Means to Gameful Ends Be Designed? How Should Gamification Lobna Hassan
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LOBNA HASSAN MEANS TO GAMEFUL ENDS: HOW SHOULD GAMIFICATION BE DESIGNED? 322 EKONOMI OCH SAMHÄLLE ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY For a long time, information systems have been de- gle to provide comprehensive guidance for the gamifi ca- signed to provide organizational utility, effi ciency, and tion design process. cost reduction. As technological advancement took place, This dissertation employs the goal-setting theory, show- information systems grew to further facilitate personal pro- casing how gamifi cation design can suit the preferences ductivity and entertainment. Out of modern systems, games of different users. The dissertation additionally investigates have an extraordinary reach in modern society. That reach contextualized gamifi cation design by employing the de- eventually became too signifi cant to ignore without system- liberation theory and researching design for collective, atic study. While many individuals recognize the value of group engagement such as is seen in the context of civic and need for hard work in life, many—perhaps all—do not engagement. Finally, the dissertation contributes a holistic wish to live in a universe of pure work or passive engage- gamifi cation design method that incorporates the design ment with their life’s activities. In that light, scholars began knowledge currently gathered in the gamifi cation fi elds, as investigating game design as a means to attain enjoyment well as lessons learned from the failure of gamifi cation pro- and motivation in mundane life activities, giving birth to the jects. The contributions complement each other and pro- gamifi cation movement as we know it today. vide a multi-dimensional gamifi cation design knowledge As a design and research stream, gamifi cation refers to on how gamifi cation should be designed. the design of systems, services, and processes to provide While this dissertation has theoretically and practically “gameful” experiences—psychological experiences, simi- contributed to the knowledge on gamifi cation design, there lar to those provided by games—to positively infl uence en- is more to be researched before gamifi cation design can gagement with mundane life activities. While the user ben- come close to being perfect. The journey to gamify is mere- efi ts reported from implementing gamifi cation showcase ly commencing. Not only is this pursuit of how to gamify LOBNA HASSAN–MEANSTOGAMEFULENDS MEANS TO GAMEFUL ENDS its potentially positive impact, the understanding of how to essential to understand a phenomenon and the human be- design gamifi cation is still in its infancy. Some gamifi cation havior around it, but it is also essential to create a gameful designs may be suitable to some users or in certain con- reality, one not of pure work but of enjoyment, motivation, HOW SHOULD GAMIFICATION BE DESIGNED? texts, but the same designs may not have the same results persistence and fl ow. for different users or in different contexts. Furthermore, cur- rent methods to design gamifi cation have been developed in isolation, each reinventing the wheel, and hence strug- LOBNA HASSAN HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS HELSINKI ARKADIANKATU 22, P.O. BOX 479 00101 HELSINKI, FINLAND PHONE +358 (0)29 431 331 978-952-232-368-2 (printed) VAASA 978-952-232-369-9 (PDF) KIRJASTONKATU 16, P.O. BOX 287 ISSN-L 0424-7256 65101 VAASA, FINLAND ISSN 0424-7256 (printed) PHONE +358 (0)6 3533 700 ISSN 2242-699X (PDF) [email protected] JUVENES PRINT, HELSINKI HANKEN.FI/DHANKEN Ekonomi och samhälle Economics and Society Skrifter utgivna vid Svenska handelshögskolan Publications of the Hanken School of Economics No. 322 Lobna Sameer Mostafa Mostafa Hassan Means to Gameful Ends How Should Gamification Be Designed? Helsinki 2018 Means to Gameful Ends: How Should Gamification Be Designed? Key words: Gamification, gamefulness, motivation, e-participation, civic engagement © Hanken School of Economics & Lobna Hassan, 2018 Lobna Sameer Mostafa Mostafa Hassan Hanken School of Economics Information Systems Sciences, Department of Management & Organization P.O.Box 479, 00101 Helsinki, Finland Hanken School of Economics ISBN 978-952-232-368-2 (printed) ISBN 978-952-232-369-9 (PDF) ISSN-L 0424-7256 ISSN 0424-7256 (printed) ISSN 2242-699X (PDF) Juvenes Print – Suomen Yliopistopaino Oy, Helsinki 2018 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This PhD journey initiated a profound dismantling and reconstruction of my reality and understanding of it on every level. It has been the start of an endlessly passionate journey of self and world understanding and reinvention. It is only the debut of a research career. I stand at this temporary “end” not with a new understanding of reality, but in awe of the endless pursuit of what it could be. I stand in awe of the hands of time, human cognition, human psyche, and how the three entwine to paint the fluid and ever- changing canvas of life. While some journeys must be undertaken alone, one is profoundly lucky and privileged to have companions who guide or walk alongside them. For walking with me on this merely beginning journey, I sincerely express my gratitude to my: x Research advisors, alphabetically: Dr. Juho Hamari, Dr. J. Tuomas Harviainen, and Dr. Mikael Laakso x Degree advisor: Dr. Bo-Christer Björk x Pre-examiners: Dr. Sylvester Arnab and Dr. Harri Oinas-Kukkonen x Opponent: Dr. Sylvester Arnab x Funding organizations: Hanken Support Foundation and the Foundation for Economic Education: Liikesivistysrahasto. x Office mate and sounding board: Pekka Buttler x Colleagues and friends at Hanken: Anna Abramova, Alexander Grun, Kari Jalonen, Lena Jungell, Mikaela Krohn, Linus Nyman, Fouad-Philippe Saadé, Cenyu Shen, and Mikko Vesa x Colleagues and friends at the Gamification Group: Mila Bujic, Bahadir Gurkan, Henrietta Jylhä, Jonna Koivisto, Henry Korkeila, Joseph Macey, Benedikt Morschheuser, Timo Nummenmaa, Max Sjöblom, and Maria Törhönen x My brilliant and possibly imaginary co-author: Tommy Tomitchini x My dear friends in Cairo, Egypt and around the globe: Rana Abdurrahman, Nader Alexan, Afaf Aref, Mayar Bakeer, Mai Elshimy, Manal Elshimy, Mona Elshimy, Heba Ezz El Din, Sarah Hamed, Marian Hany, Sarah Mohsen, and Rasha Rushdy x Nerdfighters and ever-present friends: Marwa Ahmed & Sofana Al-Bahi, x Mom, Dad, Rasha, and Mohammed, thank you for the endless support! Lobna Hassan Helsinki 09.09.2018 iv NOTE The publishing name of the author of this dissertation changed to Lobna Hassan in late 2015. Thus, the dissertation author has publications prior to 2015 under the name Lobna Sameer, which are often cited in the body of this manuscript. The publishing name Lobna Sameer was also once misprinted as Lobna Samer in an article published by the journal Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy. The journal has been notified. v CONTENTS 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Positioning the dissertation.................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research problem and questions ........................................................................... 2 1.3. Structure of the dissertation................................................................................... 5 2. Gamification: a background ......................................................................................... 8 2.1. A short history of the gamification of modern systems ........................................ 8 2.2. Gamification: What it is ........................................................................................ 9 2.2.1. Behavioral psychology roots of gamification............................................... 11 2.2.2. Positive psychology roots of gamification ................................................... 12 2.3. Gamification design practices ............................................................................. 14 2.4. Summary and conclusions................................................................................... 14 3. Gamification design-user fit ....................................................................................... 15 3.1. The gamification design space ............................................................................ 15 3.2. Goal-setting theory and gamification design fit .................................................. 17 3.3. Summary and conclusions................................................................................... 19 4. Gamification design-use context fit ........................................................................... 20 4.1. Understanding the context of civic engagement.................................................. 21 4.2. Deliberation theory and gamified e-participation................................................ 23 4.3. Summary and conclusions................................................................................... 24 5. Gamification design and research processes ............................................................. 25 5.1. Gamification design methods .............................................................................. 25 5.2. Researching gamification design......................................................................... 26 5.3. Summary and conclusions................................................................................... 30 6. Methodology .............................................................................................................. 31 6.1. Research design ..................................................................................................