INFR 4400U – Gamification

Recent years have seen a rapid explosion of mass-market consumer software that takes inspiration from video games, especially from game design. Usually summarized as gamification, this trend connects to a sizeable body of existing concepts and research in human-computer interaction, psychology, and game studies, such as serious games, pervasive games, alternate reality games, or playful design. Using game design elements in non-game contexts to increase user activity and retention has rapidly gained traction in interaction design, spawning an intense debate within the professional community as well as the development of numerous gamified applications - ranging from productivity to finance, health, sustainability, news, user-generated content (UGC), and tutorials. This course will focus on three core aspects: analysis and study of gamified systems in terms of hedonic and motivating user experience (UX); the role of social and situational contexts for affordances and UX of digital playful technologies; and development and application of seductive interaction design principles to non-gaming contexts.
Credit hours: 3
Lecture hours: 3
Prerequisite(s): INFR 3330U or INFR 3335U