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 the task, can influence gamification outcomes.
Given how user qualities shape the gameful experience, it is important to understand how to personalize gameful systems. 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 this kind of system, designers need a specific method to guide them in personalizing the gameful experience to their target audience.
This talk describes a method for personalized gameful design with three steps: (1) classification of user preferences, (2) classification and selection of gameful design elements, and (3) heuristic evaluation of the design. Furthermore, it 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.
Our personalized gameful design method provides practical tools and clear guidelines to help designers effectively build personalized gameful systems.