It has been done several studies about the possibilities of the use of social network platforms for individually elicited real-time wellbeing data. A study undertook by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) and The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (USA), showed an approach to obtain data by gamifying the measures of wellbeing within virtual communities. Researchers developed a gaming interface for self-reporting of participants, and also it aimed to chase trending for stakeholders, their approach focused on well-being data to reveal not only diagnostic value but predictive worth [1].
Researchers argue that Gamification addresses issues regarding the participation incentives. This is possible through the use of techniques in social network propagation. The engagement is emphasised by incentivizing participants to expand the game throughout their social network environment, which helps to reduce the barriers to participation [1].
In this context, there is an opportunity to address the data collection of Aura by tracking the sentiments of people using a game approach which is feasible in the social network environment.
The vision of gamification
Gamification is âa process of enhancing services with (motivational) affordances in order to invoke gameful experiences and further behavioral outcomesâ [2]. Gamification provides the same psychological experiences as those caused by general games. There are three main elements of gamification:
Motivational affordances comprise the properties of an object that determine whether and how it can support oneâs motivational needs. In which is included some points, leaderboards, badges and so on. Psychological and behavioural outcomes focus on aspects such as motivation, attitude and enjoyment [1]. These elements are important for implementing the gamification approach to Aura, as a tool to engage users to play a psychological and wellbeing measure application.
There has been an increasing use of principles and processes of behavioural psychology into the game market, which can be useful to understand how specific elements of game design could influence on motivation, engagement of user and help in usage and engaging experiences in the design [3].
Gamification is based on elements of game design (interface design patterns and game design methods) and behavioural psychology methods. People can become motivated through the use of game design elements to solve problems. These game design elements are related to rewards, such as points, badges, clear goals, challenge and others. In addition, it is necessary to understand the whole processes of behaviour, which includes how to measure, understand, predict and control; these are a significant set of information to incentivize a suitable or productive behaviour [3].
Gamification systems provide features: to connect people and compare their performances in a social network with data about their progress, competition, status, goals. In this case, designers should be aware of effective features that can fail in motivating users, for instance, adding easy rewards [3].
Reasons for playing games and the rise of Social Network Game (SNG)
Understanding the reasons why people engage in playing games is fundamental to Aura development. A gamified application includes elements that motivate users to play. In general, games are in the top ranking of downloads of apps, followed by weather, navigation, and social networking. Games apps for mobile phones are more common due to portability and to the possibility of entertainment in short time periods. Such characteristics made the mobile games a choice for leisure activities and for providing a new range of opportunities for the playerâs experience [5].
The game playerâs experience is an important factor for engagement. The reason for people to be engaged in playing online game is pleasure and entertainment [4]. Perceived enjoyment is crucial attribute for players to continue the game for fun. While the perceived enjoyment is important, it is not enough to motivate users to play continually. Another element to address this issue is the flow experience, which is a term that has been introduced to explain the adoption of IT systems such as e-learning, Internet shopping, and entertainment activities [4].
The flow experience refers to the way people become incorporated in their activity, lose their self-consciousness, and unable to recognize changes in their surroundings. This concept could be adopted for Aura, as an attempt to predict the user’s intention to play the Aura application. Another reason for playing games is the interaction. It is also a natural feature of online games that enable users to fantasize and be entertained. Online games are typically multiplayer in nature and allow thousands of players to participate and interact simultaneously. The interaction may play an important role in the attraction of a particular game [4].
With the rise of the popularity of Social Network Services, another type of platforms was created â the Social Network Games (SGN) â game developed within existing major social networking websites, which includes multiplayer and asynchronous gameplay mechanics. SNGs are very popular games around the world, with millions of players. The most popular games are: âTop Eleven Football Managerâ, âFarmVilleâ and âDawn of the Dragonsâ. These games using social connections have increased on social networking sites due to profitable business opportunity and investments for this category of game achieved $98 million in 2010 [5].
There has been an increasing interest in developing social games. The aim of these games is to provide an opportunity to play a game against another player or other players. There are collaboration and competition with friends or other game players to keep their existing interpersonal relationships and to meet new friends. The experience of the social game can be perceived as more fun than single-player games. Such experience can be more presence, flow, leads to higher arousal and a sense of more fun and enjoyment than when they play against a computer or device [5].
The interaction and engagement of people with social networks can be achieved through a social game. There is a possibility of using the elements and techniques of social games for the propagation of Aura, as a social game for playing and checking emotions and personalities of people.
References
[1] Hall, M., Kimbrough, S.O., Haas, C., Weinhardt, C., et al. (2012) Towards the gamification of well-being measures. In: 2012 IEEE 8th International Conference on E-Science. [Online]. October 2012 pp. 1â8. Available from: doi:10.1109/eScience.2012.6404457.
[2] Hamari, J., Koivisto, J. & Sarsa, H. (2014) Does Gamification Work? â A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification. In: 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. [Online]. January 2014 pp. 3025â3034. Available from: doi:10.1109/HICSS.2014.377.
[3] Walz S.P., Deterding S. (2014). The gameful world: approaches, issues, applications. The MIT Press. USA.
[4] Lee, M.-C. & Tsai, T.-R. (2010) What Drives People to Continue to Play Online Games? An Extension of Technology Model and Theory of Planned Behavior. International Journal of HumanâComputer Interaction. [Online] 26 (6), 601â620. Available from: doi:10.1080/10447311003781318.
[5] Shin, D.-H. & Shin, Y.-J. (2011) Why do people play social network games? Computers in Human Behavior. [Online] 27 (2), 852â861. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.11.010.