From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining "Gamification"
📜 Abstract
This paper traces the history of the term “gamification” from its origins and identifies a growing need to clearly and thoroughly distinguish gamification from other game-related concepts like serious games, playful interaction, or game-based technologies. The authors propose a new definition of gamification based on game design elements to better understand the different roles these elements play in motivating and engaging users.
✨ Summary
The paper “From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining ‘Gamification’” by Sebastian Deterding, Dan Dixon, Rilla Khaled, and Lennart Nacke, published in September 2011, is pivotal in framing the academic discourse around the concept of gamification. It carefully distinguishes gamification from related concepts in game studies and offers a precise definition based on integrating game design elements into non-game contexts for user engagement.
Key Insights:
- Clarification of Concepts: It addresses the confusion between gamification and similar constructs, such as serious games and game-based learning, by establishing clear distinctions.
- Definition of Gamification: The paper gives a clear definition based on game design elements, emphasizing their role in motivating and engaging users.
- Impact on Research: The work significantly influences subsequent research in gamification and user experience design, becoming a foundational reference across multiple studies investigating the application of gamification in various fields.
Impact and Citations:
- This paper becomes a cornerstone in gamification research, frequently cited to define gamification and frame studies about user motivation and engagement.
- The paper laid groundwork for numerous scholarly works, including Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014). Does gamification work? A literature review of empirical studies on gamification, which analyze its efficacy across different applications.
- It also informs practical frameworks utilized in fields such as marketing, education, and user experience design.
Despite its frequent citation in academic research, practical adaptation in the industry often reflects a distilled understanding of its principles, focusing on enhancing user engagement and motivation across many domains.