Contributions Of Affordances To Gamification Bernd Hollerit Helmut Prendinger Abstract University of Tokyo National Institute of Informatics 2- This paper represents theoretical reflections about the Department of Systems 1-2 Hitotsubashi, effects of affordances in gamification. Affordances, a Innovation, School of Chiyoda-ku, 101-8430 Tokyo, visual clue to the function of an object, constitute major Engineering, 7 Chome-3-1 Japan helmut@nii.co.jp design elements in gamified applications. We propose a Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8654 Japan framework to validate the effects on engagement of hollerit@gmail.com target groups. Kenji Tanaka Author Keywords University of Tokyo Gamification; Affordances; Usability; Human Computer Department of Systems Interaction; Engagement. Innovation, School of Engineering, 7 Chome-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, ACM Classification Keywords 113-8654 Japan C.4 Performance of systems: Design studies, kenji_tanaka@sys.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp measurement techniques, modeling techniques, performance attributes D.2.4 Software/Program Verification: Statistical methods H.3.4 Systems and Software: Performance evaluation (efficiency and effectiveness) Introduction The concept of gamification has received increased attention in recent years. Gamification works with the concept of affordances to engage users, however, the contribution of each individual affordance has not been investigated yet. We propose a way to analyze single Examples for affordances in gamification include points, elements of gamification and their impact on target badges, leaderboards, progression, status, rewards, groups. and roles. [Seaborn] Background & Related Work The impact of affordances, and gamification as a whole, Gamification has been defined as the process of “the is measured in engagement. Engagement in turn is process of game-thinking and game mechanics to measured in duration, recency, frequency, virality, and engage users and solve problems” with gamification ratings. Duration describes how long an application is techniques striving “to leverage people's natural desires being used, recency denotes when was it used for the for competition, achievement, status, self-expression, last time, frequency counts how often is it being used, altruism, and closure”. [Zichermann][Boundless] virality shows how often it was shared, e.g. on social media, and ratings might operate on a 1-5-star scale Gamification uses affordances, visual hints to the usage from worst to best. of an object. The term originated from psychology and is now widely used in Human Computer Interaction While the existing literature provides evidence that (HCI). gamification works, the contribution to engagement by individual affordances has not been investigated. We therefore aim to measure the effects of e.g. points on duration, badges on frequency, and leaderboards on ratings. Furthermore, we are interested in focus groups. Are young people engaged more than seniors? Do women appreciate points more than men? Are certain regions more susceptible to gamification? Methodology In order to investigate the contributions of individual affordances to gamification, we need a base application to test. The National Institute of Informatics in Japan has developed “Genkii”, an app that lets users report their happiness at a specific location. An icon is placed Figure 1: Affordances. A button invites a subject to push it, a on the map and users can investigate where people are switch requires flipping, a knob affords rotating. A light source happy, sad, and indifferent. provides visual feedback. Image source: http://paaralan.blogspot.jp/2010/09/affordance-and- This basic functionality can be upgraded with elements educational-games.html of gamification, most prominently points, badges, and leaderboards. The introduction of these elements should have positive impacts on engagement. In order Previously, the Genkii application has been populated to establish the effect of that impact, multiple versions by Yahoo crowdsourcing. We intend to apply the same of our application should be prepared. One basic approach to obtain user data for our analysis. We application, one application including a point-system, expect our findings to provide valuable insight on the one application with badges, and one application that design of future applications using a gamified approach. features a leaderboard system. In particular, we aim to examine whether certain target groups respond differently to various types of A service called “Playbasis” provides this functionality. affordances. This could help with future designs of It enhances applications with gamification elements applications aimed at specific groups. that we can investigate. Figure 2: Genkii, developed by the National Institute of Informatics in Japan. Users can report their happiness at their current location. Figure 3: Methodology of our study. We aim to compare the different contributions of affordances (points, badges, leaderboards) to engagement (duration, recency, frequency, virality, ratings) in gamification. Acknowledgements We thank all the developers of the National Institute of Informatics, without whom this project would not be possible. References 1. Boundless. “Gamification in Education.” Boundless Education. Boundless, 03 Jul. 2014. Retrieved 03 Dec. 2014 from https://www.boundless.com/education/textbo oks/boundless-education-textbook/technology-in- the-classroom-6/edtech-techniques-in-practice- 26/gamification-in-education-79-13009/ ACM. How to Classify Works Using ACM’s Computing Classification System. 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014 from http://www.acm.org/class/how_to_use.html. 2. Seaborn, Katie, and Deborah I. Fels. "Gamification in theory and action: A survey." International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 74 (2015): 14-31. 3. Zichermann, Gabe; Cunningham, Christopher (August 2011). "Introduction". Gamification by Design: Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps (1st ed.). Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media. p. xiv. ISBN 1449315399.