Designing Closeness to Increase Gamers' Performance
Players' Motivations in Games
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Colusso, Lucas
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Hsieh, Gary
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Munson, Sean A.
Proceedings of the ACM CHI'16 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2016-05-07
v.1
p.3020-3024
© Copyright 2016 ACM
Summary: Designers often make use of social comparisons to motivate people to perform
better. In this paper, we present the concept of closeness to comparison to
improve the efficacy of social comparison feedback. Specifically, we test two
design strategies related to closeness: (1) comparing users to a target
described as a similarly experienced player and (2) adjusting the visual
representation of performance so player scores appear closer to the comparison
target. We evaluate the effects of these strategies for social comparison on
player performance in an online game. In a controlled experiment with 425
participants, both feedback techniques improved game performance, but only for
experienced players. We conclude with design implications for helping designers
create social comparisons that motivate higher game performance.
PlanSourcing: Generating Behavior Change Plans with Friends and Crowds
Crowd Workers
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Agapie, Elena
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Colusso, Lucas
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Munson, Sean A.
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Hsieh, Gary
Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2016 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative
Work and Social Computing
2016-02-27
v.1
p.119-133
© Copyright 2016 ACM
Summary: Specific, achievable plans can increase people's commitment to behavior
change and increase their likelihood of success. However, many people struggle
to create such plans, and available plans often do not fit their individual
constraints. We conducted a study with 22 participants exploring the creation
of personalized plans by strangers and friends to support three kinds of
behavior change: diet, physical activity, and financial. In semi-structured
interviews and analyses of the generated plans, we found that friends and
strangers can help create behavior change plans that are actionable and help
improve behavior. Participants perceived plans more positively when they were
personalized to their goals, routines and preferences, or when they could
foresee executing the plans with friends -- often the friend who created the
plan. Participants felt more comfortable sharing information with strangers and
they received more diverse recommendations from strangers than friends.
