CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

Volume 15, Number 5, 2012

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2012.1547

COLUMNS

CyberSightings

yberSightings is a regular feature in CYBER that covers

the news relevant to the Cyberpsychology community,
including scientific breakthroughs, latest devices, conferences, book reviews, and general announcements of interest
to researchers and clinicians. We welcome input for inclusion
in this column, and relevant information and suggestions can
be sent andrea.gaggioli@unicatt.it.
In the Spotlight

Gamification refers to the application of online game

design techniques in non-game settings, with the goals
of engaging users and motivating action, learning, and
problem solving. In the last couple of years, this term has
gained considerable attention from business, education, and
policy. The reason for this growing interest is that gamification promises to be a powerful strategy to engage players
and encourage desired behaviors (i.e., driving customer
engagement).
The term gamification has been popularized by game
designer Jesse Schell, author of The Art of Game Design (2008)
and founder of the company Schell Games. In a talk given at
the Dice Conference in Las Vegas in 2010 (video: www.ted
.com/talks/jesse_schell_when_games_invade_real_life.html/),
Schell envisages a future in which gaming will go beyond PC
and consolles, becoming the medium for everyday life.
According to Schell, we will soon become part of a real-world
game, in which every action will be tracked and rewarded
with bonus points. The concept of gamification has been
previously explored also by other humancomputer interaction researchersfor example, in relation to playful interaction design and serious games. However, whereas serious
games are usually designed for the purpose of solving a
problem and include a plot, objectives, and routes, gamified
applications use elements of games that do not give rise to
complete games (S. Deterding et al., Gamification: Toward a
Definition, CHI 2011, May 712, 2011, Vancouver, BC, Canada). These game elements include, for example, points (to
motivate players), levels (to indicate achievements), challenges (to keep the interest high and stimulate involvement),
virtual goods (to create links to real-life rewards), and ranking (to promote competition and self-improvement). There
are essentially two final objectives of the gamification process:
first, to stimulate an active and measurable behavior; second, to focus the interest of the user toward the message to be
communicated. The most popular example of gamification
(and probably the oldest platform to implement it) is Foursquare, a location-based social networking website in which
users check-in at venues, are awarded with points and virtual
badges, and can earn discounts at retailers. In the field of
healthcare, an interesting example is Humana Vitality, a program that uses a points-based rewards system to encourage
healthy behavior and wellness education. Other gamification

applications can be found in fields as diverse as training,

wellness, financial services, and sports.
The increasing interest in gamification has lead scholars
and designers to understand better the the motivations that
drive player behavior. From the standpoint of psychological
theory, often-cited models of gaming behavior are the Flow
Theory developed by M. Cskszentmihalyi and the Behavior
Model introduced by B.J. Fogg (also known as the FBM).
According to Cskszentmihalyi, flow as an optimal experience in which the person is completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The Flow Theory predicts that in
order to reach this optimal state, it is important to help the
player to find the right balance between challenges and skills.
The FBM, instead, posits that in order to drive a behavior
successfully, the game mechanic/dynamic must guide three
key factors so they all occur at the same moment: sufficient
motivation (to perform the behavior), sufficient ability (i.e.,
the player can easily carry out the behavior), and an effective
trigger (i.e., the player is triggered to do the behavior through
reminders, cues, calls to action, etc.).
Upcoming Meetings

281

5th International Conference on Design Computing

and Cognition
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
June 56, 2012
http://mason.gmu.edu/*jgero/conferences/dcc12/
Augmented Reality Summit
London, UK
June 6, 2012
www.augmentedrealitysummit.com/
5th International Conference on PErvasive
Technologies Related to Assistive Environments
Crete, Greece
June 68, 2012
www.petrae.org/
Neural Interfaces Conference
Salt Lake City, Utah
June 1820, 2012
http://neuralinterfaces2012.com/exhibits.htm
5th International Conference on Educational Data
Mining (EDM 2012)
Chania, Greece
June 1922, 2012
http://educationaldatamining.org/EDM2012/
I-SocietyInternational Conference on Information
Society
London, UK
June 2528, 2012
www.i-society.eu/

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Pervasive 2012
Newcastle, UK
July 1822, 2012
http://pervasiveconference.org/2012/
HumanComputer Confluence Summer School
Milan, Italy
July 1820, 2012
www.hcsquared.eu/
IADIS International Conference Interfaces
and HumanComputer Interaction 2012
Lisbon, Portugal
July 2123, 2012
www.ihci-conf.org/
SIGGRAPH 12Special Interest Group on Computer
Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference
Los Angeles, California
August 59, 2012
www.siggraph.org
Medicine 2.0 Conference 2012
Boston, Massachusetts
September 1516, 2012
www.medicine20congress.com/ocs/index.php/med/
med2012

CYBERSIGHTINGS
17th Annual CyberPsychology and CyberTherapy
Conference
Brussels, Belgium
September 2528, 2012
www.interactivemediainstitute.com/CYBER17/
MobileHCI 1214th International Conference on
HumanComputer Interaction with Mobile Devices
and Services
San Francisco, California
September 29October 3, 2012
www.mobilehci2012.org/
7th Nordic Conference on HumanComputer Interaction
Copenhagen, Denmark
October 1417, 2012
www.nordichi2012.org/
14th ACM Conference on Computers and Accessibility
Boulder, Colorado
October 2224, 2012
www.sigaccess.org/assets12/
Compiled by Andrea Gaggioli, Ph.D.
Catholic University of Milan
Milan, Italy

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