Research on the effectiveness of gamification has proliferated over the last few years, but the underlying motivational mechanisms have only recently become object of empirical research. It has been ...suggested that when perceived as informational, gamification elements, such as points, levels and leaderboards, may afford feelings of competence and hence enhance intrinsic motivation and promote performance gains. We conducted a 2 × 4 online experiment that systematically examined how points, leaderboards and levels, as well as participants' goal causality orientation influence intrinsic motivation, competence and performance (tag quantity and quality) in an image annotation task. Compared to a control condition, game elements did not significantly affect competence or intrinsic motivation, irrespective of participants' causality orientation. However, participants' performance did not mirror their intrinsic motivation, as points, and especially levels and leaderboard led to a significantly higher amount of tags generated compared to the control group. These findings suggest that in this particular study context, points, levels and leaderboards functioned as extrinsic incentives, effective only for promoting performance quantity.
•We experimentally studied the effects of individual game elements on motivation and performance.•Gamification increased the number of tags in an image annotation task.•Gamification did not affect intrinsic motivation or competence need satisfaction.•Lack of motivational effects likely due to the way gamification was implemented.•Results suggest that in the given context game elements acted as extrinsic incentives.
Digital games have evolved into a medium that moves beyond basic toys for distraction and pleasure towards platforms capable of and effective at instigating more serious, emotional, and intrapersonal ...experiences. Along with this evolution, games research has also started to consider more deeply affective and cognitive reactions that resemble the broad notion of eudaimonia, with work already being done in communication studies and media psychology as well as in human–computer interaction. These studies offer a large variety of concepts to describe such eudaimonic reactions—including eudaimonia, meaningfulness, appreciation, and self-transcendence—which are frequently used as synonyms as they represent aspects not captured by the traditional hedonic focus on enjoyment. However, these concepts are potentially confusing to work with as they might represent phenomenological distinct experiences. In this scoping review, we survey 82 publications to identify different concepts used in digital gaming research to represent eudaimonia and map out how these concepts relate to each other. The results of this scoping review revealed four broad conceptual patterns: (1) appreciation as an overarching (yet imprecise) eudaimonic outcome of playing digital games; (2) covariation among meaningful, emotionally moving/challenging, and self-reflective experiences; (3) the unique potential of digital games to afford eudaimonic social connectedness; and (4) other eudaimonia-related concepts (e.g., nostalgia, well-being, elevation). This review provides a conceptual map of the current research landscape on eudaimonic game entertainment experiences and outlines recommendations for future scholarship, including how a focus on digital games contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of eudaimonic media experiences broadly.
Most people encounter art images as digital reproductions on a computer screen instead of as originals in a museum or gallery. With the development of digital technologies, high-resolution artworks ...can be accessed anywhere and anytime by a large number of viewers. Since these digital images depict the same content and are attributed to the same artist as the original, it is often implicitly assumed that their aesthetic evaluation will be similar. When it comes to the digital reproductions of art, however, it is also obvious that reproductions do differ from the originals in various aspects. Besides image quality, resolution, and format, the most obvious change is in the representation of color. The effects of subjectively varying surface-level image features on art evaluation have not been clearly assessed. To address this gap, we compare the evaluation of digital reproductions of 16 expressionist and impressionist paintings manipulated to have a high color saturation vs. a saturation similar to the original. We also investigate the impact of viewing time (100 ms vs. unrestricted viewing time) and expertise (art experts vs. laypersons), two other aspects that may impact the perception of art in online contexts. Moreover, we link these dimensions to a recent model of aesthetic experience the Vienna Integrated Model of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes in Art Perception (VIMAP). Results suggest that color saturation does not exert a major influence on liking. Cognitive and emotional aspects (interest, confusion, surprise, and boredom), however, are affected - to different extents for experts and laypersons. For laypersons, the increase in color saturation led to more positive assessments of an artwork, whereas it resulted in increased confusion for art experts. This insight is particularly important when it comes to reproducing artworks digitally. Depending on the intended use, increasing or decreasing the color saturation of the digitally reproduced image might be most appropriate. We conclude with a discussion of these findings and address the question of why empirical aesthetics requires more precise dimensions to better understand the subtle processes that take place in the perception of today's digitally reproduced art environment.
Player motivation is a key research area within games research, with the aim of understanding how the motivation of players is related to their experience and behavior in the game. We present the ...results of a cross-sectional study with data from 750 players of
League of Legends
, a popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game. Based on the motivational regulations posited by Self-Determination Theory and Latent Profile Analysis, we identify four distinct motivational profiles, which differ with regards to player experience and, to a lesser extent, in-game behavior. While the more self-determined profiles “Intrinsic” and “Autonomous” report mainly positive experience-related outcomes, a considerable part of the player base does not. Players of the “Amotivated” and “External” profile derive less enjoyment, experience more negative affect and tension, and score lower on vitality, indicating game engagement that is potentially detrimental to players' well-being. With regards to game metrics, minor differences in the rate of assists in unranked matches and performance indicators were observed between profiles. This strengthens the notion that differences in experiences are not necessarily reflected in differences in behavioral game metrics. Our findings provide insights into the interplay of player motivation, experience, and in-game behavior, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of player-computer interaction.
Benefits for all user groups is one of the most prominent motivations to provide accessible information and services on the web. Designing digital technologies in a more inclusive manner for users ...with sensory, motor, or cognitive impairments enhances their overall quality. In practice, work on web accessibility often relies on complying with standards. But whether standards lead to improved usability and a satisfying user experience for all user groups is controversial. The present study aims at deepening our understanding of how compliance with web accessibility standards shapes the experiences of both users with and without disabilities. In a randomised controlled experiment, 66 participants with visual impairments and 65 participants without visual impairments solved tasks on an online shop built with either low (NA) or high (AA) conformance to web accessibility standards. The results show no statistically significant effects on outcomes related to usability and user experience. However, analysis of open-ended answers suggests that participants with visual impairments reported more positive experiences, and participants without visual impairments fewer negative experiences while using the online shop conformant to web accessibility standards. We therefore recommend adopting a more differentiated perspective on what can be achieved through compliance with web accessibility standards and emphasise that conformance-based approaches should be complemented with user-centred and participatory design methods. Further, since most participants reported being experienced users and an online shop is often a familiar context, more research in other settings is required.
•Explores how web accessibility standards affect usability and user experience.•Provides experimental evidence from users with and without visual impairments.•Shows that beneficial effects cannot be expected from compliance alone.•Suggests complementing compliance-oriented approaches with user-centred approaches.
Web Accessibility aims to provide usable web information and services to as many people as possible. Despite the availability of standards and the presence of legal obligations, Web Accessibility ...often remains unsatisfactory. Through a multi-step approach, the present study addresses the question of how web practitioners form their intention to consider Web Accessibility in the development process. Based on a systematic literature review, twelve main salient beliefs influencing the intention to consider Web Accessibility were identified. Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior, a theoretical model integrating these main salient beliefs was compiled and a questionnaire to test the model developed. A total of 342 web practitioners in various professional roles answered the questionnaire in an online study. Path analysis revealed that intention to consider Web Accessibility is stronger when users actively promote their needs, when web practitioners see Web Accessibility as part of their professional role, and when the consideration of Web Accessibility is perceived as beneficial for the quality of a product. Hence, it is recommended to involve users with a variety of abilities in the development process, to emphasize the responsibility and specialist role of web practitioners, and to actively promote Web Accessibility as a quality feature of a product.
•Explores salient beliefs influencing the intention to consider Web Accessibility.•Expands on a systematic review of previous studies.•Identifies three key beliefs that positively influence Web Accessibility intention.•Offers practical implications for web practitioners.
Images are never seen in isolation. Instead, they are perceived within a spatial and temporal tapestry of neighboring images. What impact do other images have on our emotional response toward a ...particular image? Answers to this basic question have vital implications for a range of fields—especially for visual communication and for curating art, where resources are invested in arranging images within a visual context. Previous studies have provided mixed results, suggesting that juxtaposed images may lead to contrast or assimilation processes increasing and decreasing our liking of an image. But how specific image features in neighboring images (image’s ambiguity or formal similarities between images) modulate our affective interpretation of an image has almost never been explored. In Study 1, we compared the emotion perceived in art photographs (“target” images) when displayed on their own versus when displayed in juxtaposition with negatively or positively valenced nonart (“context”) images. Additionally, we analyzed the influence of the artwork’s perceived ambiguity. In Study 2, we examined the effect of the perceiver’s expertise and the formal similarity between the images on the rated valence of the target image. Our results show that the emotion perceived in the artwork contrasted away from or assimilated toward the valence perceived in the context image depending on which evaluative dimension was activated. Moreover, the influence of negative contextual material on the target image’s valence was more pronounced. We conclude by saying that the evaluative dimension is part of the pictorial context that influences the affective interpretation of an image. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
Is Time on Smartphones Well Spent? Rasmussen, Maria A; Frydendahl, Julie O; Mekler, Elisa D ...
Interacting with computers,
07/2022, Letnik:
33, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Abstract
The time we each spend using smartphones is increasing. So is the extent of discussions on whether that time is well spent and whether it results in positive experiences and ultimately ...improves well-being. However, research on this question rarely links the time spent on smartphones, the specific applications used, the motivation for using them and their effects on well-being. We had 70 participants compare experiences with a frequently used smartphone application and an occasionally used one. The participants used the Screen Time feature of the iPhone to select the applications and provided qualitative and quantitative data on their use of the applications. The findings show that the experience of pragmatic and hedonic value differs between the two application types, as does the experience of regret. The motivation for using the applications also in'uences whether the time is experienced as well spent. We use these findings to nuance the general discussion of smartphone usage and well-being.
Recently, researchers have become increasingly interested in the potential of video games to promote real-life prosocial behavior. It has been argued that in-game prosocial acts may transfer to ...players' real-life behavior. But so far little is known about how video games affect players' in-game as well as future real-life prosocial decisions. To address this research gap, we carried out two experiments. Both studies investigated whether voluntarily choosing to help a game character in the same first-person shooter game affected an ensuing real-life prosocial decision (i.e., donation to a charity). The results of the first study (N = 270) indicate that voluntarily deciding to help in-game subsequently led to increased donating behavior. In study 2 (N = 185) we further analyzed the potential moderating effects of game rewards and players' reasoning for in-game helping. The results of both studies indicate that voluntarily deciding to help in a video game subsequently led to increased donating behavior. Further, results of Study 2 revealed that the absence of a reward for helping in-game affected players’ reasoning for helping and positively influenced prosocial self-concept and donation.
•Choosing to help in-game increased donating, a real-life prosocial behavior.•Rewarding voluntary prosocial decisions affected donating and in-game reasoning.•Players gave different reasons for in-game helping: moral and strategic.•The different types of reasoning were related to whether people donated.•Getting no reward for help was associated with moral reasoning.
Self-determination theory (SDT), a psychological theory of human motivation, is a prominent paradigm in human-computer interaction (HCI) research on games. However, our prior literature review ...observed a trend towards shallow applications of the theory. This follow-up work takes a broader view – examining SDT scholarship on games, a wider corpus of SDT-based HCI games research (N=259), and perspectives from a games industry practitioner conference – to help explain current applications of SDT. Our findings suggest that perfunctory applications of the theory in HCI games research originate in part from within SDT scholarship on games, which itself exhibits limited engagement with theoretical tenets. Against this backdrop, we unpack the popularity of SDT in HCI games research and identify conditions underlying the theory's current use as an oft-unquestioned paradigm. Finally, we outline avenues for more productive SDT-informed games research and consider ways towards more intentional practices of theory use in HCI.
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