These slides were prepared for an event hosted by Dojo Bali co-working, Bali Indonesia. Your business doesn't need to be a game to be inspired by the same mechanics. Learn the basics of gamification to increase user retention and engagement and make your product become a habit. Gamification is the process of adding features like a video game to make the experience more engaging. You will learn what game feature are best to use within non-gaming apps, which ones to avoid, and how to cleverly disguise them to not look obvious. Peter Knudson is a game design and product management consultant from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has worked at game companies like Zynga, Activision, and Wizards of the Coast. He currently is an independent consultant working with publishers like The Pokemon Company, EA, and Adult Swim Games. Website: PeterKnudson.com

1. Growth by
Gamification
in 2017
Prepared for a talk a Dojo Bali Co-Working, Bali Indonesia – March 13th 2017
with Peter Knudson

2. Who am I?
page
02
~10 Years Gaming: Wizards of the Coast, Zynga, Activision
Current: Consultant for Adrian Crook & Associates
Peter Knudson – Product Manager

3. Gamification
is the practice of applying
features and elements
found in games to non-
gaming activities.

4. Why
Gamifiy?
page
04
Games are 16 out of the top 25 Grossing Apps Framework to build daily user Ability to keep price at $0 for highest adoption
Revenue Engagement Growth

5. Presentation
Agenda
page
05
1. User Life-cycle: Thinking about what a user experienced over time
2. The Pillars of Game Design: The human behavior behind game design
3. Gamification Feature Examples: Applied Game Design to Non-Gaming
Apps
4. Live Example: Let’s build a game together!

6. Engagement =
Growth
page
06
Higher Retention
through well executed
engagement features
means a high user
base after 90+ days.

7. User
Lifecycle
Design

8. page
08
New User
Discovery
What is the aspiration
shown to potential
customers?
Early User
Onboarding
What is the core-loop of
the game?
Midgame
Progression
What is the player
working toward every
day?
Elder Player
End Game
What drives long term
engagement of a
product?
Experience Phases
Of a Game

9. page
09
Experience Phases
Skyrim

10. page
010
Experience Phases
MyFitnessPal

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011
Phase #1 Onboarding
LinkedIn
Good gaming onboarding experiences:
• Incentivizes the main behaviors you want
them to do daily
• Rewards engagement with rewards and
progress immediately
• Introduces the main aspiration through
narrative or showcases what the “end
game.”

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012
Phase #1 Onboarding
LinkedIn

13. page
013
Phase #2 Progression
Product Hunt
Good gaming progression experiences:
• Clearly shows how actions lead toward win-
state
• Rewards regularly along the way
• Milestone Achievements are celebrated

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014
Phase #2 Progression
Product Hunt

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015
Phase #3 Elder Player
Clash of Clans
Good gaming elder player experiences:
• Community driven user generated content
• Meaningful replay-ability and multiple win-
states to explore
• Social status rewarded for the best players

16. page
016
Phase #3 Elder Player
Clash of Clans

17. page
017
Player Life Cycle
Putting it all together.
Filling in this Mad Lib-like framework will help to see if a game hits all these notes:
In this game, I: <Core Loop> (Plot plants, Track Calories)
In order To: <Short-Term Progression> (Purchase buildings, Lose Weight)
That helps me: <Medium-Term Goals> (Unlock new areas, Look + Feel Better)
That lets me: <Aspiration> (Have the best looking farm, Get a six pack)
Source: http://www.deconstructoroffun.com/2014/12/how-kim-kardashian-hollywood-made-a-list_19.html
Joe Traverso

18. Key Takeaway #1: Think about your product as multiple
experiences, treating users and players differently depending
on where they are in their lifecycle.

19. Principles
of
Game Design

20. Game Design
Principles
page
020
1. Core-Loop & Progression: Incentivizing the basic game actions
2. Resources & Completion: Resources, collection mechanics, and timers.
1. Ownership & Autonomy: Instilling emotional attachment to in-app thigns
1. Social Pressure & Belonging: Creating a social network to impact user
behavior

21. Core Loop +
Progression
Classical conditioning is
the affect of teaching that a
certain action achieves a
particular responses or
reward
Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a
conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated
unconditioned stimulus in order to produce a behavioral
response known as a conditioned response. The conditioned
response is the learned response to the previously neutral
stimulus.

22. Core Loop + Achievement
Features Ideas
page
022
1. Core-Loop: Identify what the main actions we want to drive in the app
(Farmville, Reddit)
2. Rewarding progress through Milestones: Give players periodic rewards
for invested use in the product (Upwork, LinkedIn)
3. Unlockable Content: Make some features only available to those who invest
time into the app (Duolingo)

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023
Core-loop + Progression
Gamified: Clash of Clans, Reddit

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024
Core-loop & Progression
Gamified: Upwork, LinkedIn

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025
Core-loop & Progression
Gamified: Duolingo

26. Key Takeaway #2: Identify the behavior you want to drive is.
Then incentivize that reward consistently and make sure the
user feels they are progressing.

27. Resources
&
ScarcitySkinner Box: A mouse is
given a lever that releases
a pellet of food at various
intervals.
Continuous Reinforcement: Response rate is SLOW. Extinction rate is FAST
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement: Response rate is FAST. Extinction rate is MEDIUM
Fixed Interval Reinforcement: Response rate is MEDIUM. Extinction rate is MEDIUM
Variable Reinforcement: Response rate is FAST. Extinction rate is SLOW

28. Scarcity & Impatience
Features Ideas
page
028
1. Time as a Resource: Create an appointment mechanic (Spotify,
MyFitnessPal)
2. Exclusive Invite Only: Showcasing exclusivity through rolled release
(Mailbox)
3. Implement a Scarce Resources: Too much challenge, and it leads to
anxiety. Too little challenge, and it leads to boredom. (Tinder)

29. page
029
Scarcity & Impatience
Gamified: Spotify

30. page
030
Scarcity & Impatience
Gamified: Mailbox

31. page
031
Scarcity & Impatience
Gamified: Tinder

32. Key Takeaway #3: User crave to be smart. Have them decide
how to spend their time and resources which will bestow on
them a sense of agency.

33. Ownership
+
Autonomy
Endowment Affect is the
hypothesis that people
ascribe more value to things
merely because they own
them.
Kahneman (1990) found that the amount participants
required as compensation for the mug once their ownership
of the mug had been established ("willingness to accept")
was approximately twice as high as the amount they were
willing to pay to acquire the mug ("willingness to pay").

34. Possession +
Ownership
Features Ideas
page
034
1. Avatar Design: Players feel attached to an avatar they designed (BitMoji)
2. Collection Sets: Trying to catch them all (Pokémon, McDonalds)
3. Loss Avoidance: Impulse to avoid losing progress (Farmville, Tamachi)

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035
Possession & Ownership
Gamified: BitMoji
vs

36. page
036
Possession & Ownership
Gamified: McDonalds

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037
Possession & Ownership
Gamified: FarmVille

38. Key Takeaway #4: Give the user something that they can love
and cherish, so that will be more likely to stay with your
product rather than move to a competitor.

39. Solomon Asch (1951)
Social
Pressure
Classical conditioning is
the affect of teaching that a
certain action achieves a
particular responses or
reward
Solomon Asch (1951):
75% Conformed to incorrect answer when in group
<1% Gave a wrong answer in the control group

40. Social Pressure
Features Ideas
page
040
1. Leader Boards: Showcasing how your compare against friends (Strava)
2. Status and Rank: : Create a “super user.” (Foursquare, Product Hunt)
3. Group Achievements: Social pressure to engage (Clash of Clans,
Kickstarter)

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041
Social Pressure
Gamified: Strava

42. page
042
Social Pressure
Gamified: Foursquare

43. page
043
Social Pressure
Gamified: Kickstarter

44. page
044
Social Pressure
Gamified: oPower
Top 5 grossing
game for 4+
years since
launch

45. page
045
Social Pressure
Gamified: oPower
$300MM in
savings over 5
years

46. Key Takeaway #5: Integrate a social element for your most
engaged users, so they can gain a sense of belonging to
your app, website, or service.

47. Some
Examples

48. page
048
Examples
Where is
the game?

49. Doing it
Live

50. Live Brainstorm
Pick from these every day
tasks
page
050
1. Doing your Laundry
2. Going to Dojo Co-Working  This was the winner!
1. Brushing your teeth

51. page
051
Framework for Gamification
Putting it all together.
In this game, I: <Core Loop>
In order To: <Short-Term Progression>
That helps me: <Medium-Term Goals
That lets me: <Aspiration>
Progress Feature:
Social Feature:
Scarcity Feature:

52. Thank
You!