Two Sides of the Same Coin? Insights on Motivational Information Systems and Goal Achievement From a User and Firm Perspective

Immer mehr Menschen integrieren Motivationale Informationssysteme (z. B. Ernährungs- Apps, Fitness-Tracker oder Webseiten zur Selbstoptimierung) in ihren Alltag. Solche Systeme nutzen Designprinzipien von hedonischen Diensten (wie z. B. Spielen und sozialen Netzwerken), um den Nutzern eine motivationale Unterstützung zu bieten und das System-Engagement zu erhöhen. Folglich versprechen Motivationale Informationssysteme, eine Win-Win-Situation für ihre Anbieter und Nutzer zu schaffen, indem sie die Ziele beider Stakeholder erfüllen. Die vorliegende Arbeit widmet sich den Fragen, ob Motivationale Informationssysteme tatsächlich die Erreichung von Benutzer- und Unternehmenszielen unterstützen und wie sie das Benutzerverhalten beeinflussen. Die in dieser Dissertation enthaltenen Artikel beleuchten diese Forschungsfragen, indem sie den Einfluss verschiedener Arten von Systemdesign (z. B. soziale Interdependenzstrukturen) und durch Systemnutzung geförderte Erlebnisse (z. B. eigene Weiterentwicklung, sozialer Vergleich) auf nutzer- (z. B. Engagement) und unternehmensgewinnbringende Verhaltensweisen (z. B. Zahlungsbereitschaft, Weiterempfehlungen) sowie deren Folgen (z. B. Leistungssteigerung, Wohlbefinden) unter Berücksichtigung verschiedener psychologischer Prozesse (z. B. Regulationsstile, Zielorientierungen) untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, über verschiedene Dienstleistungskontexte hinweg, dass Motivationale Informationssysteme zwar meist die Ziele von Nutzern und Unternehmen unterstützen, jedoch auch unerwartete negative Effekte mit dem Einsatz von Motivationalen Informationssystemen einhergehen können. Darüber hinaus können Motivationale Informationssysteme Aktivitäten "unterhaltsamer" machen, indem sie menschlichen Grundbedürfnisse befriedigen, sie können aber auch ungewollten "Leistungsdruck" auf ihre Benutzer ausüben. Zusammenfassend zeigen die in dieser Arbeit dargelegten Ergebnisse, dass Motivationale Informationssysteme ihr Versprechen einlösen können, eine Win-Win-Situation für alle Stakeholder zu schaffen.More and more people are integrating motivational information systems (e.g., nutrition apps, fitness trackers or self-improvement websites) in their everyday lives. Such systems utilize design principles from hedonic services (i.e., games and social networks) to provide users with motivational support and enhance system engagement. Accordingly, motivational information systems promise to create a win-win situation for their providers and users in which they fulfill the goals of both stakeholders. This thesis is devoted to reveal whether motivational information systems actually support the achievement of user and firm goals and how they drive user behavior. The included articles in this dissertation shed light on these questions by examining the impact of different types of system design (e.g., social interdependence structures) and motivational information system-facilitated user experiences (e.g., self-development, social comparison) on user-beneficial (e.g., engagement) and firm-beneficial behaviors (e.g., willingness to pay more, word-of-mouth) as well as their outcomes (e.g., performance, well-being) under the consideration of different psychological processes (e.g., regulation styles, goal orientations). The findings across various service contexts reveal that while motivational information systems mostly support user and firm goals, unexpected downside effects can reside with their use. Furthermore, motivational information systems are likely to make activities “fun” by satisfying users’ inherent human desires, but they can also “pressure” their users to perform. In sum, the findings presented in this thesis show that motivational information systems can fulfill their promise to create a win-win situation for all stakeholders.2021-03-1

Fictional Game Elements: Critical Perspectives on Gamification Design

Gamification has been widely accepted in the HCI community in the last few years. However, the current debate is focused on its short-term consequences, such as effectiveness and usefulness, while its side-effects, long-term criticalities and systemic impacts are rarely raised. This workshop will explore the gamification design space from a critical perspective, by using design fictions to help researchers reflect on the long-term consequences of their designs

Gamification, Geolocation and Sensors for Employee Motivation Towards Energy Conservation at the Workplace

In an era of significant technological advancements, as well as dramatic changes in the business environment, the state of the workforce seems to remain problematic, with regards to motivation. Albeit prevailing societal clichés, that often seem to promote the idea that ‘the modern workplace provides for a far better experience than in the past’; the truth remains that modern employees bear a significant resemblance to their ancestors – regarding the emotional burden their jobs instil on them – and remain, in their majority, unmotivated. Gamification, a relatively new instrument in the “orchestra of motivation”, offers a promising alternative to the strict corporate rules and policies that usually dictate the employees’ conduct, by adhering to their intrinsic motivation. Simultaneously, two promising technological giants have risen, to invisibly, as well as ubiquitously accompany us in our every move. On one hand, the advancement of geolocation technologies has led to the introduction of location-based services and custom content delivery. On the other hand, sensors of all types and flavours, installed to measure countless parameters of our surroundings, the workplace included. Through our study, we aim to investigate the effect of the application of these three technologies – Gamification, Geolocation and Sensors – isolated, or in concert, on employee motivation towards a common goal – energy conservation at the workplace

Gameful Experience Questionnaire (GAMEFULQUEST): an instrument for measuring the perceived gamefulness of system use

In this paper, we present the development and validation of an instrument for measuring users’ gameful experience while using a service. Either intentionally or unintentionally, systems and services are becoming increasingly gamified and having a gameful experience is progressively important for the user’s overall experience of a service. Gamification refers to the transformation of technology to become more game-like, with the intention of evoking similar positive experiences and motivations that games do (the gameful experience) and affecting user behavior. In this study, we used a mixed-methods approach to develop an instrument for measuring the gameful experience. In a first qualitative study, we developed a model of the gameful experience using data from a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions posed to users of Zombies, Run!, Duolingo, and Nike+ Run Club. In a second study, we developed the instrument and evaluated its dimensionality and psychometric properties using data from users of Zombies, Run! (N = 371). Based on the results of this second study, we further developed the instrument in a third study using data from users of Duolingo (N = 507), in which we repeated the assessment of dimensionality and psychometric properties, this time including confirmation of the model. As a result of this work, we devised GAMEFULQUEST, an instrument that can be used to model and measure an individual user’s gameful experience in systems and services, which can be used for user-adapted gamification and for informing user-modeling research within a gamification context.</p

Responsible innovation at work: gamification, public engagement, and privacy by design

Public engagement is crucial to strengthen responsibility frameworks in highly innovative contexts, including as part of business organisations. One particular innovation that calls for public engagement is gamification. Gamification fosters changes in working practices to improve the organisation, efficiency and productivity of a business by introducing gratification and engagement mechanisms in non-gaming contexts. Gamification modifies the workforce’s perception of constraints and stimulates the voluntary assumption of best practices to the benefit of employees and enterprises alike. Here, we broadly discuss the use of gamification at work. Indeed, gamification raises several concerns about privacy, due to the massive collection, storage and processing of data, and about the freedom of employees: as the level of data protection decreases, so too does workers’ self-determination. We argue that the implementation of privacy by design can not only strengthen autonomy via data protection but also develop more viable instances of RRI in accordance with human rights

Gamification as an Architecture of Participation: An Investigation of an Innovation Maker Community

The objective of this study is to investigate gamification as an architecture of participation in an online innovation community. Gamification is a phenomenon that aims to motivate people through the use of game elements and dynamics in non-game contexts. An architecture of participation (AoP) can be understood as any system that helps transform individual activities into communal resources. The research is a case study of the innovation community Thingiverse. The study seeks to identify the game elements used by the community and seeks to explain how the psychological and social consequences of the game elements lead individuals to engage in behaviours that create value for the innovation community

Fictional game elements 2016

Gamification has been widely accepted in the HCI community in the last few years. However, the current debate is focused on its short-term consequences, such as effectiveness and usefulness, while its side-effects, long-term criticalities and systemic impacts are rarely raised. This workshop explores the gamification design space from a critical perspective, by using design fictions to help researchers reflect on the long-term consequences of their designs