In recent years, different studies have proposed and validated user models
(e.g., Bartle, BrainHex, and Hexad) to represent the different user profiles in
games and gamified settings. However, the results of applying these user models
in practice (e.g., to personalize gamified systems) are still contradictory.
One of the hypotheses for these results is that the user types can change over
time (i.e., user types are dynamic). To start to understand whether user types
can change over time, we conducted an exploratory study analyzing data from 74
participants to identify if their user type (Achiever, Philanthropist,
Socialiser, Free Spirit, Player, and Disruptor) had changed over time (six
months). The results indicate that there is a change in the dominant user type
of the participants, as well as the average scores in the Hexad sub-scales.
These results imply that all the scores should be considered when defining the
Hexad's user type and that the user types are dynamic. Our results contribute
with practical implications, indicating that the personalization currently made
(generally static) may be insufficient to improve the users' experience,
requiring user types to be analyzed continuously and personalization to be done
dynamically.Comment: 5th International GamiFIN Conference 2021 (GamiFIN 2021), April 7-10,
2021, Finlan
