A Possible Tool: Gamification

The term gamification originated in the digital media industry and is relatively new;

however, the concept of gamification is not. Although the majority of the current examples of gamification are digital, the term should not be limited to digital technology [35, 36].

Bit Bang 51 Bit Bang 51 Fig. 6. User interface prototypes [33]

Fig. 6. User interface prototypes [33]

52 How Can We Change the Everyday Energy Consumption Patterns of Citizens?

People can be engaged and motivated in various ways to achieve their goals. One way is to use gamification, which is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques. There has been a long history of using fun and play to motivate people and make work seem more enjoyable. The role of playful behavior and playful thought in human development is positive. It is said that particularly the unstructured, spontaneous game is a powerful force in human development. It gives us courage and instilled confidence. There are at least two kind of play: playful play and productive play. Playful play is doing activity for the pure joy of doing, such as skipping rocks on a pond’s surface or playing air guitar. Productive play has a specific purpose, such as to produce a tangible thing like a widget or to win a tournament, rather than fun.

Productive play can be weaved into work or it can be actual work itself.

Games are considered to be an escape from the ‘real world’. In computer games, for example, users are able to act like superheroes without ‘real-world’ consequences.

Vaajakallio [37] defines the main characteristics of games as play and performance.

Play is voluntary, non-serious, intensive, and immersive, and it is conducted based on pure pleasure. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries between time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It has its own magical circle in which the play proceeds. Sticking to the rules is enforced—if you break the rules you are inventing a new game or play. Today, children increase their knowledge through playing games, and they learn to collaborate when playing massive multiplayer games simultaneously.

Deterding et al. [38] point out that in game studies, this distinction between games and play is mostly tied back to Caillois’s concepts [39] of paidia (‘playing’) and ludus (‘gaming’) as two ends of play activities. The paidia or ‘playing’ indicates a more freeform, expressive, improvisational, even ‘tumultuous’ recombination of behaviors and meanings, whereas ludus (or ‘gaming’) captures playing structured by rules and competitive striving toward goals [36].

According to Deterding et al. [38] there are tendencies to describe gamification both practically and in terms of client benefits. Helgason [40] sees gamification as ‘the adoption of game technology and game design methods outside of the games industry’.

Zicherman [41] sees it as ‘the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to solve problems and engage users’, or ‘integrating game dynamics into your site, service, community, content or campaign, in order to drive participation’.

Salen and Zimmerman [42] studied games through a series of 18 ‘game design schemas’, or conceptual frameworks, including games as the systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as the sites of cultural resistance. Deterding et al. define gamification as the ‘use of game design elements in non-game contexts’ [38, p. 1]. They point out that gamification relates to games, not play (or playfulness), where ‘play’ can be conceived of as the broader, looser category, containing but different from ‘games’ [42]. Gamification is commonly implemented by taking the scoring elements of video games, such as points, levels, and achievements, and applying them to a different context. The concept has been

Bit Bang 53 Bit Bang 53 used in loyalty systems such as frequent flyer miles, green stamps, and library summer reading programmes. According to Zichermann and Cunningham, these gamification programmes can increase the use of a service and change behavior, as users work toward meeting set goals to reach external rewards [43, p. 32].

Nicholson [44] exposes two major concerns related to gamification. The first is related to the name, ‘game’, which implies that the entire activity will become an engaging experience, whereas in reality gamification uses only the scoring system and is more closely akin to ‘pointsification’ [45]. The core message of these criticisms of gamification is that there are more effective ways than a scoring system to engage users.

The second concern is that the organisations getting involved in gamification are not aware of the potential long-term negative impact of gamification. Underlying the concept of gamification is motivation. People can be driven to do something because of internal or external motivations [44]. Suppose an organisation that has been using gamification based upon external rewards decides to stop the rewards programme;

the resulting situation will be worse than the pre-gamification scenario. This happens because users are less likely to return to the behavior without the external reward [46].

These beliefs regarding internal motivation and extrinsic rewards are unproven. The authors of the book Gamification by Design do admit, though, that ‘once you start giving someone a reward, you have to keep her in that reward loop forever’ [43, p. 32].

As noted, people are driven to do something by internal and external motivations.

Often, the information on a consumer’s energy consumption is based on current status, but hardly ever does the consumer think about the reasons behind the increased consumption. Rather than using a point system, meaningful gamification encourages a deeper integration of game mechanisms into non-game contexts. A good example of meaningful gamification would be its use as applied to energy consumption behavior.

Social rewards can be used to motivate people to save energy. There are solutions currently available that enable people to upload their consumption data to the Internet. Good energy-saving results may gain appreciation from others. The data can be anonymous or not. An energy monitoring solution provides a feed-forward method to show what consequences particular behaviors will have [15]. For example, consumers can be informed of how long it takes to consume 10,000 kWh with their current energy-use behavior.