Non-game Contexts Research Articles

GAMIFICATION IN E-COMMERCE: ADVANTAGES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE TRENDS

Over the last decades, gamification has become increasingly used, its benefits being also recognized by a large cluster of e-Commerce providers and consumers. By applying game mechanics and techniques to non-game contexts, gamification certainly has the potential to devise more compelling and enjoyable experiences for customers, motivating them to complete desired actions and behaviors. The current research aims to highlight the advantages, challenges, and future trends of gamification integration in e-Commerce, starting by emphasizing the interest on the analyzed topic from the scientific research perspective and subsequently offering a better understanding on the phenomenon evolution. However, in order to achieve the stated research objective, the process implied approaching three well-known and easy-to-understand analysis tools, namely the SWOT, VRIO and PESTLE instruments, applied from the company s perspective, relative to the general framework. Finally, the paper examines the future trends of gamification in e-Commerce, mainly considering the tech evolution, but also the different generations characteristics. Emerging technologies such as AI, AR/VR, wearables, IoT, blockchain, and others were mentioned as instruments that can be used to create even more immersive and personalized gamification experiences for customers. Overall, the present study demonstrates that gamification represents a long-term valuable strategy for e-Commerce platforms looking to increase customer engagement and loyalty. However, successful gamification requires careful planning, user testing, and ongoing optimization to ensure that it aligns with business goals and customer needs. The future of gamification in e-Commerce will be driven by emerging technologies that can create even more customer-shaped experiences, characterizing gamification as an essential stratagem for e-Commerce businesses aiming to stay ahead of the competition.

Design Elements of Conflict: A Design Study of a Gamified Smartphone Application for Employee Onboarding

AbstractGamification, the use of game-like elements in non-game contexts, has gained popularity in the field of human resources. However, little research has been conducted on the use of gamification in the employee onboarding process, specifically in terms of socializing and assimilating new employees into an organization. This study aimed to explore the design, development, and implementation of a gamified smartphone application for employee onboarding in a manufacturing company. Ethnographic data was collected over the course of 60 weeks through participation at various field sites and analyzed using thematical analysis with a human-centered design focus, examining the meaning attributed to the gamified application by different stakeholders within the organization. The results showed that different stakeholder groups attributed different and sometimes conflicting meanings to various design elements. The key finding was the identification of four bipolar design dimensions that both supported and hindered the design among stakeholders. These findings have both academic and practical implications for the design of future gamified employee onboarding tools in large enterprises.

The Use of Gamification in Teaching Writing Skills to Junior High Students | Istikhdām Al Tal’īb Fī Ta’līm Mahārah Al Kitābah Lada Thullāb Al Madāris Al Muthawassithah

Writing as a language skill is still considered a language skill that is categorized as very difficult. Various kinds of problems arise in learning to write Arabic because writing skills are skills that combine various disciplines. Therefore, teachers must continually innovate in the learning process, such as choosing a learning model or using various learning methods, one of which is gamification-based Arabic learning. Gamification is a modern educational strategy popular in the West, namely educational stimulation by applying game elements and principles in non-game contexts. This article describes Gamification's use in teaching high school students writing skills. The research method used is the descriptive method with the desk research method. The results of the study show that the use of Gamification in teaching writing skills can improve the quality of learning, especially in Arabic, so that students can master writing skills in an easy and fun way, and can lead to the development of teaching writing skills in a social context following their interests, motivations, and needs Student. This study recommends further research to test the effectiveness of Gamification on other Arabic language skills with a more varied research method.

Understanding the potential policy transfer of gamification schemes for behaviour change in public transport and road safety

There is a long history in transport of implementing travel demand management (TDM) to manage users' behaviour. Recently, gamified interventions have been proposed as a better way to incentivise users to participate in TDM interventions. The concept of gamified design uses game design elements in non-game contexts. However, transport is complex and diverse and it is not clear whether gamified design is transferable between different transport applications such as increasing public transport use and improving road safety. The research question of this study is to investigate policy transfer effects of different gamified design applications. In order to explore this research question, this study designed two stated preference surveys with the same gamified design concepts but applied in two fields, including public transport with the aim to relieve congestion and for young drivers with the aim to improve road safety. Both surveys are held in Queensland, Australia. A multinomial logit modelling approach was used for both case studies. The marginal effect results were cross compared to draw out policy implications and potential policy transfer effects. The paper concludes that some users' attitudes and perceptions are transferrable, and gamified schemes are not particularly favoured. In particular, it is clear that irrespective of transport field, the design of a scheme for vehicle users must understand participants’ intentions and that this is more important than capturing their beliefs.

Evaluating the User Experience of a Gamification-Based Moodle LMS

Gamification is the integration of game mechanics in non-gaming contexts, such as education, to enhance motivation and engagement. This study aimed to evaluate the usability of a gamification-based Moodle learning management system (LMS) by having 48 computer science students aged between 15 and 24 years perform tasks and provide feedback on the System Usability Scale (SUS). 29 participants provided feedback, with 18 having prior LMS experience and 11 reporting no prior experience. An Independent Samples T-Test determined that there was no significant difference in System Usability Scale scores between male and female groups or between experienced and non-experienced groups. This suggests that gender and prior experience with an LMS do not affect the perceived usability of a gamification-based Moodle LMS.

Educational Game on Cryptocurrency Investment: Using Microeconomic Decision-Making to Understand Macroeconomics Principles

Gamification is an effective strategy for motivating and engaging users, which is grounded in business, marketing, and management by designing games in nongame contexts. Gamifying education, which consists of the design and study of educational games, is an emerging trend. However, the existing classroom games for understanding macroeconomics have weak connections to the microfoundations of individual decision-making. We design an educational game on cryptocurrency investment for understanding macroeconomic concepts in microeconomic decisions. We contribute to the literature by designing game-based learning that engages students in understanding macroeconomics in incentivized individual investment decisions. Our game can be widely implemented in online, in-person, and hybrid classrooms. We also reflect on strategies for improving the user experience for future educational game implementations.

The Effect of Artificial Intelligence and Gamification on Online Purchase Intention Mediated by Customer Experience: Study on Indonesian Marketplace Users

Objectives: This study aims to analyze the effect of Artificial intelligence and gamification on online purchase intention, as well as the role of customer experience as a variable that mediates the effect of artificial intelligence and gamification on online purchase intention. The marketing approach in today's era tends to lean towards digital personalization using Artificial intelligence and gamification to improve customer engagement and experience. This is ongoing with the fast rate at which technology has been expanding. The development of artificial intelligence has increased consumer happiness even more, making it even more crucial in the contemporary environment. Also, Gamification has clearly been identified as a method of influencing consumer behavior. The use of game design elements in non-game contexts is known as gamification. Gamification and persuasive technologies have been used for business purposes and to influence customer behavior.Methodology: The method used in this study is a quantitative method using survey research with marketplace users in Indonesia as the object of the research. Data collection which was used is the cross-sectional method by distributing online questionnaires from Google Forms. The research sample was selected using the purposive sampling method in order to obtain 272 respondents from various users (Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada, Blibli, and Bukalapak users). The data analysis that is used is the path analysis Structural Equation Model (SEM) by SmartPLS 3.0 software. The first stage in data analysis is to recapitulate data on the characteristics of the respondents. The next step is to measure the validity and reliability using discriminant validity, convergent validity, composite reliability, and Cronbach's alpha. Then, to test the inner model, a Goodness of Fit test was carried out through R-Square and significance testing by interpreting path analysis values, T-values, and P-Values.Finding: In this research conducted on marketplace users in Indonesia, it was found that Artificial Intelligence and Gamification are determinants of Customer Experience but these two variables cannot directly support Online Purchase Intention. Further findings indicate that Customer Experience can be an important determining factor for Online Purchase Intention. Customer experience can strengthen the online purchase intention among marketplace users.Conclusion: The result of this study shows that Artificial intelligence and gamification cannot affect online purchase intention directly but artificial intelligence and gamification can affect online purchase intention indirectly through customer experience

A gamified approach for improving the learning performance of K-6 students using Easter eggs.

Gamification is mainly used to increase user engagement and motivation, hence increasing the user base and user activity. Defined by applying game elements to non-gaming contexts, gamification is mostly integrated with software applications in order to provide a gameful experience for users. Education has been one of the areas where gamification studies have focused a lot during the last decade. Young students with the age range of 7-12years old (K-6) require different teaching methods to use their full potential. However, the methods and principles presented in studies on gamification and its application in education are not dedicated to K-6 students. Furthermore, the evolution of video games has brought new opportunities to develop new gamification elements and principles. In this research, the easter egg element has been implemented as a gamification element. Easter eggs can trigger children's curiosity by encouraging them to find all the Easter eggs, promising special rewards and perks. Additionally, a gamified approach is proposed for implementing a gamified software application for K-6 students. Based on the proposed approach, Science Island is implemented as an online gamified web application for K-6 students. In order to assess the proposed approach, a group of 47 sixth-grade students was selected to use the application for an observation period of 2months. Feedbacks from students showed that more than 82% of the students agreed with the effectiveness of gamification in their educational performance. Additionally, the results from the data analysis revealed that students' learning performance was improved significantly after applying gamification elements; showing an increase of 0.63 in average quiz score from the second month compared to the first month. Furthermore, the user activity rate at the end of the observation period showed increased motivation among students for using the software application.

A human factors-aware assistance system in manufacturing based on gamification and hardware modularisation

Assistance systems have been widely adopted in the manufacturing sector to facilitate various processes and tasks in production environments. However, existing systems are mostly equipped with rigid functional logic and do not provide individual user experiences or adapt to their capabilities. This work integrates human factors in assistance systems by adjusting the hardware and instruction presented to the workers’ cognitive and physical demands. A modular system architecture is designed accordingly, which allows a flexible component exchange according to the user and the work task. Gamification, the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts, has been further adopted in this work to provide level-based instructions and personalised feedback. The developed framework is validated by applying it to a manual workstation for industrial assembly routines.

The escape room and breakout as an aid to learning STEM contents in primary schools: an examination of the development of pre-service teachers in Spain

ABSTRACT Gamification consists of using game elements in non-game contexts, such as in education, aiming to promote cooperation, motivation, or engagement. Here, the Escape Room and Breakout games are in early stages in formal educational environments. Specifically, in primary education, this type of tools can be useful to support the teaching and learning process of pupils. This study aims to describe a BrEscapeRm (Escape Room and Breakout combine) used as educational tool to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) contents in a science course of degree in Primary Education. After completing the activity, students’ perception about the BrEscapeRm were gauged, resulting that they found it funny, interesting, motivating, and exciting. However, a certain rejection to the tasks containing calculation and science contents was detected. During BrEscapeRm development, students were very focused on each task and there was a sense of pleasure at the end of BrEscapeRm. Therefore, this activity could have multiple benefits for the student’s motivation and engagement in learning in primary education.

Gamification vs. Teaching First Aid: What Is Being Produced by Science in The Area?

Gamification i.e., the incorporation of game design elements into non-game contexts, represents a transformative tool in health education. In this sense, the increasingly intertwined fields of technology, education, and health present opportunities for informed decision-making and the training of educators, health professionals, and policymakers. This need to improve teaching and learning methods is particularly evident in the areas of first aid and basic life support (BLS), with the aim of improving clinical results and health outcomes. Our article carried out a narrative review, focusing on the intersection of gamification, technology and first aid/BLS training with the aim of investigating the application of gamification and serious games in emergency medicine with the aim of improving motivation and theoretical and practical skills. of health professionals. In addition, this review emphasizes the role of simulation-based education in first aid skills training, highlighting its contribution to preparing first aiders for real-world scenarios. Ultimately, this review underscores the transformative potential of serious games in medical education, showcasing their effectiveness across diverse contexts. In summary, it enhances comprehension of gamification's role in healthcare and medical education, particularly in first aid training, by underscoring the adaptability and efficacy of serious games in revolutionizing medical and emergency education and healthcare. Nevertheless, it underscores that this remains a relatively underexplored area of knowledge.

GamiProM: A Generic Gamification Model Based on User Profiles

The use of game design elements in non-game contexts, defined as gamification, is being used to increase user engagement in non-game environments, such as workplaces, schools, or software applications. However, the challenge developers face when implementing gamification is identifying which game elements will engage users. Besides, the proposals often tend to support only the most common user types and engagement factors. In response to this challenge, this study proposes a generic gamification model, GamiProM. GamiProM helps to design gamified solutions by using an ontology that encompasses knowledge about gamification elements and mechanics, user types, and types of motivations. Using profile management, GamiProM aims to provide knowledge representation and add semantic value to user characteristics and the information generated by gamification. A case study allowed the evaluation of the model through the gamification of an existing application using GamiProM. The results indicate that GamiProM can identify user profiles that support personalization through a combination of software, rules, and ontologies.

Gamification Design Patterns for User Engagement

The rapid development of technology in today’s times make business’ survival a rather complex task. It is therefore necessary for the specialized organization and administration of each company to differentiate and strengthen its competitive advantages. Gamification is an established practice in many business domains and can enforce employees to engage in business processes and change aspects of their behavior. Even though numerous gamification patterns that are described in literature have been used so far by businesses to various working environments, the outcomes were not the best possible that we would expect in terms of their right utilization to business non-game contexts. Thus, there is need for concise gamification patterns that can offer right guidance to game designers in business. Gamification design patterns can provide a distilled knowledge of techniques of how to design object-oriented software. This paper aims to address this gap in existing literature by describing new gamification design patterns, classifying them according to specific criteria and providing new information to this research domain. Our study is a descriptive literature review and is based on review of previous works. This descriptive literature review tries to give a better understanding by proposing new gamification design patterns in the continuously evolving research domain of gamification design patterns.

A qualitative investigation of student experience in a gamified course at the Open University of Mauritius

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a paradigm shift from traditional on-campus presence learning to online learning. While the transition to digital education and online learning has been embraced worldwide, the biggest challenge remains the lack of motivation and engagement of the online student. Gamification is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts and in an online learning context; it is an innovative strategy to encourage motivation and engagement. This study shows the findings of qualitative research that aims to examine students’ experience in an online gamified course. The gamified online course, Music and Movement, was offered to Bachelor in Education (Honours) Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) students at the Open University of Mauritius in the semester August to December 2021. The course was redesigned using a gamification theoretical framework called D6. Out of 46 ECEC students, 15 volunteered to further contribute through semi-structured interviews. The collected data was transcribed and analysed using open coding. The findings reveal that the perception and experience of students about the gamified online course can be categorised into five main themes, namely gamified course elements, general feelings and experience of students, personality of the tutor, traits of the students and collaborative work.

Gamification Framework With Reference to Business Perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to develop and present a gamification framework with eight gamifying mechanics for the business environment and delineate how these mechanisms are different in-game and business/workplace considering gamification as an application of games in non-gaming contexts. Theoretical framework: The gamification mechanics has eight framework elements –meaning, accomplishment, ownership, scarcity, employment, social influence, unpredictability, and avoidance. Each framework element has 4 sub-elements. Every framework element has described in detail where do they appear in the game vs where do they appear in the business/workplace and their relevance. Design/methodology/approach: The eight-element gamification mechanics framework developed considering the business in e-commerce industry. Each and framework element was dissected and developed considering in business/workplace environment in parallel with the gaming environment under non-gaming contexts. Findings: The study resulted in the development gamification mechanics framework for a business environment which can be applied in any business environment and workplace. Research, Practical & Social implications: The developed gamification mechanics framework can be used in any business environment/workplace for performance improvement and enhancing employee engagement. We have provided a detailed description of each gamification mechanics framework element, however. The sub-elements may vary from organization to organization and business to business. Before applying this framework the organization should review the framework along with the organization business goals and decide the course of action. Originality/value: The study offers the business and other organization to implement the gamification framework with eight elements for organizational growth, employee engagement

Jasperactive as a Gamification Tool for Motivation and Engagement in Adult Learners

Gamification is the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts. This paper explored how gamification can be a motivation and engagement tool for adult learners in an End-user Computing (EUC) course. Due to their high workloads and limited practice opportunities, staff members at the University of Technology (UoT) struggled to find time to enhance their EUC skills. The researchers used the Jasperactive platform to teach EUC skills to adult learners. A conceptual framework using motivation and engagement theories and elements was used as a conceptual lens for this study. The study followed an interpretive case study design with a qualitative approach. The sample comprised thirty participants who were purposefully selected and regarded as adult learners. Data was collected through the researcher’s observations and one-on-one interviews with six participants. Thematic data analysis was conducted using the elements included in the conceptual framework. The findings revealed how certain gamification elements influenced the motivation and engagement of adult learners. The study findings, furthermore, indicated that gamification may be used to solve motivation and engagement issues in training and working environments if it is well-designed and founded on well-established execution principles. Moreover, when adult learners are motivated and involved in the learning process, current motivation and engagement theories might be useful to explain the phenomenon. Adult learners seemed to be motivated and engaged in the effort to enhance their EUC abilities when using a gamified platform like Jasperactive. The study suggested that the participants were further motivated to complete the course to obtain their Microsoft Office Specialist certificate.

The role of representational competencies for students’ learning from an educational video game for astronomy

Educational video games can engage students in authentic STEM practices, which often involve visual representations. In particular, because most interactions within video games are mediated through visual representations, video games provide opportunities for students to experience disciplinary practices with visual representations. Prior research on learning with visual representations in non-game contexts suggests that visual representations may confuse students if they lack prerequisite representational-competencies. However, it is unclear how this research applies to game environments. To address this gap, we investigated the role of representational-competencies for students’ learning from video games. We first conducted a single-case study of a high-performing undergraduate student playing an astronomy game as an assignment in an astronomy course. We found that this student had difficulties making sense of the visual representations in the game. We interpret these difficulties as indicating a lack of representational-competencies. Further, these difficulties seemed to lead to the student’s inability to relate the game experiences to the content covered in his astronomy course. A second study investigated whether interventions that have proven successful in structured learning environments to support representational-competencies would enhance students’ learning from visual representations in the video game. We randomly assigned 45 students enrolled in an undergraduate course to two conditions. Students either received representational-competency support while playing the astronomy game or they did not receive this support. Results showed no effects of representational-competency supports. This suggests that instructional designs that are effective for representational-competency supports in structured learning environments may not be effective for educational video games. We discuss implications for future research, for designers of educational games, and for educators.

Low-level Eschatology: Ruins in Computer Games

The ruins are a well-studied object in the history of culture. The article examines the ruins not only in terms of established approaches, but also from the perspective of media theory, visual ecology and game studies, new humanities oriented on exploring digital experience. Ruins in computer games, continuing the tradition of artificial ruins in European history, load the digital space with meaning, metaphysics, memory, stitch game and non-game contexts together and become a medium in its purest form — an intermediary that leads the gamer to the fragments of his identity, to the ruins of his inner experience. Digital ruins, fragmentary and partial in nature, reveal to us the pleasure of fragmentation and deconstruction that precede the new assemblage of reality. The article deals in addition with digital catastrophism, eschatology and ruinization in 11 bit studios games — This War of Mine (2014) and Frostpunk (2018).

Maintenance effects of a gamification intervention on motivation and physical activity in patients with coronary heart disease: intermediate results of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Despite the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention, patients with coronary heart disease frequently fail to meet their daily physical activity goals. When one is stuck in a cycle of bad habits, changing one's behavior can be very challenging. One of the difficulties to maintaining a healthy lifestyle may be a lack of motivation. The use of game design elements (such as points, leaderboards, progress bars, and badges) in non-game contexts to promote motivation and engagement is known as gamification. It could be a powerful tool for encouraging patients to engage in physical activity. However, solid ideas that utilize the fundamental experience and psychological impacts of gaming mechanics must be built upon. Purpose The aim of this study is to look into the impact of a smartphone-based gamification intervention on physical activity engagement and other related psychological outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease, as well as the 24-week maintenance of effects beyond the 12-week intervention. Methods Participants with coronary heart disease were randomly assigned to three groups (control group, individual group and team group). The individual and team groups received gamified behavior intervention based on behavioral economic principles. Based on the Individual group, the team earned social incentives (collaboration). The intervention lasted 12 weeks, with another 12 weeks of follow-up. The primary outcomes included the change in daily steps and the proportion of patient-days that step goals achieved. The secondary outcomes included competence, autonomous, relatedness and autonomous motivation. Results The follow-up period has now been completed by 65 participants (mean age 52.8+10.3, 18.2% female) completed the follow-up period. Compared with the control group (n=17), participants in the individual group (n=25) had a significantly greater increase in mean daily steps from baseline during the intervention group (difference 956; 95% CI, 243–1623; P<0.01), and had a significantly greater proportion of patient-days that step goals achieved (difference 0.35; 95% CI, 0.03–0.12; P<0.001), competence (difference 0.5, 95% CI, 0.3–0.7; P<0.001), autonomous motivation (difference 3.2; 95% CI, 2.0–4.0; P<0.001). However, no significant difference of change in step counts was found between team group (n=23) and control group. During the follow-up period, mean daily steps and autonomous motivation in the individual declined but remained significantly greater than that in the control arm compared with baseline (steps: difference 452; 95% CI, 138–818; P<0.05) (motivation: difference 1.2; 95% CI, 0.3–1.8; P<0.05). Conclusions A smartphone-based gamification intervention was found to be an effective strategy to enhance motivation and physical activity engagement, as well as having a great maintenance effect. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): This work is financially supported by a Construction Programme of Independent Innovation Ability of Community Health Nursing Engineering Laboratory in Jilin Province (Study code: 2020C038-8) awarded to FL.

Climate4Kids – A Gamified App Teaching about Climate Change

As per Deterding et al. (2011), gamification can be defined as using game design elements in non-game contexts and it is used to increase motivation and engagement. That is why there are already gamified application to change people’s behavior when it comes to environmental protection. Climate change is a complex topic which is for younger children aged 6 to 10 years quite often too abstract to understand properly. Therefore, a browser-based app is being developed that aims at teaching basics about renewable energy, mobility, greenhouse effect, soil sealing, heat insulation and the like. Using elements of gamification like points, collecting stars, planting trees digitally, a changing background (depending on the progress made) as well as a narration about the protagonist Mani (a groundhog that is affected by climate change) and his friends encourage the children to use the app not only at school but also at home. By telling stories which introduce the topic, the children get a first understanding of how everybody of us affects the environment and what we can do to prevent effects of climate change. Moreover, instructions for easy hands-on experiments are used to make children experience certain effects and/or consequences of climate change. The app seeks to meet children’s emotional needs acknowledging feelings, emphasizing solutions, and encouraging action. The contribution shows how elements of gamification are included in the app to ensure that children are motivated to engage with the topics as well as stay immersed and transfer the learnings into their every-day-life.