Creating applications and systems that effectively motivate users is very important both in business and education. Using design practises from game development in non- game settings to exploit its ability to engage players has become increasingly more popular in recent time to attract and encourage users. This study examines how to effectively and systematically develop an application using a method based in both game design and inter- action design to develop a learning application for programming. The results demonstrates the strengths of the applied iterative prototyping and powerful design tools of the specific method in a smaller scale project as well as the weaknesses of the vague description of tool usage with risk of derailing in the design steps.

Background: Gameful design has been shown to have the potential to increase motivation for and engagement with physical activity (PA). However, at present, there is a significant lack of well-designed frameworks identifying effective pathways to increase PA behaviour. Purpose: To design a rigorous, methodologically sound, theory-grounded framework for developing gamefully designed PA interventions. Methods: Intervention Mapping (IM) was used to develop the study protocol, consisting of three studies. Study 1 encompassed the design of a novel theoretical framework leading to the selection of a gamefully designed PA intervention application. Study 2 entailed the intervention implementation. Participants (n = 83; mean age = 33.56; females = 48) were randomised to a six-week intervention. Data collection over a six-month period included biometric data, objective measurement of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and a detailed PA motivation inventory. Study 3 presented a process evaluation focused on usefulness, effectiveness and feasibility via a systematic mixed-methods approach. Results: Study 1 led to the creation of a new Taxonomy of Situated Motivational Affordances (SMAs) for Gameful Design, the establishment of selection criteria for gamefully designed PA applications and the selection of a commercial application (Fitocracy) for the example case pilot intervention. Study 2 showed no statistically significant change observations in relation to MVPA; however, at six weeks the intervention group showed significant increased levels of identified regulation (internalised motivation) for PA. A significant correlation (p=0.031) between intrinsic regulation and MVPA was verified. Study 3 determined the usefulness of a systematic methodological study design, a low adoption rate of the intervention application and the appreciation of the complex nature of human motivation in relation to PA. Conclusions: Gamefully designed applications grounded in theories such as SDT, BCTs and the newly developed Taxonomy of SMAs for Gameful Design have the potential to be effective in impacting motivation for PA and PA levels.

Modern education systems tend to focus on the use of external pressures to motivate students to learn. Intrinsic motivation - motivation to do something because it is enjoyable in and of itself – by contrast, is more valuable in these environments as it has multiple benefits, such as better conceptual understanding and more sustained learning behaviour. The primary way to facilitate intrinsic motivation is to meet the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Games are inherently effective at satisfying these needs and have in recent years begun to be used in non-game contexts, like education, in order to attempt to improve motivation. This is commonly known as gamification, although gameful design is the more beneficial counterpart thereof since it is directly based on a deep understanding of what makes games good motivators. This study addresses the question of how gameful design can be used to facilitate intrinsic motivation in a tertiary education setting. This is done through an examination of existing literature in order to inform the design of a gameful intervention, which is the focus of this research. This intervention includes a new website, additional exercises on course content as well as changes to lectures. The intervention (in the form of a pilot study and a final implementation) is used in a first year undergraduate module in the Multimedia degree at the University of Pretoria. When the intervention has been used by the students for a full semester, data are collected in the form of questionnaires, focus groups, Google Analytics, website database logs and observation. The results indicate that the gameful intervention meets the three basic psychological needs of those students who interacted with it. As a result of this, students are more intrinsically motivated to interact with the intervention and therefore spend more time engaging with the course content. This study contributes a list of guidelines for educators wishing to use gameful design in their own modules. It also provides the details of the design of the intervention in order to aid the understanding of how gameful design can be used to facilitate intrinsic motivation. This approach to “gamifying” education is rare in the existing literature and can therefore be considered a valuable contribution. / Dissertation (MIS)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Information Science / MIS / Unrestricted

The practice of utilizing gameful design elements in in-house enterprise settings is an emerging phenomena. Research on the subject is, however, disciplinarily dispersed and difficult to find. Further, there are no summary overviews of subject. Through a literature review of existing research, this thesis illuminates gaps in the current research, avenues of interests for approaches to the application of gameful design elements in in-house enterprise settings and provides a conceptual overview of the state of the field. This is accomplished by answering the research questions: how has research approached the study of gamification of in-house-enterprise settings and what does research contribute? The review concludes that research sees both promises and perils with the gamification of work settings for both employees and enterprises in general. In constructing these arguments research draws upon theory from various academic disciplines. However, the proliferation of unfounded arguments, for and against, the utilization of gamification are identified. Empirically grounded research lends some credence to the assumption that gamification can benefit both employees and enterprises. Effects of gamification are however not conclusive and should be studied further.

This dissertation investigates the question, "How can the procedural rhetoric of three whole-body educational games improve the understanding of self-regulated learning with digital technology?" It explores three whole-body educational games (WBEGs) using a quantitative study, a case study, and analyses of their procedural rhetoric to better understand the roles these types of games can have in teaching digital literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. The three WBEGs, Waves, Color Mixer, and Light and Mirrors, are each intended to teach science concepts to players. These games are similarly structured in that they all invite players to immerse themselves in the game by standing on the "screen" (the games project images on the floor). The WBEGs differ from traditional console video games because they receive input from players via motion-sensing technology, requiring players to make large movements with their bodies to influence elements within the game. This study explains SRL as a complex combination of internal (mental) behavior, external (observable) behavior, and interpersonal (social) behavior, identifying within three WBEGs the presence of elements supporting the SRL behaviors of goal setting, strategy planning, collaboration, progress monitoring, feedback, and reflection. These findings inform the understanding of SRL by revealing that each game includes a different combination of SRL-supporting elements that encourage the use of SRL skills in different ways. SRL scaffolding features are those elements within a WBEG that guide players to use certain SRL strategies, helping and supporting their efforts much like construction scaffolding supports a building as it is being erected. This dissertation also utilizes analyses of procedural rhetoric to investigate the techniques reinforced by the underlying structure of these three WBEGs in an effort to further the understanding of digital literacy in education and sociocultural contexts. All three WBEGs appear to emphasize player agency and collaboration. Waves and Light and Mirrors encourage player strategy, while Color Mixer rewards speed and rote knowledge. These reinforced techniques perpetuate the underlying cultural values of accuracy, collaboration, problem-solving, autonomy, and scaffolding. This study discusses these values in the contexts of education and society.

The task manager Habitica was studied to explain 1) How Habitica motivates by satisfying the psychological needs identified by SDT and 2) Why users keep using Habitica. Based on theories of gamification, motivation and the theoretical framework METUX an interview study was conducted with 10 participants followed by a thematic analysis. Personalization, avatars, responsibility toward party members and different rewards were identified as motivating factors. However, some participants experienced the opposite with some of the factors mentioned. The motivating factors identified by the study could be connected to one or more psychological needs, based on the theoretical framework of the study. More research is necessary to determine if the findings apply to other settings outside of the context of the study. / Uppgiftshanteraren Habitica studerades för att svara på: 1) Hur tjänsten motiverar genom att tillfredsställa psykologiska behov från SDT och 2) Varför användare fortsätter att använda Habitica. Studien utgick från teorier om gamification, motivation och ramverket METUX. En intervjustudie utfördes med tio användare varpå en tematisk analys utfördes. Personlig anpassning, avatarer, socialt ansvar och olika belöningar identifierades som motiverande faktorer. Däremot hade vissa av dessa faktorer motsatt effekt i vissa fall. Motiverande faktorer som identifierats genom studien kunde kopplas till ett eller flera psykologiska behov. Dessa kopplingar gjordes utifrån studiens teoretiska ramverk. Mer forskning behövs för att avgöra om den här studiens fynd gör sig gällande i andra kontexter och i ett större sammanhang.