas por outras pessoas, os seus gostos e opiniões em relação a determinados assuntos, envolve o que o outro faz, diz ou pensa. O ser humano deseja conectar-se com outros, com a proliferação das redes sociais, as interações sociais têm vindo a aumentar de forma exponencial, mantendo as pessoas ligadas a toda a hora a partilharem informação, discutir ideias, a verem o que os outros fazem, dizem e pensam, em especial, com as pessoas com quem se identificam e admiram. Este eixo traduz um ponto forte na motivação do aluno, porque eles não querem dececionar os outros, muito pelo contrário, tem o desejo de agradar e serem admirados pelos seus pares. Algumas mecânicas que se podem aplicar neste eixo são: a tutoria, incentivar a partilha de saberes entre um aluno experiente e um aluno neófito. Mostrar os feitos alcançados pelo aluno em determinada atividade, sob forma de medalha ou trofeu que distinga o aluno, ou emitir um certificado de conclusão para que o aluno se sinta realizado e orgulhoso por ter alcançado a vitória. Estruturar as equipas por clãs ou grupos de interesse, que se entreajudam em prol de um objetivo comum. Providenciar um sistema de recompensas ou presentes que podem ser doados a amigos ou membros do grupo. Incentivar a partilha de opiniões em fóruns, para trocas de mensagens entre membros, onde veteranos e novatos possam trocar ideias sobre determinados temas, tarefas ou atividade a desenvolver.
6) Scarcity
As pessoas atribuem valor à escassez, o sentimento de possuir algo único ou que existe em muito pequena quantidade, faz encaminhar esforços adicionais para conseguir obter os recursos, atribuindo-lhes assim um valor especial. Compramos um item não pelo seu valor real, mas sim pela perceção que temos do valor desse bem, o que significa para nós. Por natureza, o ser humano persegue o que se afasta dele, sonha em ter aquilo que é difícil de obter. Limitar a quantidade do recurso faz com que os alunos se esforcem para o obter, investiguem mais, desenhem as estratégias mais eficazes para conseguir obter o recurso, tanto pode ser uma carta rara que falta na sua coleção, como atingir determinado poder que o possa fazer progredir mais rápido no jogo, como também apoderarem-se dum segredo que poucos conhecem. As técnicas envoltas deste eixo visam a possibilidade do utilizador acumular pontos para comprar determinado recurso, e assim evoluir no jogo, partilhar poderes e recursos com os colegas de equipa. Limitar os recursos disponíveis faz com que aumente a procura desses recursos por serem raros. Emocionalmente é motivador para o aluno ter em sua posse bens cobiçados pelos colegas, fá-los sentir especiais e bons estrategas.
7) Unpredictability
O ser humano é curioso por natureza, apesar de sentir receio quando se depara com algo que desconhece. Ao longo dos milénios o ser humano tem vindo a desvendar mistérios, a sua curiosidade e a permanente necessidade de compreender os fenómenos do seu meio ambiente, leva-o a criar e a comprovar a suas hipóteses. Uma das técnicas utilizadas consiste em guiar o aluno na tarefa, ou seja, ter algo que indique ao utilizador o que ele tem de fazer, de forma sequencial e ordenada, dar muitas orientações em simultâneo confunde-o. A condução pode ser através do desbloqueamento de atividades, sempre que o aluno conclua uma atividade desbloqueia a seguinte, ou com setas direcionais para guiar o utilizador no caminho que deve percorrer, utilizar ou cores incandescentes nos recursos para chamar a atenção do utilizador sobre o recurso ou atividade que deve seguir. Estas técnicas são muito importantes implementar na fase de descobrimento da aplicação ou numa nova tarefa. Se os alunos não conseguirem descobrir o que fazer dentro de 4 segundos, eles deixarão de ficar envolvidos e desistem. (p. 295). Outra técnica consiste na emissão de baús (com pontos ou recursos), que de tempos a tempos desencadea um evento e recompense o aluno, ou abrir um baú do tesouro, em que o aluno não sabe o que se encontra lá dentro, cria uma expectativa que excita o aluno, envolvendo-o ainda mais nas tarefas, na perspetiva de voltar a ser recompensado e sentir de novo essa excitação. O nosso cérebro sente-se atraído pelo elemento surpresa, se de vez em quando atribuir uma recompensa totalmente inesperada ao aluno, ele sentir-se-á com sorte e isso traz-lhe felicidade e mantém-no envolvido e motivado emocionalmente.
8) Avoidance
O ser humano não gosta de perder, o sentimento de derrota ou de aversão leva à frustração do individuo, deprimindo-o por sentir que perdeu tempo, recursos e esforço em vão, e por vezes muito dinheiro. Contudo, em certa medida deve-se incluir num sistema gamificado este requisito, porque motiva o aluno a desenvolver estratégias e a esforçar-se para não ficar em último na tabela ou ser excluído do jogo antecipadamente, atribuindo-lhe a figura de incompetente, o que consiste numa vergonha para o aluno perante os seus pares. Um sistema equilibrado não deve permitir que o aluno perca permanentemente, se os obstáculos forem muito complicados de superar o normal é que o aluno deixe de estar envolvido na tarefa e desista, por outro lado, se ganhar sempre e nunca sentir a sensação de risco, torna-se aborrecido, porque é demasiado fácil e qualquer um chega ao topo sem sacrifício.
Existem várias técnicas que se podem utilizar, através de cartas promocionais em que o utilizador tem um período reduzido para pensar e agir em conformidade, se não se decidir naquele espaço de tempo perde uma oportunidade. O temporizador de contagem regressiva, em que o aluno vê no mostrador os minutos a passar e fica pressionado a agir. O temporizador pode ter dois efeitos: para mostrar ao utilizador quanto tempo falta para iniciar determinada tarefa que ele aguarda ansiosamente, ou, para mostrar o tempo que falta para terminar determinada tarefa, o que significa o fim de uma oportunidade de realização.
O autor
Yu-Kai Chou is an Author and International Keynote Speaker on Gamification and Behavioral Design. He is the Original Creator of the Octalysis Framework, and the author of Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards.
He is currently President of The Octalysis Group and the Founder of Octalysis Prime.
Yu-kai has been a regular speaker/lecturer on gamification and motivation worldwide, including at organizations like Google, Tesla, Stanford University, LEGO, TEDx, Boston Consulting Group, Gamified India, Huawei, the Innovation Center in Denmark, Kingdom of Bahrain government, and many more.
Para saber mais sobre o autor http://yukaichou.com/gamification-exp...
January 8, 2023
This book is a master class in the study of human motivation.
Ok, but what is Gamification? Per the author,
He continues by emphasizing that this is more than just applying the superficial shell of games i.e. game mechanics (such as points, badges, leaderboards, progress bars, medals, countdown timers, etc.) to otherwise mundane activities and calling it gamified.
True, effective gamification is about "Human Focused Design", which optimizes for human motivation in a system rather than optimizing for pure functional efficiency.
As it pertains to products and experiences, it is a combination of Game Design, Game Dynamics, Motivational Psychology, Behavioral Economics, UI/UX, Neurobiology, Technology Platforms, and Business Systems that drive ROI.
As such, this book will teach you more about Human-Focused Design, Choice Architecture, Behavioral Economics, and human psychology in general, than similar popular science books by Khaneman (Thinking Fast and Slow), Thaler (Nudge, Misbehaving), Nisbett (Mindware), Cialdini (Influence), Swartz (The Paradox of Choice), Eyal(Hooked), and Ariely (Predictably Irrational) combined.
The titles above are all excellent, but what Yukai Chou has managed to do is take the decades of academic research as presented by the previous authors and synthesize it with his vast experience designing games, and as a gamification consultant.
The result is a conceptual framework called "Octalysis" that guides actionable design principles that put Human Motivation front-and-center. Game mechanics (points, badges, leaderboards, progress bars, medals, countdown timers, etc.) are relegated to a superficial support role in the effective implementation of this framework.
This framework is unreasonably helpful in anchoring various motivational core drives in a graphical (schematic) presentation that serves the reader in effectively analyzing and dissecting all kinds of products/experiences for their strengths and weaknesses. It is very easy to memorize and it will pretty much feel like having a cheat sheet available at all times when evaluating products even after finishing the book. Product managers - take notice!
The framework explains clearly between "Intrinsic" and "Extrinsic" core drives (left vs. right side of the diagram) and between "White Hat" and "Black Hat" core drives (top vs. bottom regions of the diagram). This is all presented adroitly with plenty of examples to cement the material.
Surely some readers will be quick to dismiss this book and its author as lacking the academic/research chops to be able to present himself as an authority in the field. He hasn't designed nor performed, much less published any peer-reviewed studies/experiments to be able to back his material with any substantial evidence. Or has he?
Consider that games aren't just "voluntary attempts to overcome unnecessary obstacles", as some experts put it. Games are, practically, massive experiments in motivation and behavior. As the author put it, no one has to play games yet millions of people excuse themselves daily from the many activities competing for their time and attention (and money too) to plug into these virtual experiences. What's more, many remain faithful fanatics years after the initial excitement of playing the latest title has faded.
Why is that? How is that? How can product/experience designers harness these powerful motivations?
Furthermore, in the latter chapters he analyzes more widely known frameworks (Deci's "Self-Determination Theory", Fogg's "Behavior Model", Chiksenmihayi's "Flow Theory") to decisively show that his framework is not only coherent with these, but that it also closes some of the gaps found in them.
To close the book, he provides several examples of the ways one might use two of the Octalysis levels to either audit an existing product for strengths and weaknesses (level 1) or design one from scratch (level 2). His analysis of Waze (yes, the GPS app) is spot on.
If you are a Product Manager, Marketer, Executive, Designer, Data Scientist, or budding entrepreneur, then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "Actionable Gamification" by Yukai Chou.
Highest possible recommendation!
Ok, but what is Gamification? Per the author,
"Gamification is the craft of deriving fun and engaging elements typically found in games and thoughtfully applying them to real-world or productive activities."
He continues by emphasizing that this is more than just applying the superficial shell of games i.e. game mechanics (such as points, badges, leaderboards, progress bars, medals, countdown timers, etc.) to otherwise mundane activities and calling it gamified.
True, effective gamification is about "Human Focused Design", which optimizes for human motivation in a system rather than optimizing for pure functional efficiency.
As it pertains to products and experiences, it is a combination of Game Design, Game Dynamics, Motivational Psychology, Behavioral Economics, UI/UX, Neurobiology, Technology Platforms, and Business Systems that drive ROI.
As such, this book will teach you more about Human-Focused Design, Choice Architecture, Behavioral Economics, and human psychology in general, than similar popular science books by Khaneman (Thinking Fast and Slow), Thaler (Nudge, Misbehaving), Nisbett (Mindware), Cialdini (Influence), Swartz (The Paradox of Choice), Eyal(Hooked), and Ariely (Predictably Irrational) combined.
The titles above are all excellent, but what Yukai Chou has managed to do is take the decades of academic research as presented by the previous authors and synthesize it with his vast experience designing games, and as a gamification consultant.
The result is a conceptual framework called "Octalysis" that guides actionable design principles that put Human Motivation front-and-center. Game mechanics (points, badges, leaderboards, progress bars, medals, countdown timers, etc.) are relegated to a superficial support role in the effective implementation of this framework.
This framework is unreasonably helpful in anchoring various motivational core drives in a graphical (schematic) presentation that serves the reader in effectively analyzing and dissecting all kinds of products/experiences for their strengths and weaknesses. It is very easy to memorize and it will pretty much feel like having a cheat sheet available at all times when evaluating products even after finishing the book. Product managers - take notice!
The framework explains clearly between "Intrinsic" and "Extrinsic" core drives (left vs. right side of the diagram) and between "White Hat" and "Black Hat" core drives (top vs. bottom regions of the diagram). This is all presented adroitly with plenty of examples to cement the material.
Surely some readers will be quick to dismiss this book and its author as lacking the academic/research chops to be able to present himself as an authority in the field. He hasn't designed nor performed, much less published any peer-reviewed studies/experiments to be able to back his material with any substantial evidence. Or has he?
Consider that games aren't just "voluntary attempts to overcome unnecessary obstacles", as some experts put it. Games are, practically, massive experiments in motivation and behavior. As the author put it, no one has to play games yet millions of people excuse themselves daily from the many activities competing for their time and attention (and money too) to plug into these virtual experiences. What's more, many remain faithful fanatics years after the initial excitement of playing the latest title has faded.
Why is that? How is that? How can product/experience designers harness these powerful motivations?
Furthermore, in the latter chapters he analyzes more widely known frameworks (Deci's "Self-Determination Theory", Fogg's "Behavior Model", Chiksenmihayi's "Flow Theory") to decisively show that his framework is not only coherent with these, but that it also closes some of the gaps found in them.
To close the book, he provides several examples of the ways one might use two of the Octalysis levels to either audit an existing product for strengths and weaknesses (level 1) or design one from scratch (level 2). His analysis of Waze (yes, the GPS app) is spot on.
If you are a Product Manager, Marketer, Executive, Designer, Data Scientist, or budding entrepreneur, then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "Actionable Gamification" by Yukai Chou.
Highest possible recommendation!
October 1, 2016
Very insightful and actionable
The Octalysis framework is a very powerful guide to designing human focused experiences. Highly recommended for people who build products, run programs, or manage organizations. The language is easy to understand and advice very actionable. I kept a list of ideas I could apply to my own product while reading the book, and by the time I completed the book I had over 50 ideas that were inspired by various parts of the book! This idea list alone was well worth the investment in buying and reading the book, not to mention the knowledge acquired.
The Octalysis framework is a very powerful guide to designing human focused experiences. Highly recommended for people who build products, run programs, or manage organizations. The language is easy to understand and advice very actionable. I kept a list of ideas I could apply to my own product while reading the book, and by the time I completed the book I had over 50 ideas that were inspired by various parts of the book! This idea list alone was well worth the investment in buying and reading the book, not to mention the knowledge acquired.
February 16, 2019
Good book on gamification and and again it's mostly about cognitive psychology (many examples from Kahneman's "Thinking Fast and Slow" and Daniel Pink's "Drive"). This book definitely made me more cautious about planning gamification initiatives as it's quite easy to create bad gamification when focusing at specific actions that may not create the desired effect all instead of wider narrative and experience. Participating in gamification and in games in overall is a voluntary action and people have no interest in sticking to such games any longer that are not good. I had a lot of deja vu moments from gambling industry on why specific user engagement method is used (or vice versa: which functionalities act as engagement tools) and how they can be mixed together in different phases of user lifecycle. I was slightly disturbed by the constant focus and appraisal on the octalysis framework (like mentioning the Twitter hashtags and Facebook groups in every chapter) but fortunately it was still at a tolerable level. Also it was interesting to see how big Tech companies like Facebook, Farmville, Diablo and Waze have successfully implemented various gamification methodologies (and how LinkedIn has tried for so many times and the approaches still look a bit "artificial", like the profile completeness performance bar). The author also made regular references to CaptainUp gamification platfrom which I have some working experience on. The black hat (based on negative emotions such as FOMO) and white hat gamification and how you should utilize both and switch the user between them for maximizing long-term value and user lifetime is also interesting concept. I would recommend this book to anybody getting started with inserting gamification into engaging workforce or designing products to avoid the basic pitfalls that come with it.
“The truth is, simply incorporating game mechanics and game elements does not make a game fun.” “I never ask them, “Do you have badges?” I ask, “Do you make your users feel accomplished?”
“Effective gamification is a combination of game design, game dynamics, behavioral economics, motivational psychology, UX/UI (User Experience and User Interface), neurobiology, technology platforms, as well as ROI-driving business implementations.”
Gamification is the craft of deriving all the fun and engaging elements found in games and applying them to real-world or productive activities.
The Octalysis framework, 8 core drives of Gamification:
1) Epic meaning and calling
2) Development and accomplishment
3) Empowerment of creativity and feedback
4) Ownership and possession
5) Social influence and relatedness
6) Scarcity and impatience
7) Unpredictability (what most gambling is based on) and curiosity
8) Loss and avoidance
“The truth is, simply incorporating game mechanics and game elements does not make a game fun.” “I never ask them, “Do you have badges?” I ask, “Do you make your users feel accomplished?”
“Effective gamification is a combination of game design, game dynamics, behavioral economics, motivational psychology, UX/UI (User Experience and User Interface), neurobiology, technology platforms, as well as ROI-driving business implementations.”
Gamification is the craft of deriving all the fun and engaging elements found in games and applying them to real-world or productive activities.
The Octalysis framework, 8 core drives of Gamification:
1) Epic meaning and calling
2) Development and accomplishment
3) Empowerment of creativity and feedback
4) Ownership and possession
5) Social influence and relatedness
6) Scarcity and impatience
7) Unpredictability (what most gambling is based on) and curiosity
8) Loss and avoidance
December 24, 2022
Why do humans hate micromanagement, while machines love it?
We design and build systems and tools that are inherently function-focused. In our designs, we optimize for functional efficiency and to get the job done quickly.
This is like a factory that assumes its workers will do their jobs because they are required to, not because they necessarily want to perform the associated task.
But that's not how humans work.
Unlike machines which need and love clear-cut instructions and steps to perform a task, humans hate it when you tell them what to do and exactly how to do it step by step.
We call it micromanagement.
Machines love micromanagement, but humans hate it because it kills our creativity and our sense of autonomy (having meaningful choices and options).
We need motivation for doing stuff.
For thousands of years, we have been playing games. We love playing games. Sometimes we even pay to play some games.
Why is that?
Why do we often hate to do the jobs that we are being paid to do and love to play games that we need to pay for?
The answer is in this book: "Human-Focused Design"
Human-focused design at its core emphasizes that people aren’t rudimentary cogs in a system. We have feelings, ambitions, insecurities, and reasons for whether or not we want to do certain things.
Human-focused design optimizes for these feelings, motivations, and engagement as the basic foundation for designing the overall system as well as its functions.
Yu-kai Chou proposes a framework called Octalysis that includes 8 core human drives that motivate us to act:
Epic Meaning & Calling
Development & Accomplishment
Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
Ownership & Possession
Social Influence & Relatedness
Scarcity & Impatience
Unpredictability & Curiosity
Loss & Avoidance
These are the 8 core drives of human motivation which makes us take action.
The other name for this book could be: "Applied Psychology"
Well, it was the most insightful, engaging, and actionable psychology book that I've ever read.
It was around 500 pages, and it took me 45 reading sessions and 31 hours to read.
I enjoyed it very much and I intend to use it in a project of mine.
Yu-kai Chou brilliant work!
Happy holidays & Happy reading! 📙
We design and build systems and tools that are inherently function-focused. In our designs, we optimize for functional efficiency and to get the job done quickly.
This is like a factory that assumes its workers will do their jobs because they are required to, not because they necessarily want to perform the associated task.
But that's not how humans work.
Unlike machines which need and love clear-cut instructions and steps to perform a task, humans hate it when you tell them what to do and exactly how to do it step by step.
We call it micromanagement.
Machines love micromanagement, but humans hate it because it kills our creativity and our sense of autonomy (having meaningful choices and options).
We need motivation for doing stuff.
For thousands of years, we have been playing games. We love playing games. Sometimes we even pay to play some games.
Why is that?
Why do we often hate to do the jobs that we are being paid to do and love to play games that we need to pay for?
The answer is in this book: "Human-Focused Design"
Human-focused design at its core emphasizes that people aren’t rudimentary cogs in a system. We have feelings, ambitions, insecurities, and reasons for whether or not we want to do certain things.
Human-focused design optimizes for these feelings, motivations, and engagement as the basic foundation for designing the overall system as well as its functions.
Yu-kai Chou proposes a framework called Octalysis that includes 8 core human drives that motivate us to act:
Epic Meaning & Calling
Development & Accomplishment
Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
Ownership & Possession
Social Influence & Relatedness
Scarcity & Impatience
Unpredictability & Curiosity
Loss & Avoidance
These are the 8 core drives of human motivation which makes us take action.
The other name for this book could be: "Applied Psychology"
Well, it was the most insightful, engaging, and actionable psychology book that I've ever read.
It was around 500 pages, and it took me 45 reading sessions and 31 hours to read.
I enjoyed it very much and I intend to use it in a project of mine.
Yu-kai Chou brilliant work!
Happy holidays & Happy reading! 📙
July 3, 2015
Yu-kai Chou I thought this book was very insightful. I've heard bits and pieces about how to motivate people but Yu-kai really brings it all together in a framework he created called Octalysis. The main content of the book is about what each of the 8 core drives are and how it can be applied to different situations/industries to motivate players in that particular field. He takes it one step further and gives an example of a level 1 Octalysis design by applying it to his site (creating a better gamified site).
I picked up this book because I wanted to learn 'how to create games' for the purpose of making educational games to help children retain what they learn and to have fun at the same time. Then, as I dove deeper into the book, I realized it was mainly about motivation -- the reason why games are fun is because they are engaging through these 8 core drives. It was a fun and engaging read -- Yu-kai has a lot of funny and relatable stories, which also made it a real page turner.
After finishing the book, I realized I can apply it to everything in life besides the games I wanted to create. It really is beyond points, badges, and leaderboards. I can see the 8 core drives labeled in every action I take, behaviors I witness in others, and much more. If not to better your business metrics, at least use it to better your life, gamify your life.
I picked up this book because I wanted to learn 'how to create games' for the purpose of making educational games to help children retain what they learn and to have fun at the same time. Then, as I dove deeper into the book, I realized it was mainly about motivation -- the reason why games are fun is because they are engaging through these 8 core drives. It was a fun and engaging read -- Yu-kai has a lot of funny and relatable stories, which also made it a real page turner.
After finishing the book, I realized I can apply it to everything in life besides the games I wanted to create. It really is beyond points, badges, and leaderboards. I can see the 8 core drives labeled in every action I take, behaviors I witness in others, and much more. If not to better your business metrics, at least use it to better your life, gamify your life.
April 24, 2019
Flew through this, fun light romp through behavioral and motivational psychology. Why do we do stuff? and how can we get others to do our stuff? I think my favorite example was how obeying speed limits is a pretty lame 'game'.
Sounds dramatic or cheesy but I already do find myself applying a lot of the ideas to normal life. Like the reason I like making music is it Empowers Creativity and Gives Feedback, and it has a strong, infinite endgame. I haven't been onboarded to running more because I don't buy into Social Influence or I guess I don't take Loss & Avoidance of health seriously. If I want to get into running, I have to find the drives that motivate me (Empower Creativity) and find a way to work that into the activity of running. Maybe as I run focus more on looking around and enjoying the scenery. Maybe every time run a new route to explore the city more? That already excites me!
I noticed the pretty informal style and lack of references while reading, and it bugged me for a while, until he baldly says in one of the last chapters he's pretty much pulled this out of thin air, he never claimed to be a behavioral psychologist, and it's not intended to be some dense academic framework or based on any traditional 'research'. Still, he turns to those 'rigorous frameworks' and spends some time recasting them in terms of his own framework, which ends up pretty convincing.
Sounds dramatic or cheesy but I already do find myself applying a lot of the ideas to normal life. Like the reason I like making music is it Empowers Creativity and Gives Feedback, and it has a strong, infinite endgame. I haven't been onboarded to running more because I don't buy into Social Influence or I guess I don't take Loss & Avoidance of health seriously. If I want to get into running, I have to find the drives that motivate me (Empower Creativity) and find a way to work that into the activity of running. Maybe as I run focus more on looking around and enjoying the scenery. Maybe every time run a new route to explore the city more? That already excites me!
I noticed the pretty informal style and lack of references while reading, and it bugged me for a while, until he baldly says in one of the last chapters he's pretty much pulled this out of thin air, he never claimed to be a behavioral psychologist, and it's not intended to be some dense academic framework or based on any traditional 'research'. Still, he turns to those 'rigorous frameworks' and spends some time recasting them in terms of his own framework, which ends up pretty convincing.
February 18, 2016
In a somewhat self righteous way, Chou wrote the blueprint for Gamification, or the process of using game like logic and methods to promote efficiency, creativity, and motivation in the workplace. A very, very, very complicated blueprint. His 8 core Game Octalysis which must be perfectly skewed to one side in order to discourage "black hat" behavior and encourage "white hat" only shows that the use of gamification in the workplace is a fun idea in the short term, but requires lots of tinkering in the long term.
November 1, 2019
If you work with ANYTHING that has any sort of customer interface or interaction this book is for you. It is a complete run-down of close to all aspects of gamification and how the human brain respond to stimuli and provocation of basicly any type. For those that is working with something remotely close to gamification this is a must-read book. It outlines a framework on how to think and work with gamification, and what to be aware of when you do implement gamification features in your product, website or business. Simply a GREAT BOOK that needs to be read.
December 31, 2015
The textbook on gamification
November 26, 2019
This isn't really about gamification, but much more about understanding human motivation and behavior. Definitely recommended - the substance is of this book is worth the five stars.
January 12, 2021
great book for beginners. If you're starting out adding game design to your app/service, this is a great start.
August 22, 2021
Amazing book on gamification and people's behavior.
August 11, 2022
3.5 stars, rounded to 3.
The Validity of Octalysis
So, we have a non-researcher developing a conceptual framework for gamification based on his observations, experiences, and a bunch of theories. Chou has little formal education, which normally negatively impacts the rigour of such frameworks. Therefore, we must ask whether the work is reliable before we determine how seriously we should take this work:
Is it reliable?
A Google Scholar search for Yu Kai Chou and "Octalysis" returned no peer-reviewed papers written by the author. Assuming none exist, this means there is no traceability in the method or sources or rigour used to define the framework. A quick review of the available systematic literature reviews on gamification frameworks shows that the outlines of the gamification principles do coincide with standard research. However, we have no idea if parts of the framework are invented (rather than grounded on valid research) or misunderstandings of prior research. This latter point is very likely considering how obvious it is that Chou used books, and not peer-reviewed papers as his point of research. As can be seen, for example, where he referenced Daniel Kahneman, instead of Amos Tversky, when referencing loss aversion.
This means the work cannot ultimately be trusted al verbatim and could be wrong in places, despite Chou's vague comments of the framework "standing up to universities' scrutiny." It also means that Chou has little understanding of how to differentiate between reliable and unreliable work, as can be seen in some of his references.
But is it interesting?
Yes, it is, in general, although it wasn't always delivered in a way that I personally found interesting. It's likely that Chou's success has been partly due to his hyperbole in self-promotion, but there is no denying that the underlying framework has potential. There's been considerable effort invested into it, its comprehensive in its scope and it's quite applicable, with lots of flexible options along the octagon.
These questions imply that you should take Chou's framework with a pinch of salt, and it should not be assumed it has any generalisability or validity in any specific context, when applied as a whole. That said, although it could be (and clearly is) wrong in places, it is a good framework for informal analysis and provides a reference for consideration when applying game mechanics to your situation.
How's the book?
After the excessive self-promotion in the first chapter, the book quickly delves into the fallacies of gamification and an outline of the Octalysis framework.
The framework was dangerously overgeneralised almost immediately. Taking it from the under-researched and nascent area of gamification to the well-researched and mature area of human motivation. It was also passed off as a tautology: this exists when anyone does anything, so if someone isn't doing something, it means it doesn't exist. These are two aspects of Chou's presentation he would have known to avoid if he had had better understanding of research methodologies.
There were also many cases of "square pegs in round holes" in the examples, and many of the examples were of games themselves, which makes it difficult to see how the ideas can be generalised to non-game situations. It would have been a lot more interesting to see experimental results, even if it's not as convincing. In other words, "a person or company applied this game principle to this non-game context purposely to apply this idea and these are the results." This was done here and there, but mainly for advertising, which felt manipulative. There were very few examples of gamification applied to personal, educational or process-oriented tasks.
I also found that the examples could often be better explained with other, more general concepts. For example, game technique # 26 is 'Elitism', while it really only discussed in-group loyalties, which could have stemmed from numerous divergent sources, while "instilling of pride" feels more like a mediating effect than a direct cause of group loyalty. While his concepts of "the sunk cost prison" (game technique # 50) is in fact describing "switching costs," and where his statement that Google's lack of costs would cause instant defection is likely incorrect, as there's considerable evidence that avoidance of uncertainty is in itself a highly influential switching cost. Better research would have supported his ideas and made them much more convincing and easier to understand.
Finally, the tone of the book was a little too peppered with anecdotes and made-up names for well-known pre-existing ideas for me, with no discussion on how his ideas were formed or why they fit where they do in the framework. Although, you could clearly see the role of popular psychology books, such as Cialdini's Influence and Kahneman's Thinking: Fast and Slow, from which studies were quoted al verbatim. The ideas also weren't summarised comprehensively and were often poorly defined, so it was difficult to understand what lesson he was actually trying to deliver in terms of actual game mechanics.
It was also a little heavy on Chou's personal beliefs. For example, it refers to brainwashing children in bible studies as a good thing, as Chou is a Christian, while ignoring the life-long impact being forced into religious views at such a young age will have. And it referred extensively to the benefits of the Chinese concept of filial piety, despite the pressure and stress it places on society and the subsequent social issues that emerge. There was a lack of balance, in other words, in how all the ideas are presented, but this was disproportionately so for Chou's own beliefs.
Criticisms aside, with occasional digging, re-reading and generalising to my own research background and knowledge, I did find some interesting points to consider, which I outlined below for anyone interested, and I did find the framework helpful overall.
An Overview and Notes
The Validity of Octalysis
So, we have a non-researcher developing a conceptual framework for gamification based on his observations, experiences, and a bunch of theories. Chou has little formal education, which normally negatively impacts the rigour of such frameworks. Therefore, we must ask whether the work is reliable before we determine how seriously we should take this work:
Is it reliable?
A Google Scholar search for Yu Kai Chou and "Octalysis" returned no peer-reviewed papers written by the author. Assuming none exist, this means there is no traceability in the method or sources or rigour used to define the framework. A quick review of the available systematic literature reviews on gamification frameworks shows that the outlines of the gamification principles do coincide with standard research. However, we have no idea if parts of the framework are invented (rather than grounded on valid research) or misunderstandings of prior research. This latter point is very likely considering how obvious it is that Chou used books, and not peer-reviewed papers as his point of research. As can be seen, for example, where he referenced Daniel Kahneman, instead of Amos Tversky, when referencing loss aversion.
This means the work cannot ultimately be trusted al verbatim and could be wrong in places, despite Chou's vague comments of the framework "standing up to universities' scrutiny." It also means that Chou has little understanding of how to differentiate between reliable and unreliable work, as can be seen in some of his references.
But is it interesting?
Yes, it is, in general, although it wasn't always delivered in a way that I personally found interesting. It's likely that Chou's success has been partly due to his hyperbole in self-promotion, but there is no denying that the underlying framework has potential. There's been considerable effort invested into it, its comprehensive in its scope and it's quite applicable, with lots of flexible options along the octagon.
These questions imply that you should take Chou's framework with a pinch of salt, and it should not be assumed it has any generalisability or validity in any specific context, when applied as a whole. That said, although it could be (and clearly is) wrong in places, it is a good framework for informal analysis and provides a reference for consideration when applying game mechanics to your situation.
How's the book?
After the excessive self-promotion in the first chapter, the book quickly delves into the fallacies of gamification and an outline of the Octalysis framework.
The framework was dangerously overgeneralised almost immediately. Taking it from the under-researched and nascent area of gamification to the well-researched and mature area of human motivation. It was also passed off as a tautology: this exists when anyone does anything, so if someone isn't doing something, it means it doesn't exist. These are two aspects of Chou's presentation he would have known to avoid if he had had better understanding of research methodologies.
There were also many cases of "square pegs in round holes" in the examples, and many of the examples were of games themselves, which makes it difficult to see how the ideas can be generalised to non-game situations. It would have been a lot more interesting to see experimental results, even if it's not as convincing. In other words, "a person or company applied this game principle to this non-game context purposely to apply this idea and these are the results." This was done here and there, but mainly for advertising, which felt manipulative. There were very few examples of gamification applied to personal, educational or process-oriented tasks.
I also found that the examples could often be better explained with other, more general concepts. For example, game technique # 26 is 'Elitism', while it really only discussed in-group loyalties, which could have stemmed from numerous divergent sources, while "instilling of pride" feels more like a mediating effect than a direct cause of group loyalty. While his concepts of "the sunk cost prison" (game technique # 50) is in fact describing "switching costs," and where his statement that Google's lack of costs would cause instant defection is likely incorrect, as there's considerable evidence that avoidance of uncertainty is in itself a highly influential switching cost. Better research would have supported his ideas and made them much more convincing and easier to understand.
Finally, the tone of the book was a little too peppered with anecdotes and made-up names for well-known pre-existing ideas for me, with no discussion on how his ideas were formed or why they fit where they do in the framework. Although, you could clearly see the role of popular psychology books, such as Cialdini's Influence and Kahneman's Thinking: Fast and Slow, from which studies were quoted al verbatim. The ideas also weren't summarised comprehensively and were often poorly defined, so it was difficult to understand what lesson he was actually trying to deliver in terms of actual game mechanics.
It was also a little heavy on Chou's personal beliefs. For example, it refers to brainwashing children in bible studies as a good thing, as Chou is a Christian, while ignoring the life-long impact being forced into religious views at such a young age will have. And it referred extensively to the benefits of the Chinese concept of filial piety, despite the pressure and stress it places on society and the subsequent social issues that emerge. There was a lack of balance, in other words, in how all the ideas are presented, but this was disproportionately so for Chou's own beliefs.
Criticisms aside, with occasional digging, re-reading and generalising to my own research background and knowledge, I did find some interesting points to consider, which I outlined below for anyone interested, and I did find the framework helpful overall.
An Overview and Notes
January 13, 2018
I wanted to give this 4 stars because I so enjoyed hearing the author speak at a conference in late '17. So using the Goodreads guidance, I "liked it" but didn't "really like it." The book definitely has some good material and provides a framework that is helpful towards understanding motivation (what the author calls Core Drives). Readers of Daniel Pink and others will recognize Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation differences and legitimate research-based themes. And the White Hat/Black Hat distinction is helpful. But on balance I'm left feeling a little "gamed" by the book (pun intended) which, on balance, was too long and self-promoting. It feels like a framework being stretched just a little too far.
Final thought--and positive in an odd way--the examples given for the various Core Drives really helped me see how games and other online sites use various motivations to engage and keep users. I think it will make me more aware of my responses and prompt deeper consideration of my actual motivations.
Final thought--and positive in an odd way--the examples given for the various Core Drives really helped me see how games and other online sites use various motivations to engage and keep users. I think it will make me more aware of my responses and prompt deeper consideration of my actual motivations.
June 19, 2018
This book has some interesting and useful concepts, but wraps them in a veneer of self-promotion (both for himself and his clients. I have no other way to interpret his emphasis on his clients other than pay-to-play) that really put me off. Its greatest use for me was to highlight other authors and books I'd like to read. This felt less like an encapsulated book and more like a timeshare seminar to convince you to post about him on social media and engage with his blog. I couldn't recommend this to anyone, but he has collected ideas and authors that, potentially, may be more enjoyable to read and not just marketing gimmicks to visit their own blogs.
March 28, 2023
Audiobook: Gamification is a hefty book and not for someone who gets bored easily. As someone who has enjoyed playing games since childhood, I really enjoyed reading this book. It talks about the eight core drives that influence the way we design our lives. I was also impressed with the two main types of motivation: black hat and white hat. Black hat motivation uses the feeling of loss, while white hat motivation uses epic meaning and calling. Each type of motivation has its advantages and setbacks. The author recommends using 70% white hat and 30% black hat motivation.
December 6, 2019
Core Drives of Gamification:
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling
Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishmen
Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession
Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness
Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience
Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity
Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling
Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishmen
Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback
Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession
Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness
Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience
Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity
Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance
July 18, 2017
Long, but full of examples
This is a long book, but it's worth it for all of the examples. Good job of explaining his theory, and comparing to other modern frameworks. It's full of honesty, and insights.
This is a long book, but it's worth it for all of the examples. Good job of explaining his theory, and comparing to other modern frameworks. It's full of honesty, and insights.
May 7, 2018
Very good book
I think this book change my mind in different ways, the first is way that I see the motivation in my work and the second is the understanding of the human behavior, I think is a good book for all that have the responsibility to manage people
I think this book change my mind in different ways, the first is way that I see the motivation in my work and the second is the understanding of the human behavior, I think is a good book for all that have the responsibility to manage people
August 7, 2021
تاني كتاب أقرأه عن نفس الموضوع ... الكتاب جميل جداً قد يصنف تطوير ذات وقد يصنف علم نفس لشرح دوافع البشر بشكل مفصل جداً وتطرقه لترابط هذة الدوافع ... وقد يصنف أيضا برمجة وتطوير ألعاب لإستفادي الكبيرة بيه جداً كمبرمج
September 23, 2021
It is an exciting framework, but due to the book's length, it was hard for me to get completely through. In my opinion, reducing it to half and only keeping the essentials would have made the experience better.
That said, the framework is very helpful, thoughtful and easy to understand.
That said, the framework is very helpful, thoughtful and easy to understand.
April 13, 2019
This book is the definition of pop psychology. The author never explains how he arrived at the framework. The principles are so vague that you can not question their efficacy in real life.
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