2.2 Challenges of designing gamified software
Game engineering is a complex process that involves multidisciplinary work across
psychology, design, programming to name only a few disciplines, thus making games
multifaceted artifacts that are not only hard to define and understand [1,21,22], but additionally
hard to successfully design [37]. We have begun to understand that the stimulation of human
needs [1,21] the application of goals, rule systems and challenges [14,22,38] are key
characteristics of games and probably responsible for their rich motivational experiences.
However, since successful game approaches commonly employ manifold game designs
[17,38], by utilizing many of these components, it is mostly difficult to unambiguously relate
psychological outcomes to specific game features. The interplay of such design features and
psychological processes characterize games [1,21], but is also responsible for their complexity.
Engineering of gamification aims to invoke similar engaging experiences as games to motivate
users towards specific behavior through the employment of design features from games to other
environments [1,2,21,22], it thus inherits the same design complexity of games.
Adding to this complexity, the goal of gamifying a software is to affect behavior and not only
entertainment as is the primary goal of games [1,4]. For example, if we consider gamified
enterprise systems [12,13,39], we see that these systems have been enriched with gamification
in order to make the use of such utilitarian software hedonic and more enjoyable. However,
this is one side of the coin. Typically, designers that implement gamification want to achieve a
more frequent utilization of a system thus ensuring better facilitation of the underlying
workflows [2,17]. A gamified software thus has the double requirements of being 1.)
operationally well designed to function as intended, 2.) facilitate engagement with the software
so as to ensure manifestation of appreciated behaviors and behavioral change.
Games typically achieve engagement by providing challenges matched to players’ skill level
to provide opportunities for the experience of feelings, such as achievement or mastery that
keep players engaged with the game for longitudinal periods of time [1,21,40]. The difficulty
of the challenges may occasionally vary towards easier ones in order to ensure a continuous
challenging and a diverse experience that keeps players in a “flow” state: an optimal experience
in which the individual is fully immersed in the task they are performing that they are not aware
of other externalities [40,41]. Gamification attempts to mimic these experiences by employing
challenges that are matched in design and presentation to game challenges [1,40]. However,
the context in which gamification is applied adds complexity on the design of engaging
challenges, as the context provides operational requirements that limit the unlimited design
space that typically games have. Gamification designers should thus be aware that the gamified
software should meet these operational requirements for the software to have operational value
to necessitate engagement with it, as is the aim of applying gamification.
The prevailing opinion is that games invoke motivation and influence behavior because they
satisfy user's intrinsic needs, such as the needs for relatedness, mastery, or autonomy
[1,16,21,33]. The fulfillment of basic human needs has been highlighted as a key justification
for the psychological and behavioral outcomes of games in many studies [1,14,16,21,42].
However, designing software that satisfies specific human needs is complex. Designers need
to be aware of motivational psychology and motivational design. This adds another layer to the
complexity of designing gamified software.