Games and persuasion: changing people’s

behaviour for good?

Vanissa Wanick

v.w.vieira@soton.ac.uk

Seminar – Contemporary Issues in Games

2017

Hello!I’m Vanissa Wanick and I’m a designer and researcher from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.

WSA PhD student

#gamesUR enthusiast <3

UI/UX designer (lots of UI work!)

Research interests: collective intelligence in games, critical games, persuasive games, cross-cultural studies and sustainability

www.vanissawanick.com

Love Zelda games <3

2006 2009 2013 2017

BA Graphic Design MBA Business Marketing PhD games at WSA

Agenda and Topics

10:00h -10:15h Why games for behaviour

change?

10:15h -10:45h Advergames, anti-advergames,

politics, and sustainability

10:45h -11:00h The role of culture

11:00h-11:20h What is good game UI?

11:20h-11:25h Using game UI to design

relevant experiences

Let’s watch a video

http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/videos.html

https://youtu.be/IGQmdoK_ZfYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Dg-06nrnc

“

We're not as rational as we

would like to think.

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/behaviour_review_theory.pdf/$FILE/behaviour_review_theory.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/behavioural-insights/behaviour-change-sustainability-debate

Changing world

• Politics

• Environment / consumer behaviour

• Health, well-being

• Water

• Education

• Peace and all the SDGs…

Why games and behaviour?

Stopping smoking, adopting a healthy

diet and being more physically active…

https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world

Epic wins!

What are persuasive games?

• Persuasive games vs.

persuasive

technologies

• Games = communication

tools – it is

about

arguments

http://persuasivegames.com/games/

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph6

Advergames

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-6C1elTl8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phm_jBVw8ag&list=PL3F1542E9B3C58D4C

This is just one example, the research is not focused on “Fanta” (brand)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.br.com.sioux.fantacomicbookmobile&hl=en

Advergames and consumer behaviour

Anti-advergames

http://thebehaviorists.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/advergaming.html

Games for good/change

http://www.playsweatshop.com/

http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/

Games for sustainability

http://www.games4sustainability.org/

Games for health

https://gamesforhealth.org/http://www.re-mission.net/

Are all games persuasive?

What are the main challenges?

• Choice or exploitationware?

• Norms and rules

• Attitude-behaviour gap

(cognitive dissonance)

• Values

• Design!!

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134735/persuasive_games_exploitationware.php

Value exchange systems?

Games Playervalue

Value exchange systems?

Games Playervalue

trust

relevance

respect

“

“digital games—like other technologies and

like social practices, systems, and

institutions—have values embedded in them” –

Flanagan & Nissanbaum, 2014

“

“Values are properties of things and states

of affairs that we care about and strive to

attain. They are similar to goals, purposes,

and ends, but usually they possess a higher

degree of gravitas and permanence, and they

tend to be more abstract and general” –

Flanagan & Nissanbaum, 2014

Value sensitive design

• Deals with the moral

perspective (e.g., privacy,

security, trust, human dignity,

physical and psychological

wellbeing)

• Conventions, personal

preferences, usability

http://www.vsdesign.org/

“

“the meaning of a game, of any game, lies in its rules, as presented to players who

experience them by means of simulation fever; that is, completing the meaning of the game

communicated through rules using their player repertoire (Juul, 2005)” - Miguel Sicart, 2011

http://gamestudies.org/1103/articles/sicart_ap

How to incorporate value?

• You could make things relevant

• Respect player’s values

• Think about a value-centred

approach

Let’s watch a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78rPt0RsosQ&index=9&list=FLB3TE4oZb0GDLv7I0JpcSCw

Around the 6min

“

“Designers’ intentions matter but are not

fully determinative; unintended values may

be served in spite of these intentions, and

intended values may fall flat.” – Flanagan &

Nissanbaum, 2014

Example

http://valuesatplay.org/grow-a-game-overview

2 quick videos

https://youtu.be/1wW5XAQj6fA https://youtu.be/bzmqSLu9R-I

Let’s talk about culture

Why culture is important?

• It mediates behaviour

• It is about norms, rules

• It is implicit

• It is about shared values and

beliefs

“

“Culture is not genetically inherited, and

cannot exist on its own, but is always

shared by members of a society”

- Hall, 1976

Culture mediates behaviour

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/behaviour_review_theory.pdf/$FILE/behaviour_review_theory.pdf

What about culture and games?

• Localisation

• Adaptation

• Significance

• Relevance

• Meaning

Reference: Khaled et al. (2009)

Game generates meaning

1. Narrative premise and goals

2. Characters

3. Actions in game

4. Player choice

5. Rules for interaction with other players and nonplayable characters

6. Rules for interaction with the environment

7. Point of view

8. Hardware

9. Interface

10. Game engine and software

11. Context of play

12. Rewards

13. Strategies

14. Game maps

15. Aesthetics

Flanagan & Nissanbaum, 2014

Example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx-gZD-OJEo

More adaptations…

One way is through game UI

• UI = User interface

• The “Interface” mediates

players’ interactions with the

game (Flanagan & Nissanbaum,

2014)

https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/game-ui-by-example-a-crash-course-in-the-good-and-the-bad--gamedev-3943

Jørgensen (2013)

“

“A good UI tells you what you need to know,

and then gets out of the way.”

https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/game-ui-by-example-a-crash-course-in-the-good-and-the-bad--gamedev-3943

What is good UI?

• Heuristics

• Research

• Visuals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2w6EEvB6o4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNEw_bKRJKw

One strategy for games UI: Semiotics

• Study of signs and symbols

• Iconic references (representation of the

product)

• Indicial references (associations)

• Symbolic references (the actual graphic)

Discussion

• Can we design games for “good”

behaviour?

• Do you think it is useful?

• What is the role of the game

designer in this context?

Understanding

• Cultural Nuances

– National Cultural Dimensions

– Cultural Appropriateness

• Addressing Design

• Language

– Language impact on Layout

– Translation options

• Technical Issues

• Individual Needs

http://localisation.atbar.or

g/

Some nice books

References

• Bernal-Merino, M. Á. (2011). A brief history of game localisation. Trans, (15), 11-17.

• Walz, S. P., & Deterding, S. (2015). The Gameful World: Approaches, Issues, Applications. Mit Press.

• Juul, J., & Revolution, A. C. (2009). Reinventing Video Games and Their Players.

• McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin.

• Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames. Mit Press.

• Furstenberg et al., (2001). Giving a virtual voice to the silent language of culture: The CULTURA project http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/furstenberg

• LeDoux, J. (2002). Synaptic self: How our brains become who we are. New York: Penguin.

• Thorne, S.L., (2003a). Artefacts and cultures-of-use in interculturalcommunication http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/thorne

• Crystal, D. (2001) Language and the Internet (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

• O’Dowd, R. (2001) In search of a truly global network: hhtp://callej.org/journal/3-1/o_dowd.html

• Marcoccia, M. (2012) The internet, intercultural communication and cultural variation. Language and Intercultural Communication, 12:4, 353-36 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2012.722101

• Ersoz, S. (2009) Cultures in Cyberspace: Interpersonal communication in a computer-mediated environment http://maltepe.academia.edu/SelvaEesoz/Papers/563123/Cultures_in_cyberspace_interpersonal_communication_in_a_computer-mediated_Envrionment

• Würtz, E. (2005). A cross-cultural analysis of websites from high-context cultures and low-context cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1), article 13.http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.html

• Usunier, J. C. (2000). International marketing. A Cultural Approach, New York.

• Marcus, A., & Gould, E. W. (2000). Crosscurrents: cultural dimensions and global Web user-interface design. interactions, 7(4), 32-46.

References

V. W. V. thanks the program Science Without Borders, managed by

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES),

Brazil, for grants provided for this research

Thank you!

Vanissa WanickInteraction designer and researcherPhD candidate in DesignWSA – University of Southamptonv.w.vieira@soton.ac.uk

vanissawanick.com/research

Ashok Ranchhod, Gary Willsa.ranchhod@soton.ac.uk, gbw@soton.ac.uk

http://www.thegamesdesignhub/