Exploring the relationships between gamification and motivational needs in technology design

Jian Tang,Ping Zhang

Published 2019 in International Journal of Crowd Science

ABSTRACT

PurposeDrawing upon the motivational affordance theory, this paper aims to investigate how gamification design and human motivational needs are associated in extant literature.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a literature analysis of 60 journal articles that studied motivational influences of gamification in information technology design. Content analysis was used to identify game design features and motivation variables studied in prior literature, and correspondence analysis was used to show the co-occurrence of game design features and basic motivational needs.FindingsThe results showed that four types of game design features and eight basic motivational needs are studied in this pool of literature. Correspondence analysis indicates some interesting associations between game design features and basic human needs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research used a motivational affordance perspective to interpret the impact of game design features and suggested directions for future investigations. It is limited due to its sample size and considered as an exploratory study.Practical implicationsThis research provided suggestions for technology designers that game design features vary in their motivational influence, and therefore, game design features should be used accordingly to meet users’ motivational needs.Originality/valueThis research is one of initial studies which explored the association between game design features and basic motivational needs. The findings of this study provide the groundwork for guidelines and strategies to facilitate motivational design in information technology.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2019

  • Venue

    International Journal of Crowd Science

  • Publication date

    2019-05-10

  • Fields of study

    Business, Computer Science, Psychology

  • Identifiers
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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