Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Recent years have seen a rapid proliferation of mass-market consumer software that takes inspiration from video games. Usually summarized as "gamification", this trend connects to a sizeable body of existing concepts and research in human-computer interaction and game studies, such as serious games, pervasive games, alternate reality games, or playful design. However, it is not clear how "gamification" relates to these, whether it denotes a novel phenomenon, and how to define it. Thus, in this paper we investigate "gamification" and the historical origins of the term in relation to precursors and similar concepts. It is suggested that "gamified" applications provide insight into novel, gameful phenomena complementary to playful phenomena. Based on our research, we propose a definition of "gamification" as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.

/pdf/from-game-design-elements-to-gamefulness-defining-1wnas1kptm.pdf

From game design elements to gamefulness: defining "gamification"

From the Publisher: 
A Question of Identity 
Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." 
Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. 
This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.

스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet

Cooperation is needed for evolution to construct new levels of organization. Genomes, cells, multicellular organisms, social insects, and human society are all based on cooperation. Cooperation means that selfish replicators forgo some of their reproductive potential to help one another. But natural selection implies competition and therefore opposes cooperation unless a specific mechanism is at work. Here I discuss five mechanisms for the evolution of cooperation: kin selection, direct reciprocity, indirect reciprocity, network reciprocity, and group selection. For each mechanism, a simple rule is derived that specifies whether natural selection can lead to cooperation.

/pdf/five-rules-for-the-evolution-of-cooperation-2bpocasc6i.pdf

Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation

In 1974 an article appeared in Science magazine with the dry-sounding title “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases” by a pair of psychologists who were not well known outside their discipline of decision theory. In it Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the world to Prospect Theory, which mapped out how humans actually behave when faced with decisions about gains and losses, in contrast to how economists assumed that people behave. Prospect Theory turned Economics on its head by demonstrating through a series of ingenious experiments that people are much more concerned with losses than they are with gains, and that framing a choice from one perspective or the other will result in decisions that are exactly the opposite of each other, even if the outcomes are monetarily the same. Prospect Theory led cognitive psychology in a new direction that began to uncover other human biases in thinking that are probably not learned but are part of our brain’s wiring.

Thinking fast and slow.

The last few years have witnessed a growing recognition of the educational potential of computer games. However, it is generally agreed that the process of designing and deploying computer games for learning generally is a difficult task. As an approach to support this interdisciplinary activity, we promote the use of design patterns that describe specific ways of designing or adapting games as well as how to deploy these into learning environments. This paper provides a detailed description of the methodology involved in identifying over 90 design patterns for designing and deploying computer games for learning mathematics. In addition, a suite of methodological tools that was developed to facilitate the process is described. We discuss how these tools were developed in parallel with the language, as our understanding of the process in which we were engaged evolved. Furthermore, we describe how they supported our collaborative development.

Tools for Developing Design Patterns for Mathematical Computer Games

Design is typically envisioned as aiming to improve situations for users, but this can fail. Failure can be the result of flawed design solutions, i.e. anti-patterns. Prior work in anti-patterns has largely focused on their characteristics. We instead concentrate on why they occur by outlining two processes that result in anti-patterns: 1) backfiring, and 2) favouring. The purpose of the paper is to help designers and researchers better understand how design processes can lead to negative impacts and to repentant designers by introducing a richer vocabulary for discussing such processes. We explore how anti-patterns evolve in HCI by specifically applying the vocabulary to examples of social media design. We believe that highlighting these processes will help the HCI community reflect on their own work and also raise awareness of the opportunities for avoiding anti-patterns. Our hope is that this will result in fewer negative experiences for designers and users alike.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3419249.3420175

Backfiring and favouring: how design processes in HCI lead to anti-patterns and repentant designers

We present how gaze detection can be used to enhance the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) format, a dynamic text presentation technique suitable for mobile devices. A camera mounted on the device is used to monitor the reader's gaze and control the onset of the text presentation accordingly. The underlying assumptions for the technique are presented together with a description of a prototype, Smart Bailando, as well as our directions for further work.

Utilizing Gaze Detection to Simulate the Affordances of Paper in the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Format

While gamification is an often used tool in building interactive experiences for sports, little work has addressed systems designed by users for users and deeply embedded in the social setting of physical exercise. Consequently, a better understanding of sports gamification in the wild is needed to build systems that reflect the users' pre-existing social context. This paper presents a qualitative study of a gamification system, the Boar Board, designed by a sports coach to support users participating in regular exercises. Through surveys, interviews and observations over eight months, we built an understanding of the user adoption of the system and how the Boar Board supported the goals of the group. Based on this, we endeavour to understand the social aspects of the system, including trust, and posit a number of design considerations for future inquiry into gamification systems for sports.

Understanding grassroots sports gamification in the wild

We analyze X-COM: UFO Defense and its successful remake
XCOM: Enemy Unknown to understand how remakes can repropose
a concept across decades, updating most mechanics, and
yet retain the dynamic and aesthetic values that defined the
original experience. We use gameplay design patterns along with
the MDA framework to understand the changes, identifying an
unchanged core among a multitude of differences. We argue that
two forces polarize the context within which the new game was
designed, simultaneously guaranteeing a sameness of experience
across the two games and at the same time pushing for radical
changes. The first force, which resists the push for an updated
experience, can be described as experiential isomorphism, or
“sameness of form” in terms of related Gestalt qualities. The
second force is generated by the necessity to update the usability
of the design, aligning it to a current usability paradigm. We
employ game usability heuristics (PLAY) to evaluate aesthetic
patterns present in both games, and to understand the implicit
vector for change. Our finding is that while patterns on the
mechanical and to a slight degree the dynamic levels change
between the games, the same aesthetic patterns are present in
both, but produced through different means. The method we use
offers new understanding of how sequels and remakes of games
can change significantly from their originals while still giving rise
to similar experiences.

/pdf/x-com-ufo-defense-vs-xcom-enemy-unknown-using-gameplay-1aejb6nss1.pdf

Staffan Björk

Papers

Tools for Developing Design Patterns for Mathematical Computer Games

Backfiring and favouring: how design processes in HCI lead to anti-patterns and repentant designers

Utilizing Gaze Detection to Simulate the Affordances of Paper in the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Format

Understanding grassroots sports gamification in the wild

X-COM: UFO Defense vs. XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Using gameplay design patterns to understand game remakes.