Motivation-oriented scenario-based gamification design method using the user requirements notation modeling

Gamification, defined as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts, has been a trending in both academic and in a variety of industrial domains for around half a decade. A number of empirical studies have showed the usefulness and effectiveness of applying gamification to enhance people’s motivation and engagement in different activities. On the other hand, multiple design frameworks and methods have been proposed to guide the practice of gamification design and development. However, one of the key issues for gamification, which is being only focusing on using less essential game elements on motivating instead of providing genuinely meaningful gameful experiences, has not yet been addressed fully. Furthermore, the existing gamification design frameworks contribute limitedly in providing constructive and easily applicable design methods or tools that to facilitate the motivation and behavior analysis and ideation of gamification projects. Therefore, in this study, the author proposes the Motivationoriented Scenario-based Gamification Design method in order to address the issues mentioned above. The method is an adaption of the User Requirement Notation to the modeling of system goals, gamification motivations, system user behaviors, existing gameplay, and the mapping between them. The new method aims to provide not only an innovative way of specifying gamification designs on the mechanic and dynamic levels, but also a possibly insightful perspective towards improving gamification experiences and effectiveness with meaningful plays. In addition, a case study is conducted by applying the proposed method to a real-life language learning system, WordDive, with the method validated and evaluated via an interview with an expert from the WordDive company.