Gamification Elements and Their Perception by Different Gamer Types

Abstract

Gamification is being applied more and more to information systems. Many developers apply similar strategies for the gamification of tasks. A benchmark conducted in 22 mobile apps containing gamification elements showed reward points as the most frequent design element. In a pilot user experiment, we analyzed the user perception of three gamification elements including reward points in the context of project management. Reward points are seen as motivating; in contrast a leader board was viewed more critically. It was shown that the judgment of elements depends on the game personality type. The gamer type Killer had a medium and significant correlation with a positive evaluation of the gaming elements. Only the gamer type Achiever had a positive and significant correlation with a positive judgment of rewards points.