Livre sur la Gamification de Design UX et le Comportement des gens.
Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards
Highlights
Chapter 2: The PBL Fallacy
Based on my years of research, observation, and design in gamification, I am a hundred percent certain that good gamification design can unlock tremendous potential and improve many lives in the process. There are hundreds of case studies that illustrate this also
Chapter 2: The PBL Fallacy
Instead of starting with what game elements and game mechanics to use, the good game designer may begin by thinking, “Okay, how do I want my users to feel? Do I want them to feel inspired? Do I want them to feel proud? Should they be scared? Anxious? What’s my goal for their intended experience? Once the designer understands how she wants her users to feel, then she begins to think, “Okay, what kind of game elements and mechanics can help me accomplish my goals of ensuring players feel this way.” The solution may lie in swords, plants, or perhaps word puzzles, but the whole point here is that game elements are just a means to an end, instead of an end in itself. Game elements are simply there to push and pull on their users’ behavioral core drives.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Through many years of experiments and adjustments, I realized that everything we do is based on one or more of the 8 Core Drives within Octalysis. This is important to keep in mind because it also suggests that if there are none of these Core Drives behind a Desired Action, there is no motivation, and no behavior happens.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
I saw that almost every successful game appeals to certain Core Drives within us and motivates us towards a variety of decisions and activities. I also noticed that different types of game techniques push us forward differently; some through inspiration and empowerment, some through manipulation and obsession. I drilled down to find what differentiates one type of motivation from another. The end result is a gamification design framework called Octalysis
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling Epic Meaning & Calling is the Core Drive that is in play when a person believes they are doing something greater than themselves and/or were “chosen” to take that action. An example of this is when a player devotes a lot of their time to contribute to projects such as Wikipedia. We are familiar with the fact that people don’t contribute to Wikipedia to make money, but they don’t even do it to pad their resumes. People contribute to Wikipedia because they believe they are protecting humanity’s knowledge – something much bigger than themselves. This also comes into play when someone has “Beginner’s Luck” – an effect where people believe they have some type of gift that others don’t or believe they are “lucky” getting that amazing sword at the very beginning of the game.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment Development & Accomplishment is our internal drive for making progress, developing skills, achieving mastery, and eventually overcoming challenges. The word “challenge” here is very important, as a badge or trophy without a challenge is not meaningful at all. This is also the core drive that is the easiest to design for and, coincidently, is where the majority of the PBLs: points, badges, leaderboards mostly focus on.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 3: Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback is expressed when users are engaged in a creative process where they repeatedly figure new things out and try different combinations. People not only need ways to express their creativity, but they need to see the results of their creativity, receive feedback, and adjust in turn. This is why playing with Legos and making art is intrinsically fun. If these techniques are properly designed and integrated to empower users to be creative, they often become Evergreen Mechanics: where a game designer no longer needs to continuously add additional content to keep the activity fresh and engaging. The brain simply entertains itself.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession Ownership & Possession is where users are motivated because they feel like they own or control something. When a person feels ownership over something, they innately want to increase and improve what they own. Besides being the major core drive for the desire to accumulate wealth, it deals with many virtual goods or virtual currencies within systems. Also, if a person spends a lot of time customizing their profile or avatar, they automatically feel more ownership towards it also. Finally, this drive is also expressed when the user feels ownership over a process, project, and/or the organization.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness Social Influence & Relatedness incorporates all the social elements that motivate people, including: mentorship, social acceptance, social feedback, companionship, and even competition and envy. When you see a friend that is amazing at some skill or owns something extraordinary, you become driven to attain the same. This is further expressed in how we naturally draw closer to people, places, or events that we can relate to. If you see a product that reminds you of your childhood, the sense of nostalgia would likely increase the odds of you buying the product.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience Scarcity & Impatience is the Core Drive of wanting something simply because it is extremely rare, exclusive, or immediately unattainable. Many games have Appointment Dynamics or Torture Breaks within them (come back 2 hours later to get your reward) – the fact that people can’t get something right now motivates them to think about it all day long. As a result, they return to the product every chance they get. This drive was well utilized by Facebook when it launched: at first it was just for Harvard students, then it opened up to a few other prestigious schools, and eventually all colleges. When it finally opened up to everyone, many people wanted to join simply because they previously couldn’t get in.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity Unpredictability is the Core Drive of constantly being engaged because you don’t know what is going to happen next. When something does not fall into your regular pattern recognition cycles, your brain kicks into high gear and pays attention to the unexpected. This is obviously the primary Core Drive behind gambling addictions, but it is also present in every sweepstake or lottery program that companies run. On a lighter level, many people watch movies or read novels because of this Core Drive. The very controversial Skinner Box experiments, where an animal irrationally presses a lever frequently because of unpredictable results, are exclusively referring to the core drive of Unpredictability & Curiosity - although many have misunderstood it as the driver behind points, badges, and leaderboard mechanics in general.1
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance This Core Drive should come as no surprise – it’s the motivation to avoid something negative from happening. On a small scale, it could be to avoid losing previous work or changing one’s behavior. On a larger scale, it could be to avoid admitting that everything you did up to this point was useless because you are now quitting. Also, opportunities that are fading away have a strong utilization of this Core Drive, because people feel if they didn’t act immediately, they would lose the opportunity to act forever (e.g. “Special offer for a limited time only!”)
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
everything you do is based on one or more of these 8 Core Drives, when there are none of these 8 Core Drives behind a Desired Action, there is zero motivation and no action takes place
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
each of these 8 Core Drives have different natures within them. Some make the user feel powerful, but do not create urgency, while others create urgency, obsession, and even addiction, but make the user feel bad.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Left Brain Core Drives tend to rely on Extrinsic Motivation – you are motivated because you want to obtain something, whether it be a goal, a good, or anything you cannot obtain.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Right Brain Core Drives are mostly associated with Intrinsic Motivations – you don’t need a goal or reward to use your creativity, hangout with friends, or feel the suspense of unpredictability – the activity itself is rewarding on its own.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
This is important, because many companies emphasize designing for Extrinsic Motivators, such as providing users a reward when they complete a task. However, many studies have shown that extrinsic motivation impairs intrinsic motivation. Why? Because once the companies stop offering the extrinsic motivator, user motivation will often plummet to a level much lower than when the extrinsic motivator was first introduced. We will examine this tendency, termed the overjustification effect
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
It is much better for companies to design experiences that motivate the Right Brain Core Drives, making something in of itself fun and rewarding so users can continuously enjoy and engage in the activity. Motivation is often better when it sticks.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
It is worth noting (especially for the “sciencey” readers who are now shaking their heads) that the Left Brain and Right Brain references are not literal in terms of actual brain geography but merely a symbolic differentiation between two distinct functions of the brain.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
I call techniques that heavily use the top Core Drives “White Hat Gamification,” while techniques that utilize the bottom Core Drives are called “Black Hat Gamification.”
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
If something is engaging because it lets you express your creativity, makes you feel successful through skill mastery, and gives you a higher sense of meaning, it makes you feel very good and powerful. On the other hand, if you are always doing something because you don’t know what will happen next, you are constantly in fear of losing something, or because you’re struggling to attain things you can’t have, the experience will often leave a bad taste in your mouth- even if you are consistently motivated to take these actions.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
From an Octalysis perspective, the problem with Zynga games (as of 2015) is that they have been very successful with implementing many Black Hat Game Techniques. Of course, they don’t have the framework to understand it as “black hat,” but they refer to it as “Data Driven Design.”2 Because of the Black Hat Motivation, for a long period of time their games drove great numbers off each user in terms of retention, addiction, and monetization. However, because most Zynga games do not make users feel good when playing, when the user is finally able to wean themselves from the system, they will.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
This is similar to the situation with gambling addictions - they don’t feel like they are in control of themselves, and when they quit they actually feel empowered.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
It’s important to note that just because something is called Black Hat doesn’t necessarily mean it is bad. These are just motivators and they can also be used for productive and healthy results. Many people voluntarily submit themselves to Black Hat Gamification in order to go to the gym more often, eat healthier, or avoid hitting the snooze button on their alarm clock every morning.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Based on the Octalysis Framework, a good Gamification practitioner should consider all 8 Core Drives in promoting positive and productive activities so that everyone ends up happier and healthier afterwards.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Beyond the 8 Core Drives that will be explored in depth within this book, there is in fact a hidden ninth Core Drive called “Sensation,” which is the physical pleasure one obtains from taking an action. People do drugs, get massages, or have sex (hopefully along with many other Core Drives) because of the sensation Core Drive. If you choose one food over another, it is often merely because one tastes better than the other, which is primarily sensation
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
They key differentiation here compared to other Core Drives is that sensation deals with physical feelings that bring pleasure to our touch, hearing, sight, smell, and even taste. The other Core Drives bring pleasure to us through psychological means - the meaning and context behind what we see, hear, or taste.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
the Octalysis Framework primarily focuses on psychological motivators instead of physical ones
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Even though we don’t include sensation as part of the 8 Core Drives of Octalysis, we recognize its presence and understand how certain behaviors are driven by it. However, sensation by itself also has limitations without the 8 Core Drives accompanying it. Even pleasurable activities such as sex, when lacking curiosity, relatedness, creativity, and scarcity, can potentially become rather unappealing.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Since everything a person does is based on one or more of the Core Drives, generally any engaging product or system will have at least one of the Core Drives listed above. If none of the Core Drives are present within a system, there is no motivation, and users will drop out.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
The first application of Octalysis is to use it in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of various products and experiences with respect to motivation.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
The key here is to start thinking about how that product or experience utilizes each of the 8 Core Drives, and identify all the game mechanics and techniques that are used to activate them.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Level II Octalysis, where we try to optimize experiences throughout all four phases of the player/user journey. These phases are: Discovery (why people would even want to try out the experience), Onboarding (where users learn the rules and tools to play the game), Scaffolding (the regular journey of repeated actions towards a goal) and Endgame (how do you retain your veterans).
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Most people treat their product as one experience, which seems reasonable. But in terms of motivation, I believe this is a mistake because the reason you are using a product on Day 1 is often very different from that of Day 100.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
if at any phase none of the 8 Core Drives are present, there is no reason for the user to move on to the next phase, and the user simply drops out.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
you can evaluate how different Core Drives are more prominent during each Experience Phase of the player’s journey - whether it would be unpredictability, accomplishment, or social influence. For instance, most people Discover a product because of Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity – they read about it on the news or hear others talking about it.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
During Onboarding, they might be motivated by Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment – feeling smart and competent during the early stages. During the Scaffodling Phase, they might be motivated because of the social dynamic (Core Drive 5) as well as trying to go after the goal they could not reach yet (Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience). In the Endgame, they might continue to be engaged because they don’t want to lose their status and achievements (Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance).
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Once you have mastered Level II Octalysis, you can then push on to Level III and factor in the different player types. This will allow you to see how different types of people are motivated at different stages of the experience.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
different types of people are motivated differently, so Level III Octalysis allows the designer to understand and design for how everyone is feeling at different stages
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Once you become familiar with Level III Octalysis, you can almost feel how motivation moves within your system and recognize where motivation is lacking or whether there is too much Black Hat or Extrinsic Motivation in the system.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
While there are five levels of Octalysis in total, Level I is often sufficient for the majority of companies seeking to understand why their products are not engaging their users. Higher-level Octalysis processes are useful for organizations that are truly committed to making sure that they push their metrics in the right direction and improve the longevity of a gamified system.
Chapter 3: The Octalysis Framework
Many games are only popular for three to eight months, but ones that have impeccable Endgame design can last over decades — or even centuries.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
I’ve written about how I (along with many “gamification professionals”) am not a big fan of the word “Gamification.” This is mostly the term that the industry has adopted. I have preferred the term “Human-Focused Design”
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Then there are the more “corporate-appealing” terms like Motivational Design, Behavioral Economics, or Loyalty Programs, which have many blends and overlaps with the vague term “gamification.”
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Implicit Gamification is a form of design that subtly employs gamification techniques and the 8 Core Drives of Octalysis into the user experience. Implicit Gamification techniques are filled with game design elements that are sometimes even invisible to the user. This is like a doorknob, where the best designs are the ones that you aren’t even aware of but simply use to open the door.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Implicit Gamification examples are often discussed in gamification literature, such as the LinkedIn Progress Bar13, the intrinsic motivation that drives Wikipedia14, competitive bidding and feedback system via eBay15, social comparison and motivation in OPower16, and Unpredictability and Scarcity within Woot!17.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
The proper use of Implicit or Explicit Gamification depends on the purpose of the project as well as your target market. Some groups like participating in games; some don’t. Some want to have that adrenaline rush when purchasing, while others want to expand their creativity and master a learning curve. Of course, all 8 Core Drives can be implemented into Implicit and Explicit Gamification campaigns
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
it is very important to understand what types of implementations are most appropriate for your design project based on the objectives, the contextual landscape, and cultural expectations
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
All games have game elements and game mechanics in them, but most games are not successful, and only a few well-designed games become highly engaging.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Gamification requires sophisticated design to actually be effective and create a long lasting relationship between the player and the game maker.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
majority of my clients represent four fields that I consistently see innovating time and time again, indicating a tremendous amount of application and growth in these sectors: Product Gamification Workplace Gamification Marketing Gamification Lifestyle Gamification
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
In a previous era, consumers didn’t have adequate information and were accustomed to slow gratification. Along with immense barriers for starting new companies, it was not as detrimental for a company to simply assume that customers would use their products - provided that they were marketed correctly. However, people today are spoiled with instant gratification through the Internet, with immersive empowerment and real-time feedback through games, and the constant connection to their social network. Your users, customers, and employees are becoming less tolerant of badly designed products that do not take into account their motivations, especially when they have a variety of competitive alternatives they can choose from.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
When people say they will do it “tomorrow,” more often than not it means “never.” This is because at this point they are motivated by Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance, and specifically by something I call Status Quo Sloth (Game Technique #85) – they are avoiding a change in their habits and behavior.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Because games have invested an amazing amount of creativity, innovation, and resources into figuring out how to get people to want to spend more time on them, there are definitely many great lessons you can learn from games for your own products.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
The key here is to make a product so exciting that customers become obsessed with using your product and are compelled to share how exciting their experience is with their friends.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
More often than not, employees show up to work every day just so they can earn a paycheck (Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession) and to not lose their jobs (Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance). As a result, employees only work hard enough to earn their paychecks and to not lose their jobs (if you recall, Core Drives 4 and 8 are great examples of Left Brain, Extrinsic and Black Hat Motivation).
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
only 13% of employees are categorized as “engaged” with their work18. In comparison, 24% of the workforce is categorized as “Actively Disengaged,” which means they are so unhappy with their work that they minimize their productivity, spread negativity, and even sabotage productive efforts that require them to do more work to keep their jobs.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Contrary to popular self-denial, it is actually not the employees’ fault they are disengaged. Companies like Zappos and Google (especially in the old days) are known to get their employees motivated, driven, and excited about their work on a daily basis1920. I firmly believe that everyone has the capacity and the longing to become motivated and driven for something that is worth their cause. It is bad environmental and cultural design that turns good employees into toxic cells.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
research has shown that on average, the companies with disengaged and unmotivated employees only obtain 50% of profits and only 40% of revenue growth when compared to companies with engaged and motivated employees.22 If I told you that you could double your profits and improve your revenue growth by 250% without opening new markets and without introducing new breakthrough technologies but by simply making your workplace more engaging and motivating, would you do it? Most people would say yes. But from my own personal experience, there will still be people who say no, simply because, “I don’t want my employees playing games. It’s a distraction!”
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
The Gen-Ys entering the workforce (and they are thirty now) are used to being in environments that provide them Epic Meaning, Relatedness, Autonomy, and more. This will only get worse as the even-younger generation enters the workforce, so it is wise for companies to start setting up the correct motivations systems as early as possible to avoid the devastation of having a surplus in labor but a shortage in talent.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Not too long ago, people clicked on online ads because, more often than not, they couldn’t tell the difference between ads and content. But nowadays, users are becoming more sophisticated in filtering out unwanted promotions, decreasing the effectiveness of many advertisement campaigns
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Then you have TV commercials, where everyone simply tunes them out, switches the channel away, or just fast-forwards if they have a TiVo. As for other traditional methods like ads on billboards or newspapers…don’t even get me started.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
SEO and SEM still lack the trust component in online marketing. If a website you trust and have followed for two years sells something you need, you are likely not going to go searching for a random site on a search engine to purchase from.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
This is where Social Media Marketing comes in. Through platforms like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, brands are able to build relationships with potential customers, create unique value, and establish trust that leads to future engagement. Unfortunately, social media platforms are just the delivery channels for engaging content; in and of themselves, they do not motivate or successfully engage with users.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
This is where Gamification comes in. Marketing Gamification specifically utilizes game elements and strategies throughout a player’s journey by first focusing on why a user would engage with you in the first place. Marketing shouldn’t just be one action done from the marketer and one response back from the customer, but should be an entire ecosystem where both the marketer and customer are able to experience fun and feel continuously engaged through multiple interactions.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Marketing Gamification utilizes the platforms and vehicles described above as well as others: SEO, Social Media, Blogging, Email Marketing, online/offline competitions, viral vehicle strategies, and reward schedules to continuously engage users throughout an engaging and gamified experience.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
gamification is great at motivating people towards certain activities, why wouldn’t you apply that to motivate yourself?
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Lifestyle Gamification involves applying gamification principles and the 8 Core Drives into daily habits and activities, such as managing your to-do list, exercising more often, waking up on time, eating healthier, or learning a new language.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Games have historically been able to track every single action that a player makes. A game would automatically know that this particular player is on Level three, she has picked up these four items, learned these three skills, talked to these six characters, but not those other three characters, and because of that, this door does not open for the player.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
A game remembers everything you have done and customizes your experience based on that. In real-life, most of your “data” is not recorded, and so it is hard to craft a optimized lifestyle. The trend with wearable tech and quantified self finally allows us to track more of our own behavior on a daily basis
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Lifestyle Gamification branches into a few sectors such as Career Gamification, Health Gamification, Productivity Gamification, and Education Gamification. It can be utilized to gamify big picture activities such as accomplishing your life goals, or very tactical activities such as using a dice to determine how you should reward yourself (which is derived from Core Drive 7: Unpredictability & Curiosity).
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
even companies that claim they wield the power of Big Data don’t yet compare to the level of customization that gamers take for granted. Many still stick to generalized demographics and non-actionable reports, instead of creating a unique experience for each user in real-time24.
Chapter 4: Putting Gamification in its Place
Since Lifestyle Gamification fundamentally changed my life, I am extremely passionate about how it can help people achieve their dreams through 1. Finding their game, 2. Analyzing their initial stats 3. Formulating their skill trees, 4. Connecting with allies, 5. Finding the right quests, and 6. Beating the game
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
If there is only one thing you remember after reading this book, it should be to focus on motivation by thinking through the 8 Core Drives instead of focusing on features and functionalities.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Epic Meaning & Calling is the First Core Drive of Octalysis Gamification. This is the drive where people are motivated because they believe they are engaged in something bigger than themselves. Games often trigger the Epic Meaning & Calling Core Drive. In many games, an intro narrative communicates that the world is about to be destroyed, and somehow, you as the player are the only one qualified to save the world. That immediately creates excitement and motivation towards the adventure.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
What about real life? Do we ever encounter scenarios where we are driven by Epic Meaning & Calling? Have you ever wondered why people contribute to the non-profit website Wikipedia? What would make someone spend hours updating a site that doesn’t pay her or even help her build her resume? Why are people so loyal to Apple products, to the extent that they know they want to buy the next product, even before they know what it is? Why are school rivalries so engaging, driving radical behaviors such as pranks, streaking, violence, while also leading to profit for the schools? Can higher purpose also be designed into parenting styles beyond the usual reward and punishment system?
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
People choose to police Wikipedia above all those other activities because they feel like they are protecting humanity’s knowledge - something greater than themselves.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
When it comes to Epic Meaning & Calling, it’s not about what you want as an individual nor about what makes you feel good. Individuals participate in the system and take action not because it necessarily benefits them, but because they can then see themselves as heroes of a grander story. It’s about playing your part for the greater good.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
And if playing my part does not require me to sacrifice my life as a martyr but simply involves me to spend a couple hours a day monitoring weird activities on Wikipedia, that’s a huge bargain and something worth doing.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
based on my later acquired understanding in human motivation, I also had the hunch that instead of getting paid for pouring hours of their precious labor into Wikipedia, they are also more likely to pay Wikipedia instead.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
After some research, whoopee, I discovered that people who have spent time editing Wikipedia are almost nine times more likely to donate to Wikipedia compared to people who only benefit off it by consuming the valuable information (28% vs 3%)3.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Time and time again, we see that, when your system or product demonstrates deep and sincere passion towards a higher vision, others will want to believe in it and get on the journey with you, even if it means foregoing financial compensation (which is Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession).
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Epic Meaning & Calling is generally best communicated during the Discovery and Onboarding Phase of a Player’s Journey. You want to communicate very early on exactly why the user should participate in your mission and become a player.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Apple is one of the rare companies that understand this Core Drive, and they managed to instill this into consumers without being user-generated, being an open platform, or pushing for “a charitable cause.”
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Why are people so crazy about Apple products? What we are seeing here is that these friends of mine (and I suspect yours too) have first self-identified as an “Apple Person.” Therefore, they need to do what “Apple People” do, which is to buy the newest iPhones and Macbooks, as well as act like “Apple Snobs” by walking around and making comments such as, “Oh, I never have that problem because I use a Mac.”
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Besides offering stellar products with elegant design and meticulous engineering, Apple has been one of the few electronics companies that actually try to sell a higher meaning. Lets examine two of the most successful commercials in history - both from Apple. The Crazy Ones in 1984 The first Apple commercial that reached massive fame and success, is the “1984” commercial, aired in 1984’s Super Bowl XVIII on CBS4. This is a build-up of the popular novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell, published in 1948 about a futuristic dystopian world where a unified society is controlled and brainwashed by a centralized government5. The ad presents a drab, depressive setting - representing a diabolical, yet orderly society; seemingly under the repressive control of a totalitarian influence. In a large room filled with gray, cheerless individuals dress in monotonous grey uniforms, an authoritative voice booms. The masses stare blankly at a huge screen displaying the colossal image of a “dictatorial figure”. “Big Brother” is addressing the minions, demanding their obedience, their loyalty, their minds. Suddenly, a woman in full color runs in and throws a sledgehammer at the big screen, completely shattering it. Then, a deep male voice says, “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”6
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Super Bowl viewers were overwhelmed by the startling ad. The ad garnered millions of dollars worth of free publicity, as news programs rebroadcast it that night. It was quickly hailed by many in the advertising industry as a masterwork. Advertising Age named it the 1980s Commercial of the Decade, and it continues to rank high on lists of the most influential commercials of all time. 7
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.9
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Have you noticed something unique and interesting about these ads? Neither of these campaigns actually talks about computers or electronics. They don’t talk about specs, RAM, color screens, or computers. You’re not even sure what they sell if you are unfamiliar with the company. They sold a vision.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
When people connect with a statement like, “Because of Apple Computers, 1984 will not be like Nineteen Eighty-Four,” many started to think, “Wow! That’s amazing! I don’t know what they do, but I want to be part of this!” How do you “be part of it”? You buy the Macintosh computer.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Similarly, when people hear the deep wise voice concluding with, “Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do,” they become inspired and think, “Yes! I’ve always been hiding my true passions to conform with what people expected of me. I want to be one of the crazy ones that changes the world!” And of course, the way to think different and change the world is to buy an iPod
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
See the power of Epic Meaning & Calling? When every other company is selling how amazing their computers are, Apple sells a vision worth believing in. Interestingly, when Apple was developing the Think Different campaigns, the first rule was that there would be no products in the commercials. This is so counterintuitive, yet so Human-Focused.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
As long as Apple can continue to make people think that it is a vision worth believing in, their customers will continue to be “Apple People” and buy Apple products. But if one day Apple does something stupid and breaks the trust of being a vision worth believing in, people will stop blindingly purchase their products and will begin to look at the specs again.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
world and solve global warming. How can we add Epic Meaning & Calling to a simple tool?” For this, one of my favorite examples is the mobile app Waze10.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
how do you instill that meaning without giving users long videos to watch or huge amounts of text to read?
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
What Waze did was brilliant. In the early days of Waze, when you first download the app, it would show you one image. On the left side of that image, there is a huge snake monster, consisting of a street with many cars stuck on it. This snake monster’s name was Traffic. On the right side of the image, there were cute little Waze knight characters with swords, shields, and armor, working together to fight this big snake monster.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
So now, when you are driving with Waze, you are not just getting to your destination, you are helping a community of brave Wazers fight this Traffic monster! This resonates on a subconscious level because, deep in our hearts, everyone hates traffic with a passion.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Of course, the actual way to beat this Traffic monster is to drive with Waze on.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
The powerful thing about Epic Meaning & Calling, is that it turns otherwise passive users into powerful evangelists of your mission. They are even highly forgiving of your flaws
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
You would think that the only purpose of a GPS is to take you to the correct destination, and when it fails in that one purpose, most users would say, “This is a piece of crap. I’m going to delete it!” However, because of the Epic Meaning & Calling Waze has instilled in the hearts and minds of people, when it takes people to the wrong location: instead of deleting it in anger, many people start to panic. “Oh no! The map is broken! I need to go fix it!”
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
How powerful is that? When you fail in your core competency, instead of deleting the app in anger, users actually rush to solve the problem for you.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
when it comes to Epic Meaning & Calling, what makes you happy is irrelevant. It’s about the bigger meaning and higher vision.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
when you see a crack in that higher vision you believe in, you become fearful that others will see that crack and lose faith in the vision. As a result, you take it upon yourself to fix it.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
You play a game not because you have to, but because you enjoy doing so. You use Waze not because there aren’t any other good GPS apps out there that can report to you traffic conditions, hazards, and watchful policemen; you use it because it’s fun and you enjoy the experience the most
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
if the activity relates to motivation, you can apply gamification to it.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Because of that, we can even apply Octalysis Gamification to things a bit more abstract, such as parenting. Parents often use two main Core Drives to motivate their children to behave well - Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment (reward when the child behaves), as well as Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance (punish/ground when the child does not behave).
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
the Chinese culture has “figured out” how to implement Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling into parenting, through the meaning behind a term known as “孝”
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
It has no direct English translation, but it is a concept that translates into a belief that since the first day of your birth, you are indebted to your parents who you owe your life and existence to. As a result, “孝” mandates that you need to do everything possible to honor them and lift them up.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
an important factor in using the motivation elicited through Core Drive 1 - it must feel authentic.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Just because I understand the nature of the motivation does not mean I am exempt from it. It is something deeply ingrained within me and my values.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Narrative (Game Technique #10) Most games start with a narrative that gives the player some context about why they should play the game. Many of them are related to saving the world, a princess, solving a case, or even just helping a dragon or crocodile take a bath. So why don’t we use narrative to give people context in other things?
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
One of the more effective ways to instill Epic Meaning & Calling into your user base is through an engaging Narrative. This allows you to introduce a story that gives people context for a higher meaning through interacting with your company, product, or website.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Through its online software interface, Zamzee gives kids fantasy quests, such as becoming a sorcerer’s apprentice. In order to learn your first spell, you run up and down the stairs 15 times. Even though the action itself is disconnected from the narrative, just having them make-believe a magical meaning inspires the kids to exercise more because they are now motivated by their own imaginations.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
if you can tie your system to a cause that many people care about, you can build an entire business on the goodwill of others.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Humanity Hero (Game Technique #27) If you can incorporate a world mission into your offerings, you can gain even more buy-in during the Onboarding process. One company that does an incredible job of instilling a sense of Humanity Hero is TOM’s Shoes, which sends one pair of shoes to a child in a third-world country whenever you place an order with them14. The idea that you can help underprivileged kids every time you make a purchase is extremely motivating.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Elitism (Game Technique #26) Allowing your users or customers to form a prideful group based on ethnicity, beliefs, or common interests also makes them feel like they are part of a larger cause. Elitism instills group pride, which means each member tries to secure the pride of the group by taking specific actions.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
who actually benefit the most from these rivalries? More often than not, it is the universities themselves. By creating an outside enemy that students “should hate with a passion,” it creates more “school spirit” where students bond together
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
a colleague of mine, Jerry Fuqua, chose to attend UCLA many years ago over having a full scholarship into Harvard and other Ivy League schools because he loved UCLA’s basketball team. Another friend of mine who aced all his Calculus exams as a Freshman in High School also chose to attend the University of Kansas over other more prestigious school because he grew up being a fan of the KU Jayhawks. If you ever wondered if it was worth an educational institution’s budget to support an expensive athletic team, now you at least see the justification.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Another great example of Elitism is demonstrated by the microlending platform Kiva.org, which allows developed countries to pseudo-donate their money to help third world country villagers start their small businesses and help sustain their families. To create a sense of Elitism, Kiva.org created groups and published statistics that allowed Christians and Atheists to compare their giving against each other, to see who contributes more money in helping third world countries.16 The Christians believed that, since the Bible tells them to love God and love one another beyond all things, they should demonstrate generosity to the world and help those in need. As a result they increased their contributions. The Atheists, on the other hand, wanted to prove that one does not need to believe in a god to simply be kind to fellow human beings, so they also increased their contributions. Again, both sides contributed more than they would have otherwise, simply because they felt they were doing it for a greater purpose than themselves - protecting their group’s reputation.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Beginner’s Luck (Game Technique #23) Beginner’s Luck focuses on the Calling part in Epic Meaning & Calling. Calling makes people think they are uniquely destined to do something. With Beginner’s Luck, people feel like they are one of the few chosen to take action—which makes them much more likely to take it. If a gamer, upon the first day of playing a game, randomly earns one of the most powerful swords in the game, one that even veteran players couldn’t easily obtain, chances are he isn’t going to quit on day one. He’ll likely be using that powerful sword to kill monsters fanatically until the next hook in the game shows up
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
The game designer would likely also add in Social Influence & Relatedness (Core Drive 5) by designing in Trophy Shelves (Game Technique #64), which are mechanisms that allow the user to implicitly show off what they are proud of
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
If the game designer also adds Scarcity & Impatience (Core Drive 6) through Moats (Game Technique #67) by telling the user he can only equip this sword once he defeats all the adversaries at a particularly difficult level, the user now becomes obsessed and tries to figure out all sorts of ways to conquer that level.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Free Lunch (Game Technique #24) Along the lines of the “Calling” theme, giving freebies (that are normally not free) to selected people in such a way that it binds them to a larger theme can make customers feel special and encourage them to take further action.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Believability is Key Even though Epic Meaning & Calling is powerful “beyond measure,” it can also backfire and fail in epic proportions. As you use these concepts, keep in mind that you can really turn people off when you’re appearing disingenuous in your efforts to create Epic Meaning and Calling.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
if a certain fast food conglomerate that is known for cheap unhealthy foods (that happen to never decompose) runs a marketing campaign that says, “Eating our food protects your health and your family,” people would likely see that as a manipulative slap in the face.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Even in fantasy make-believe settings like Zombies Run, where users are motivated to run more because they are trying to save their village from hypothetical zombies, you want to make sure the user is prepared to believe in the higher fantasy meaning in that context. Pretending that there are zombies in the room during large corporate board meetings in order to get everyone to stand up more often would likely not fare all that well.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Once you have firmly established believability in your Epic Meaning & Calling, you will have a good chance of applying this Core Drive effectively to bring out the fun and selflessness out of people.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling’s weakness lies in the difficulty of implementing believability, as well as the lack of urgency within the motivation. While people constantly aspire to become part of something bigger and would feel great if they actually took the actions, they will often procrastinate and delay those very actions. Thus, to create desirable behavior, the gamification designer needs the help of the other Core Drives within Octalysis.
Chapter 5: The First Core Drive - Epic Meaning & Calling
Identify a project you are working on. Think about whether there are ways to install Core Drive 1: Epic Meaning & Calling into the experience. Can you tie the experience into a bigger theme?
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Development & Accomplishment is the Second Core Drive of the Gamification Framework Octalysis. This is the Core Drive where people are driven by a sense of growth and a need to accomplish a targeted goal. It is what focuses us on a career path, generates our enthusiasm and commitment to learning a new skill, and ultimately motivates us by showing us how far we’ve come and how much we’ve grown.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Many people have memories of their kindergarten teachers giving them gold stars to emphasize good behavior. Even though these stickers don’t become real prizes, children are often extremely intent on obtaining more stars and will focus on determining how best to gain them. That’s a very straightforward demonstration on the effects of Development & Accomplishment and how easy it is to add them into an experience.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
This is also the most common implementation of gamification we see in the market, as most of the PBLs – points, badges, and leaderboards – appeal heavily to this drive.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Almost all games show you some type of progress towards the Win-States. A Win-State is often a scenario where the user has overcome some sort of challenge - that’s the “win”
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Games break down user challenges into stages to help the user feel like there is always progress.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Our brains have a natural desire to achieve goals and to experience growth in order to feel that real progress in life is being made. We need Win-States
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Games can sustain long forty-hour or even four-thousand-hour player journeys because they use distinctive stages and boss-fights to recognize user accomplishment along the way.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
To display that sense of accomplishment, some games show you points, others use levels, badges, stages, progress bars, better looking gear, victory animations… the list goes on.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
However, just because you see your progress through these elements does not necessarily mean you feel accomplished.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
The key to Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment is to make sure users are proud of overcoming the challenges that are set out for them
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
challenges and limitations are what make a game fun. For example, if golf was just a game without any limitations, every player would just pick up the ball and put it into the hole to win. Everyone would score high, and every individual who has outgrown the “putting a round peg through a round hole” game will probably feel bored.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
By adding unnecessary obstacles, such as requiring the use of a strange stick, certain distances, and landscape hazards, golf becomes fun because the player actually feels accomplished once such challenges are overcome. Gamification aims to integrate that feeling of Development & Accomplishment into everyday experiences within your product or service.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
I now call a “Torture Break” (Game Technique #66), where a user must wait an interval of time regardless of their actions, a game technique to be explored under Core Drive 6: Scarcity & Impatience
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
people aren’t buying victories. If, immediately after people pay the game studio, a message pops up and says, “Congratulations! You have won!”, very few people would feel excited. Anyone could just pay money and get something. What gamers are paying for, is the feeling of being awesome. They pay to get powerful weapons or boosters that allow them to defeat a bunch of enemy monsters quickly, ultimately achieving dominating victory.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
General Mills brand Betty Crocker cake mixes. When it first launched many decades ago, it was designed to be the easiest cake mix for stay-at-home-moms to make, where they just have to add water to the powdered mix and then stick it into the oven for delicious cakes to come out. Unfortunately, sales were fairly stagnant
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
One of the hypotheses was that the cake mixes were so easy to make, customers didn’t feel they were actually baking, and therefore did not have a sense of accomplishment or competence
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
They decided to remove the conveniently powdered eggs from their Betty Crocker cake mixes and required the bakers to add in their own fresh eggs before putting them into the oven.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
To many’s surprise, the product immediately became a breakout success
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
people felt that they were actually baking a delicious dessert to compliment a meal. This made them feel great about themselves and their contributions to the family
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
The philosophy of, “Games are unnecessary obstacles that we volunteer to tackle” can be seen clearly here, where adding a few extra steps increased Core Drive 2: Development & Accomplishment within the experience.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
the main Core Drive behind Amazon’s business is Core Drive 4: Ownership & Possession. As mentioned in Chapter 3, the premise behind this Core Drive is that if you feel like you own something, you tend to want to improve it, protect it, and get more of it.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Amazon has worked hard to streamline this process of Ownership & Possession. It is an optimized engine that allows you to own and possess things quickly, accurately, and without hassle. It has established itself as the prime place to “get more stuff,” and you know you are likely getting the cheapest bargain on the market. With Amazon, you know you can own more, faster.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Amazon is constantly learning about your preferences and personalizing what you see to who you are, something I call the Alfred Effect (Game Technique #83). As it does so, the sense of Ownership & Possession grows even more as people now identify it as a unique “My Amazon” experience that no other eCommerce site can provide.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Amazon’s recommendation engine, according to Amazon themselves, led to 30% of their sales5.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
“Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought.” Amazon quickly realized that, by learning about what other people similar to you are buying, you have a much higher tendency to buy the same items too
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness. By knowing what other, similar people are buying, social proof and relatedness help consumers make decisions with greater confidence. This helps Amazon increase their sales and subsequent up-sells.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
another “Social Influence & Relatedness” factor of Amazon that heavily contributed to its early success, was the millions of user reviews on books and other items.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
At the end of the day, we value the thoughts of people we can relate to, often more than the voice of authoritative experts.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
there are also leaderboards, community voting, and status labeling on Amazon? If you thought Amazon does not use gamification, think again.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
if a user spends four seconds on an interface and can’t figure out what to do, they feel stupid and will start to disengage emotionally.
Chapter 6: The Second Core Drive - Development & Accomplishment
A product that makes users feel stupid, no matter how great the technology, is often a failing product.