What's the Point? How Users Functionalise Points in Gamified Systems

Paper Title

What's the Point? How Users Functionalise Points in Gamified Systems

Publication Info

• Topic area: User interpretations and motivational functions of points in gamified systems.
• Keywords: Gamification, points, motivation, user functionalisation, Duolingo, Habitica, design elements, self-determination theory, personal informatics, qualitative study.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Despite the ubiquity of points in gamified systems, their motivational functions remain underexplored. Prior research often assumes simple, one-to-one relationships between game elements and motivations, overlooking the nuanced ways users interpret and use points.
• Significance: Understanding how users functionalise points can inform the design of more effective gamified systems that align with user motivations and goals.
• Motivation and related work: Previous studies have examined rewards, badges, and other game elements but often lack empirical evidence on points specifically. Theoretical frameworks like Self-Determination Theory (SDT) have been applied but fail to cover the full range of motivational processes. This study addresses the gap by empirically exploring how users of Duolingo and Habitica interpret and use points.

Solution

• Proposed approach: Conduct a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 27 active users of Duolingo and Habitica to explore the functionalisation of points.
• Novelty:
  1. Empirical evidence of six distinct motivational functionalisations of points.
  2. Integration of insights from gamification and personal informatics literature.
  3. Identification of design details that influence user engagement with points.
  4. Proposals for design guidelines to enhance the effectiveness of point systems.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Semi-structured interviews with active users of Duolingo and Habitica.
  • Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) to identify themes and subthemes in user responses.
  • Operational definition of points as "cumulative numerical representations of system feedback on user action."

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Six themes of point functionalisation: rewards, progress measurement, goal-setting, agency, kinship, and social signalling.
  • Points were meaningful when they proportionally rewarded effort, tracked progress, enabled goal-setting, and supported autonomy.
  • Social features like shared points and public visibility fostered accountability, collaboration, and social connections.
• Advantage over baselines: Provides empirical evidence for theoretical assumptions about points and identifies nuanced user interpretations not previously documented.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Sample: 27 participants (mean age 33 for Duolingo, 36 for Habitica; majority female).
  • Platforms: Duolingo (language learning) and Habitica (task management).
  • Analysis: Reflexive Thematic Analysis using Nvivo software.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Limited to active users of two platforms; broader samples could reveal additional insights.
  • Gender imbalance in the sample may influence findings.
  • Future research should explore other gamified systems, unconventional point designs, and cultural or situational contexts.

Summary

This study investigates how users of Duolingo and Habitica functionalise points, revealing six motivational themes: rewards, progress tracking, goal-setting, agency, kinship, and social signalling. Points were meaningful when they proportionally rewarded effort, tracked progress, and supported autonomy. Social features fostered accountability and collaboration. The findings highlight the importance of design details, such as transparency and flexibility, in shaping user engagement. The study contributes empirical evidence to gamification literature and offers design guidelines for point systems, inviting further research into user-configurable gamification elements and cross-disciplinary insights from personal informatics.