@conference {26109, title = {HexArcade: Predicting Hexad User Types By Using Gameful Applications}, booktitle = {Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY 2020)}, year = {2020}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Personalization is essential for gameful systems. Past research showed that the Hexad user types model is particularly suitable for personalizing user experiences. The validated Hexad user types questionnaire is an effective tool for scientific purposes. However, it is less suitable in practice for personalizing gameful applications, because filling out a questionnaire potentially affects a person{\textquoteright}s gameful experience and immersion within an interactive system negatively. Furthermore, studies investigating correlations between Hexad user types and preferences for gamification elements were survey-based (i.e., not based on user behaviour). In this paper, we improve upon both these aspects. In a user study (N=147), we show that gameful applications can be used to predict Hexad user types and that the interaction behaviour with gamification elements corresponds to a users{\textquoteright} Hexad type. Ultimately, participants perceived our gameful applications as more enjoyable and immersive than filling out the Hexad questionnaire.}, url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3410404.3414232}, author = {Maximilian Altmeyer and Gustavo F. Tondello and Antonio Kr{\"u}ger and Lennart E. Nacke} } @article {26110, title = {Validation of User Preferences and Effects of Personalized Gamification on Task Performance}, journal = {Frontiers in Computer Science}, volume = {2}, year = {2020}, pages = {29}, abstract = {Personalized gamification is the tailoring of gameful design elements to user preferences to improve engagement. However, studies of user preferences have so far relied on self-reported data only and few studies investigated the effects of personalized gameful systems on task performance. This study shows that personalized gamification works in practice as predicted by survey studies and leads to higher task performance. We asked 252 participants in two studies to interact with a customized (experimental) or a generic (control) online gameful application to classify images. In the customized version, they could select the game elements that they wanted to use for their experience. The results showed significant correlations between participants{\textquoteright} choice of gameful design elements and their Hexad user type scores, which partly support existing user preference models based on self-reported preferences. On the other hand, user type scores were not correlated with participants{\textquoteright} preferred game elements rated after interacting with the gameful system. These findings demonstrate that the Hexad user types are a viable model to create personalized gameful systems. However, it seems that there are other yet unknown factors that can influence user preferences, which should be considered together with the user type scores. Additionally, participants in the experimental condition classified more images and rated their experience of selecting the game elements they wanted to use higher than in the control, demonstrating that task performance improved with personalization. Nonetheless, other measures of task performance that were not explicitly incentivized by the game elements did not equally improve. This contribution shows that personalized gameful design creates systems that are more successful in helping users achieve their goals than generic systems. However, gameful designers should be aware that they must balance the game elements and how much they incentivize each user behavior, so that the business goals can be successfully promoted. Finally, we analyzed participants{\textquoteright} qualitative answers about their experience with the generic and the customized gameful applications, extracting useful lessons for the designers of personalized gameful systems.}, url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2020.00029}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @article {18197, title = {Defining Gameful Experience as a Psychological State Caused by Gameplay: Replacing the Term \‘Gamefulness\’ with Three Distinct Constructs}, journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies}, volume = {127}, year = {2019}, pages = {81-94}, abstract = {Background and Aim: Gamefulness is commonly cited as the primary goal of gamification, a family of approaches employed in education, business, healthcare, government, and elsewhere. However, gamefulness is defined imprecisely across the literature. To address this, we present a theory of gamefulness that splits gamefulness into more specific constructs and outlines their effects in a process model. Method: We integrate extant literature from psychology, human-computer interaction, and other fields to define gameful design, systems, and experiences. Most critically, we argue that gameful experience is the core focal construct of this theory and define it as an interactive state occurring when a person perceives non-trivial achievable goals created externally, is motivated to pursue them under an arbitrary set of behavioral rules, and evaluates that motivation as voluntary. Results: We present six resulting propositions: (1) gameful systems lead to gameful experiences, (2) gameful systems impact psychological characteristics, (3) effective gameful design leads to a gameful system, (4) gameful systems lead to behavioral change, (5) behavioral change causes the distal outcomes gamification designers target, and (6) individual differences moderate the effectiveness of gameful systems. Conclusion: Gameful experience theory provides researchers with a unified foundation to study gamification from any social scientific lens.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.08.003}, author = {Richard N. Landers and Gustavo F. Tondello and Dennis L. Kappen and Andrew Collmus and Elisa D. Mekler and Lennart E. Nacke} } @mastersthesis {18241, title = {Dynamic Personalization of Gameful Interactive Systems}, year = {2019}, type = {PhD Thesis}, abstract = {

Gameful design, the process of creating a system with affordances for gameful experiences, can be used to increase user engagement and enjoyment of digital interactive systems. It can also be used to create applications for behaviour change in areas such as health, wellness, education, customer loyalty, and employee management. However, existing research suggests that the qualities of users, such as their personality traits, preferences, or identification with a task, can influence gamification outcomes.

It is important to understand how to personalize gameful systems, given how user qualities shape the gameful experience. Current evidence suggests that personalized gameful systems can lead to increased user engagement and be more effective in helping users achieve their goals than generic ones. However, to create these kinds of systems, designers need a specific method to guide them in personalizing the gameful experience to their target audience. To address this need, this thesis proposes a novel method for personalized gameful design divided into three steps: (1) classification of user preferences, (2) classification and selection of gameful design elements, and (3) heuristic evaluation of the design.

Regarding the classification of user preferences, this thesis evaluates and validates the Hexad Gamification User Types Scale, which scores a person in six user types: philanthropist, socialiser, free spirit, achiever, player, and disruptor. Results show that the scale{\textquoteright}s structural validity is acceptable for gamification studies through reliability analysis and factor analysis. For classification and selection of gameful design elements, this thesis presents a conceptual framework based on participants{\textquoteright} self-reported preferences, which classifies elements in eight groups organized into three categories: individual motivations (immersion and progression), external motivations (risk/reward, customization, and incentives), and social motivations (socialization, altruism, and assistance). And to evaluate the design of gameful applications, this thesis introduces a set of 28 gameful design heuristics, which are based on motivational theories and gameful design methods and enable user experience professionals to conduct a heuristic evaluation of a gameful application.

Furthermore, this thesis describes the design, implementation, and pilot evaluation of a software platform for the study of personalized gameful design. It integrates nine gameful design elements built around a main instrumental task, enabling researchers to observe and study the gameful experience of participants. The platform is flexible so the instrumental task can be changed, game elements can be added or removed, and the level and type of personalization or customization can be controlled. This allows researchers to generate different experimental conditions to study a broad range of research questions.

Our personalized gameful design method provides practical tools and clear guidelines to help designers effectively build personalized gameful systems.

}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10012/14807}, author = {Gustavo Fortes Tondello} } @article {18195, title = {Empirical validation of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale in English and Spanish}, journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies}, volume = {127}, year = {2019}, pages = {95-111}, abstract = {Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game systems, is now established as a relevant research field in human-computer interaction (HCI). Several empirical studies have shown that gameful interventions can increase engagement and generate desired behavioural outcomes in HCI applications. However, some inconclusive results indicate that we need a fuller understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gamification. The Gamification User Types Hexad scale allows us to parse different user motivations in participants{\textquoteright} interactions with gameful applications, which are measured using a self-report questionnaire. Each user type represents a style of interaction with gameful applications, for example, if the interactions are more focused on achievements, socialization, or rewards. Thus, by scoring an individual in each one of the user types of the Hexad model, we can establish a profile of user preferences for gameful interactions. However, we still lack a substantial empirical validation of this scale. Therefore, we set out to validate the factor structure of the scale, in both English and Spanish, by conducting three studies, which also investigated the distribution of the Hexad{\textquoteright}s user types in the sample. Our findings support the structural validity of the scale, as well as suggesting opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, we demonstrate that some user types are more common than others and that gender and age correlate with a person{\textquoteright}s user types. Our work contributes to HCI research by further validating the utility of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale, potentially affording researchers a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gameful interventions.}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.10.002}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Alberto Mora and Andrzej Marczewski and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18196, title = {Gameful Design Heuristics: A Gamification Inspection Tool}, booktitle = {Human-Computer Interaction. Perspectives on Design. Proceedings of HCI International 2019. LNCS 11566}, year = {2019}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {Despite the emergence of many gameful design methodologies in the literature, there is a lack of methods to evaluate the resulting designs. Gameful design techniques aim to increase the user{\textquoteright}s motivation to interact with a software, but there are presently no accepted guidelines on how to find out if this goal was achieved during the design phase of a project. This paper presents the Gameful Design Heuristics, a novel set of guidelines that facilitate a heuristic evaluation of gameful software, with a focus on the software{\textquoteright}s potential to afford intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for the user. First, we reviewed several gameful design methods to identify the most frequently employed dimensions of motivational affordances. Then, we devised a set of 28 gamification heuristics that can be used to rapidly evaluate a gameful system. Finally, we conducted a summative empirical evaluation study with five user experience professionals, which demonstrated that our heuristics can help the evaluators find more motivational issues in interactive systems than they would without the heuristics. The suggested method fulfills the need for evaluation tools specific to gameful design, which could help evaluators assess the potential user experience of a gameful application in the early phases of a project.}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22646-6_16}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Dennis L. Kappen and Marim Ganaba and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18697, title = {\“I don\&$\#$39;t fit into a single type\”: A Trait Model and Scale of Game Playing Preferences}, booktitle = {Proceedings of INTERACT 2019, LNCS 11747}, year = {2019}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {Player typology models classify different player motivations and behaviours. These models are necessary to design personalized games or to target specific audiences. However, many models lack validation and standard measurement instruments. Additionally, they rely on type theories, which split players into separate categories. Yet, personality research has lately favoured trait theories, which recognize that people{\textquoteright}s preferences are composed of a sum of different characteristics. Given these shortcomings of existing models, we developed a player traits model built on a detailed review and synthesis of the extant literature, which introduces five player traits: aesthetic orientation, narrative orientation, goal orientation, social orientation, and challenge orientation. Furthermore, we created and validated a 25-item measurement scale for the five player traits. This scale outputs a player profile, which describes participants{\textquoteright} preferences for different game elements and game playing styles. Finally, we demonstrate that this is the first validated player preferences model and how it serves as an actionable tool for personalized game design.}, url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29384-0_23}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Karina Arrambide and Giovanni Ribeiro and Andrew Cen and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {22136, title = {A Pilot Study of a Digital Skill Tree in Gameful Education}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Gamification and Games for Learning - GamiLearn {\textquoteright}19}, year = {2019}, publisher = {CEUR-WS.org}, organization = {CEUR-WS.org}, abstract = {Gameful digital applications have been adopted in higher education to help increase student engagement and improve learning. However, many studies have only evaluated educational applications that combine some common game design elements{\textemdash}such as points, leaderboards, or levels. Consequently, we still lack studies exploring different ways of designing gameful learning experiences. Therefore, we introduce the design and implementation of a digital system employing a skill tree to mediate instructor feedback and assignment grading in a university course, Additionally, we present the results of a pilot evaluation with 16 students in which we summarized the positive and negative aspects of the experience to derive lessons learned for the use of digital skill trees in similar contexts. Finally, we suggest topics for further investigation.}, url = {http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2497/paper15.pdf}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18698, title = {Player Characteristics and Video Game Preferences}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2019 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY {\textquoteright}19}, year = {2019}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {The Games User Research literature has advanced considerably on understanding why people play games and what different types of games or mechanics they prefer. However, what has been less studied is how models of player preferences explain their game choices. In this study, we address this question by combining and analyzing two datasets (N = 188 and N = 332) containing data about the games that participants enjoy, their player trait scores, and their preferred game elements and playing styles. The results provide evidence that these scores can significantly explain participants{\textquoteright} preferences for different games. Additionally, we provide information about the characteristics of players who enjoy each game.}, url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3311350.3347185}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18200, title = {Effect of personalized gameful design on student engagement}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference - EDUCON 2018}, year = {2018}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, abstract = {Many recent studies of gamification applied to higher education have demonstrated a wide range of positive results. However, most of them fail to consider any personalization factor for the student experience, despite recent studies having shown that gameful systems may be more engaging when they are personalized to each user. Therefore, the goal of this work is to investigate if gameful learning experiences can better motivate and engage students if they are personalized. In this way, we present the design and analysis of a personalized gameful learning experience within a Computer Network Design course. The general purpose of this study is to determine whether a personalized gameful learning experience affects both the students{\textquoteright} behavioral and emotional engagement. The results of a descriptive analysis reveal that personalization works better than generic approaches in all items regarding the behavioral and emotional engagement of the students, being a promising standpoint to further investigate in subsequent studies.}, author = {Alberto Mora and Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke and Joan Arnedo-Moreno} } @conference {18201, title = {Gamification: Tools and Techniques for Motivating Users}, booktitle = {Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI EA 2018}, year = {2018}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {This course introduces participants to concepts of gamification and practices some gamification evaluation with a set of heuristics used to evaluated gameful applications and gameful design. We will introduce participants to some of the common gameful intervention strategies to add game design elements that can be used to motivate users and then train participants with our set of 28 gamification heuristics for rapid evaluation of gameful systems. The course is structured into three 80-minute units, which will give the participants enough time to learn how to gamify activities, apply new heuristics and improve their gameful designs. The course instructors, Gustavo Tondello and Lennart Nacke, have both developed the gameful design heuristics and taught a successful gamification course at CHI 2017 before.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3170662}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18202, title = {Personalizing Persuasive Strategies in Gameful Systems to Gamification User Types}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI {\textquoteright}18}, year = {2018}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Persuasive gameful systems are effective tools for motivating behaviour change. Research has shown that tailoring these systems to individuals can increase their efficacy; however, there is little knowledge on how to personalize them. We conducted a large-scale study of 543 participants to investigate how different gamification user types responded to ten persuasive strategies depicted in storyboards representing persuasive gameful health systems. Our results reveal that people{\textquoteright}s gamification user types play significant roles in the perceived persuasiveness of different strategies. People scoring high in the {\textquoteleft}player{\textquoteright} user type tend to be motivated by competition, comparison, cooperation, and reward while {\textquoteleft}disruptors{\textquoteright} are likely to be demotivated by punishment, goal-setting, simulation, and self-monitoring. {\textquoteleft}Socialisers{\textquoteright} could be motivated using any of the strategies; they are the most responsive to persuasion overall. Finally, we contribute to CHI research and practice by offering design guidelines for tailoring persuasive gameful systems to each gamification user type.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174009}, author = {Rita Orji and Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18199, title = {A Theory of Gamification Principles Through Goal-Setting Theory}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)}, year = {2018}, pages = {1118-1127}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, abstract = {Goal-setting theory has been used for decades to explain how to motivate people to perform better in work-related tasks, but more recently gamification has also gained attention as an alternative method to increase engagement and performance in many contexts. However, despite goals and feedback being common elements of gameful implementations, there is a lack of literature explaining how gamification works through the lens of goal-setting theory or suggesting how goal-setting concepts and recommendations can be employed to improve gameful systems. Therefore, we present a literature review and a conceptual framework that establishes a relationship between goal-setting and gamification concepts. Next, we describe how this framework can help explain gamification principles and suggest potential improvements to current gameful design methods. Finally, we propose directions for future empirical research aimed to apply this conceptual framework in practice.}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10125/50027}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Hardy Premsukh and Lennart E. Nacke} } @article {18198, title = {Towards a Trait Model of Video Game Preferences}, journal = {International Journal of Human{\textendash}Computer Interaction}, volume = {34}, year = {2018}, pages = {732-748}, abstract = {Typologies for understanding players{\textquoteright} preferences toward different gameplay styles have gained popularity in research. However, attempts to model players{\textquoteright} preferences are based on type models instead of trait models, contrary to the latest personality research. One such model, BrainHex, was designed as an interim model to enable investigations toward a definitive player trait model. However, it lacks empirical validation in support of its psychometric properties. The present work analyzed a dataset with over 50,000 respondents to devise a player traits model based off the BrainHex scale. Results indicate three player traits: action, esthetic, and goal orientation. Furthermore, we analyzed the games listed by participants as examples of what they enjoy, to understand which factors influence player preferences. Results illustrate that the emergent player traits and participants{\textquoteright} genders and attitudes toward story can partially explain player preferences toward certain games. Finally, we present the implications toward a definitive player traits model.}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2018.1461765}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Deltcho Valtchanov and Adrian Reetz and Rina R. Wehbe and Rita Orji and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18203, title = {Towards Customizing Gameful Systems by Gameful Design Elements}, booktitle = {International Workshop on Personalizing in Persuasive Technologies (PPT{\textquoteright}18)}, year = {2018}, publisher = {CEUR-WS.org}, organization = {CEUR-WS.org}, abstract = {Recently, several researchers have suggested that personalized game-ful systems can be more effective than generic approaches. However, there is still scarce empirical evidence that the suggested factors for personalization, such as gender, age, user types, and personality traits, will be effective in im-proving user engagement and performance for personalized gameful systems. In this work-in-progress, we present a research plan for empirical evaluation of a customizable gameful system. Upon completion of this study, we expect to pro-vide empirical evidence that the participants{\textquoteright} selection of gameful design ele-ments in a practical application will correspond to the theorized relationships suggested by prior survey-based research, and that the system can suggest the gameful design elements that users are more likely to enjoy. The results of this research will provide an actionable path for gamification designers to imple-ment personalized gameful systems and for researchers to develop recommen-dation algorithms for gamification.}, url = {http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2089/11_Tondello.pdf}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18205, title = {Applying Gameful Design Heuristics}, booktitle = {Proceeding of the 2017 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, year = {2017}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {To evaluate gameful apps and games, we have recently developed a new set of guidelines for heuristic evaluation of gameful design in interactive systems, supporting the quickly growing gamification research area. Our set of 28 gamification heuristics allows rapid evaluation of a gameful system. This course will supply attendees with our gameful design heuristics and train them in using the heuristics on an example application (Duolingo). The course is structured into two 80-minute units, which will give the participants enough time to learn the new heuristics and apply them to the gamified application. Finally, at the end of the second unit, we will be discussing how to generate design ideas with the heuristics. The course instructors, Gustavo Tondello and Lennart Nacke, have both developed the gameful design heuristics and have experience in designing and evaluating gamified applications and teaching courses.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3027116}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18206, title = {CLEVER: A Gameful Enterprise Learning System}, booktitle = {1st International Workshop on Gamification and Games for Learning}, year = {2017}, publisher = {ULL}, organization = {ULL}, abstract = {Employees often lack the motivation to share their implicit knowledge with one another and are reluctant to engage in a collaborative forum for such knowledge exchange. To address this issue, we developed a gameful learning component of an enterprise knowledge management system (KMS) to help foster this process of collaborative and participatory learning. This paper introduces CLEVER, a serious game that combines trivia and strategy elements as game elements to motivate the players into knowledge exchange. Furthermore, we describe how CLEVER uses intrinsic and extrinsic motivational affordances to engage employees into enterprise knowledge learning.}, url = {https://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/4783}, author = {Dominic Elm and Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18207, title = {Elements of Gameful Design Emerging from User Preferences}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY {\textquoteright}17}, year = {2017}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Several studies have developed models to explain player preferences. These models have been developed for digital games; however, they have been frequently applied in gameful design (i.e., designing non-game applications with game elements) without empirical validation of their fit to this different context. It is not clear if users experience game elements embedded in applications similarly to how players experience them in games. Consequently, we still lack a conceptual framework of design elements built specifically for a gamification context. To fill this gap, we propose a classification of eight groups of gameful design elements produced from an exploratory factor analysis based on participants{\textquoteright} self-reported preferences. We describe the characteristics of the users who are more likely to enjoy each group of design elements in terms of their gender, age, gamification user type, and personality traits. Our main contribution is providing an overview of which design elements work best for what demographic clusters and how we can apply this knowledge to design effective gameful systems.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3116595.3116627}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Alberto Mora and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18204, title = {A Framework and Taxonomy of Videogame Playing Preferences}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY {\textquoteright}17}, year = {2017}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Player preferences for different gaming styles or game elements has been a topic of interest in human-computer interaction for over a decade. However, current models suggested by the extant literature are generally based on classifying abstract gaming motivations or player archetypes. These concepts do not directly map onto the building blocks of games, taking away from the utility of the findings. To address this issue, we propose a conceptual framework of player preferences based on two dimensions: game elements and game playing styles. To investigate these two concepts, we conducted an exploratory empirical investigation of player preferences, which allowed us to create a taxonomy of nine groups of game elements and five groups of game playing styles. These two concepts are foundational to games, which means that our model can be used by designers to create games that are tailored to their target audience. In addition, we demonstrate that there are significant effects of gender and age on participants{\textquoteright} preferences and discuss the implications of these findings.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3116595.3116629}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rina R. Wehbe and Rita Orji and Giovanni Ribeiro and Lennart E. Nacke} } @article {18208, title = {Incentives and Gamification}, journal = {XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students}, volume = {24}, year = {2017}, pages = {9-11}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3123766}, author = {Yannai A. Gonczarowski and Gustavo F. Tondello} } @conference {18209, title = {Positive Gaming: Workshop on Gamification and Games for Wellbeing}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY {\textquoteright}17 Extended Abstracts}, year = {2017}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Gamification and games have been used and studied in a variety of applications related with health and wellbeing. Nevertheless, there are very few studies aimed at designing games (whether serious games or recreational games) or gameful applications for improving wellbeing or flourishing {\textendash} the pursuit of a happy and meaningful life, rather than the avoidance of illness. Therefore, this full-day Workshop aims to form a community, discuss theoretical and practical considerations, and promote the development of research projects focused on {\textquotedblleft}Positive Gaming{\textquotedblright} {\textendash} the use of gamification and games as tools for realizing Positive Computing objectives. This will create the opportunities for interested researchers to form a common understanding, develop methods and procedures, and establish a roadmap for future research in Positive Gaming.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3130859.3131442}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rita Orji and Kellie Vella and Daniel Johnson and Marierose M.M. van Dooren and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18210, title = {Recommender Systems for Personalized Gamification}, booktitle = {Proceedings of UMAP{\textquoteright}17 Adjunct}, year = {2017}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Gamification has been used in a variety of application domains to promote behaviour change. Nevertheless, the mechanisms behind it are still not fully understood. Recent empirical results have shown that personalized approaches can potentially achieve better results than generic approaches. However, we still lack a general framework for building personalized gameful applications. To address this gap, we present a novel general framework for personalized gameful applications using recommender systems (i.e., software tools and technologies to recommend suggestions to users that they might enjoy). This framework contributes to understanding and building effective persuasive and gameful applications by describing the different building blocks of a recommender system (users, items, and transactions) in a personalized gamification context.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/3099023.3099114}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rita Orji and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18211, title = {Using technology to boost employee wellbeing? How gamification can help or hinder results}, booktitle = {Positive Gaming: Workshop on Gamification and Games for Wellbeing}, year = {2017}, publisher = {CEUR-WS.org}, organization = {CEUR-WS.org}, abstract = {Research can help improve the lives of employees by revealing ways in which technology can be leveraged to progress innovative, time and cost-effective ways to promote their wellbeing. However, even with the trends of building {\textquotedblleft}positive organizations{\textquotedblright} and promoting employees{\textquoteright} wellbeing using the latest technologies in today{\textquoteright}s best companies worldwide, there has been a lack of rigorous research to provide solid evidence for these decisions. In this review, we present a call for future research to integrate and test technologically facilitated positive psychology interventions with gamification elements to better understand how to minimize harm and promote user benefits. We review the current online positive psychology intervention research, which we argue provides a critical guide for the development of future wellbeing technology. We also explore how gamification shows promise for promoting the benefits of positive psychology interventions (e.g., user enjoyment, autonomous motivation), as well as areas where gamification can pose a threat to wellbeing. There may be a fine line between harmful and helpful wellbeing solutions in our connected and technologically driven world of work; research now needs to uncover where to draw that line.}, url = {http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2055/paper5.pdf}, author = {Ekaterina Pogrebtsova and Gustavo F. Tondello and Hardy Premsukh and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18212, title = {ABOVE WATER: An Educational Game for Anxiety}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Extended Abstracts - CHI PLAY EA {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {We present Above Water - a digital/physical hybrid game to inform people about the available strategies to cope with two types of Anxiety Disorders - Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. The game teaches players about existing treatments. This hybrid game is designed to inspire players to share their experiences and develop their own personal narrative. The document also outlines an assessment strategy to study the game and determine its effectiveness as a game for health. The game is designed to educate non-institutionalized individuals with clinical anxiety and panic disorder. Potential players may be diagnosed, seeking intervention information, or a supportive friend.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2968120.2971804}, author = {Rina R. Wehbe and Diane K. Watson and Gustavo F. Tondello and Marim Ganaba and Melissa Stocco and Alvin Lee and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18213, title = {ABOVE WATER: Extending the Play Space for Health}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces - ISS {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, abstract = {ABOVE WATER is a game that disseminates information about Clinical Anxiety Disorders, particularly Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. This game focuses on teaching players about treatments as well as providing a safe space for discussion of personal experiences. This game focuses on using the physical world (physical space, physical and tangible cards) and the digital world (accessible by any phone or tablet with a modern web browser) as part of its gameplay.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2992154.2996882}, author = {Rina R. Wehbe and Diane K. Watson and Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18214, title = {CHI PLAYGUE: A Mobile Conference Networking Game}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces - ISS {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Modern professional networking relies on social media. To take advantage of this fact, we present CHI PLAYGUE, a conference game designed to facilitate interaction among strangers and encourage social networking to create a community. The game integrates digital technology (mobile devices and large displays) within the space of the conference venue, combined with a mixed-reality narrative and people{\textquoteright}s social interactions to facilitate the emergence of social dynamics. By providing a platform for large-scale, playful interaction, the game creates an experience that fosters the development of mutually beneficial, personal, and professional relationships among players.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2992154.2996870}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rina R. Wehbe and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18215, title = {CLEVER: A Trivia and Strategy Game for Enterprise Knowledge Learning}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Extended Abstracts - CHI PLAY EA {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Knowledge management (KM) includes the acquisition, sharing, and dissemination of knowledge within a company. The problem with many enterprise KM systems is that they are complex and hardly used, because workers lack motivation to engage in a collaborative process of knowledge sharing and learning. To address this, we developed a gameful learning component of an enterprise KM system (KMS). Our game features an innovative combination of trivia and strategy elements, put together to afford motivation within a KMS. It can be played by employees in the same organization to foster collaborative knowledge exchange and learning.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2968120.2971805}, author = {Dominic Elm and Gustavo F. Tondello and Dennis L. Kappen and Marim Ganaba and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18217, title = {The Gamification User Types Hexad Scale}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Several studies have indicated the need for personalizing gamified systems to users{\textquoteright} personalities. However, mapping user personality onto design elements is difficult. Hexad is a gamification user types model that attempts this mapping but lacks a standard procedure to assess user preferences. Therefore, we created a 24-items survey response scale to score users{\textquoteright} preferences towards the six different motivations in the Hexad framework. We used internal and test-retest reliability analysis, as well as factor analysis, to validate this new scale. Further analysis revealed significant associations of the Hexad user types with the Big Five personality traits. In addition, a correlation analysis confirmed the framework{\textquoteright}s validity as a measure of user preference towards different game design elements. This scale instrument contributes to games user research because it enables accurate measures of user preference in gamification.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2967934.2968082}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rina R. Wehbe and Lisa Diamond and Marc Busch and Andrzej Marczewski and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18216, title = {Heuristic Evaluation for Gameful Design}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Extended Abstracts - CHI PLAY EA {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Despite the emergence of many gameful design methods in the literature, there is a lack of evaluation methods specific to gameful design. To address this gap, we present a new set of guidelines for heuristic evaluation of gameful design in interactive systems. First, we review several gameful design methods to identify the dimensions of motivational affordances most often employed. Then, we present a set of 28 gamification heuristics aimed at enabling experts to rapidly evaluate a gameful system. The resulting heuristics are a new method to evaluate user experience in gameful interactive systems.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2968120.2987729}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Dennis L. Kappen and Elisa D. Mekler and Marim Ganaba and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18218, title = {\“The Collecting Itself Feels Good\”: Towards Collection Interfaces for Digital Game Objects}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play - CHI PLAY {\textquoteright}16}, year = {2016}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Digital games offer a variety of collectible objects. We investigate players{\textquoteright} collecting behaviors in digital games to determine what digital game objects players enjoyed collecting and why they valued these objects. Using this information, we seek to inform the design of future digital game object collection interfaces. We discuss the types of objects that players prefer, the reasons that players value digital game objects, and how collection behaviors may guide play. Through our findings, we identify design implications for digital game object collection interfaces: enable object curation, preserve rules and mechanics, preserve context of play, and allow players to share their collections with others. Digital game object collection interfaces are applicable to the design of digital games, gamified applications, and educational software.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2967934.2968088}, author = {Zachary O. Toups and Nicole K. Crenshaw and Rina R. Wehbe and Gustavo F. Tondello and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18219, title = {CHI PLAYGUE: A Networking Game of Emergent Sociality}, booktitle = {Proceedings of CHI PLAY 2015}, year = {2015}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Modern professional networking is heavily reliant on social media. In recognition of this trend, we present CHI PLAYGUE, a conference game designed to facilitate interaction among strangers and encourage social networking to create a community. The game facilitates the emergence of social dynamics related to trust, allegiance, betrayal, selective interaction, and long- term strategic cooperation. By providing a platform for large-scale playful interaction, we will create an experience that will foster the development of mutually beneficial personal and professional relationships among players.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2793107.2810265}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rina R. Wehbe and Samantha N. Stahlke and Amanda Leo and Rylan Koroluk and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18220, title = {The HEXAD Gamification User Types Questionnaire: Background and Development Process}, booktitle = {Workshop on Personalization in Serious and Persuasive Games and Gamified Interactions}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The HEXAD gamification user types are attempting a segmentation of users based on their receptivity to varying gamification strategies. The underlying model is based on research on human motivation, player types, and years of practical design experiences. This model presents the first typology to classify users of gamified systems, enabling clustering them based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. The HEXAD model is comprised of the following six gamification user types: Socializers, Free Spirits, Achievers, Philanthropists, Players, and Disruptors. We have developed a questionnaire to assess how a user is represented by the different gamification user types. The following paper will present the development process of the questionnaire. Application venues will be discussed.}, author = {Lisa Diamond and Gustavo F. Tondello and Andrzej Marczewski and Lennart E. Nacke and Manfred Tscheligi} } @conference {18221, title = {Toward Understanding Why Players Value In-Game Collections}, booktitle = {Workshop on Personalization in Serious and Persuasive Games and Gamified Interactions}, year = {2015}, author = {Zachary O. Toups and Gustavo F. Tondello and Rina R. Wehbe and Lennart E. Nacke and Nicole K. Crenshaw} } @conference {18222, title = {Towards a Personalized Playful Digital Wellness Assistant}, booktitle = {Workshop on Personalization in Serious and Persuasive Games and Gamified Interactions}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Positive effects of using digital games to improve personal health have been studied, but it remains unclear which game design techniques are most successful at motivating and changing long-term behaviour to improve wellbeing. To inform the design of gamified and effective personal healthcare, we will develop design guidelines and tools for gameful health and wellbeing applications, personalized to the needs and challenges of each individual user.}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Rina R. Wehbe and Lennart E. Nacke} } @conference {18223, title = {Understanding Player Attitudes Towards Digital Game Objects}, booktitle = {Proceedings of CHI PLAY 2015}, year = {2015}, publisher = {ACM}, organization = {ACM}, abstract = {Humans collect; we examine this behavior in digital game contexts to understand how players{\textquoteright} penchant for collecting items can inform game design. As part of an ongoing research agenda to understand player atti- tudes towards digital game objects, we conducted an online survey about player habits with interviews as future work. We present an initial analysis of our data. Our findings suggest that players value game objects most in Role-Playing Games (RPGs). Utility and Enjoy- ment were cited as the main reasons for a digital game objects{\textquoteright} value, followed by Investment, Self-Expression and Memory. Dyes or color-changing features; physical placement adjustments; and naming or name-changing features were the most frequent personalization fea- tures desired for game object customization. We aim to improve game design through a deep understanding of player motivations regarding their game objects.}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1145/2793107.2810292}, author = {Gustavo F. Tondello and Wehbe, Rina R. and Zachary O. Toups and Lennart E. Nacke and Nicole K. Crenshaw} }