WORK

PLAY

MEETS

GAME DESIGN in the WORKPLACE

KES SAMPANTHAR

BUSINESS MEETS DESIGN

BUSINESS LOGIC MEETS GAME DESIGN

WHY DOES BUSINESS CARE ABOUT

GAMES?

GAMES ARE

FUN!!

GAMES ARE

ADDICTIVE

GAMES ARE

IMMERSIVE

WHAT ABOUT WORK ?

WORK IS DULL

WORK IS

BORING

WORK IS

URGGHH!

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LOST YOURSELF AT

WORK?

NO… REALLY

LOST YOURSELF!

GAMES

FUNWORK

NOT

AREN’T GAMES JUST FOR KIDS?

THE TRUSTED CHOICE FOR ONLINE BUSINESS™

Page 16

49%

25%26% 18 - 49 years50+ years

Under 18 years

Source: ESA ‘Essential Facts’ 2008

35Average Age of Game Player

YOUR EMPLOYEES PLAY GAMES!

GAMES HAVE CHANGED!

THESE AREN’T GRANMA’S GAMES!

GAMES HAVE EVOLVED!

THESE GAMES CAN BE PLAYED FOR…

DAYS

THESE GAMES CAN BE PLAYED FOR…

WEEKS

THESE GAMES CAN BE PLAYED FOR…

MONTHS

THESE GAMES CAN BE PLAYED FOR…

YEARS

THESE GAMES CAN BE PLAYED FOR…

MILLENIUMS

OK… MAYBE NOT THAT LONG…

MILLENIUMS

BUT… PEOPLE LIVE IN THESE GAMES …

SO… WHAT MAKES GAMES

FUN?

THEORY

TIMEFOR

SOME

DON’T FALL ASLEEP YET!

BRAINS

UNDERSTAND

GAMES

UNDERSTAND

GAME DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS

FLOW IS THE MENTAL STATE OF

BEING FULLY IMMERSED IN AN

ACTIVITY

PROPOSED BY MIHALY

CSIKSZENTMIHALYI AFTER

RESEARCHING ARTISTS

CHALLENGE

SKILLS

ANXIETY

BOREDOM

NOT IN FLOW

If the challenge and skills don’t match you get ANXIETY OR BOREDOM

CHALLENGE

SKILLS

FLOW BALANCES SKILLS & CHALLEN

GES

Pre-Requisites of Flow1. A challenging Activity that

requires skills2. Clear Goals3. Clear Feedback4. Control

Results of Flow1. Autotelic – an activity that is

pleasurable in its self2. Concentration3. Loss of self consciousness4. Transformation of time

8 PRINCIPLES OF FLOW

Classical Conditioning - Operant Behavior

•Positive Reinforcements i.e. Pavlov’s Dog•Negative Reinforcements

CONDITIONING

CONDITIONING

BUT… HOW DO YOU MAKE PEOPLE

DROOL?

“It’s surprising how many developers forget that it’s the victories and treasures –not the obstacles– that make people interested in playing in the first place. If you stop giving out carrots that will keep players excited, or even worse, if you start punishing curiosity, you’re only going to drive away the very people who want to enjoy games” –

Neal and Jana Hallford

WINNING

REWARDS

Rewards of Glory – End goals, Winning the game

Rewards of Sustenance – The rewards for maintenance – i.e. food, health packs etc.

Rewards of Access – Access new levels, resources

Rewards of Facility – Reward with new abilities, tools etc.

Fixed Reinforcement – Rewards occur at a steady pace.

•Fixed ratio – rewarded a fixed number of times•Fixed Interval – rewarded at a fixed interval

Variable ReinforcementRewards happening at an irregular interval

•Variable Ratio – the outcome happens after an irregular number of times (Training dolphins to jump)•Variable Interval – rewards happen at a variable amount of time

REWARD SCHEDULES

GAMBLING

IS THIS WHY GAMBLING IS ADDICTIVE?

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

SO… PLAY POKER AT WORK?

NO!

THINK USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

UX

UX PLUS

PLUS

UX

UX PLUS…

PLUS

UX

UX PLUS FUN

PLUS

UXFUN

FUN

FUN

FUN

FUN

TIONAL DESIGN

FUNXTIONAL DESIGN

1. Fixed & Variable Reinforcement

2. Challenges3. Goals4. Feedback5. Control

MIX MATCH&GAME ELEMENTS

FUN

EXAMPLES

FUNX EXAMPLES

TETRIS EMAIL

NEXT PIECE

HIGH SCORE

1,223,560

TETRIS

Use Tetris to design email processing game

STUFF IN

ACTIONABLE ?

NO

YESFILE DO DELEGAT

EDEFE

R

Getting Things Done – Time Management Framework

GETTING THINGS DONE

NEXT MAIL

TIMER23 mins 54 secs

TETRI-MAIL

HIGH SCORES

FILE

READ

ROLE PLAYING GAME (RPG)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

ROLE PLAYING GAME (RPG)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

QUESTS PROJECTSMINI QUESTS TASKS

REWARDS DELIVERABLESPOINTS MBO’S

FUN

FUNXTIONAL DESIGN

WHERE BUSINESS MEETS GAMES

THIS IDEA WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY TH!NKCUBE

KES SAMPANTHAR