This presentation shares the journey I’ve been on, from trying to shape and influence a user’s path, to creating sandbox environments in which people can play and amaze us! ______ Designers are trained to guide users toward predetermined outcomes, but is there a better use of this persuasive psychology? What happens if we focus less on influencing desired behaviors and focus more on designing ‘sandboxes’: open-ended, generative systems? And how might we go about designing these spaces? It’s still “psychology applied to design”, but in a much more challenging and rewarding way! In this talk, I’ll share the journey I’ve been on, from trying to shape and influence a user’s path, to creating these sandbox environments. You’ll learn why systems such as Twitter, Pinterest, and Minecraft are so maddeningly addictive, and what principles we can use to create similar experiences. We’ll look at education and the work of Maria Montessori, who wrote extensively about how to create learning environments that encourage exploration and discovery. And we’ll look at game design, considering all the varieties of games, especially those carefully designed to encourage play — a marked contrast with progression games designed to move you through a series of ever-increasing challenges, each converging upon the same solution. Finally, we’ll look at web applications, and I’ll share how this thinking might influence your work, from how you respond to new feature requests to how you design for behavior change in a more mature way.
Customer Journey Maps, Service Blueprints, Scenarios
Lockton, D., Harrison, D.J., Stanton, N.A. (2010). The Design
with Intent Method: a design tool for inuencing user behaviour.
Applied Ergonomics, Vol.41 No.3, 382-392.
Behavioral Goals (which should align w/ User Goals!) Business
Goals Psychology
Behavioral Goals (which should align w/ User Goals!) Business
Goals Psychology NEW SKILLS assistindeveloping HABITS
assistinestablishing (orputtinganendto) COMPLETION
nudgepeopletoward
Paths arent necessarily bad, but
PATHS SHAPE BEHAVIOR END IN AN EXCHANGE HAVE PREDICTABLE
OUTCOMES ARE GAMES TO BE PLAYED DESIGN EVERY DETAIL ARE MEASURABLE
LEAD TO COMPLETION LEAD PEOPLE ALONG ARE CONSUMPTIVE CREATE
DEPENDENCY (ON DIRECTIONS) HAVE A CLEARLY DEFINED PURPOSE BEST FOR
INSTRUCTION
Is there something more?
Sandboxes
Sandboxes
Why do so many people find these experiences maddeningly
addictive?Q:Q:
Why do so many people find these experiences maddeningly
addictive?Q:Q: Pick one of these online experiences List WHY you
think people find them addictive (list as many reasons as you can)
You have 90 seconds GO!
Why do so many people find these experiences maddeningly
addictive?Q:Q: Pick one of these online experiences List WHY you
think people find them addictive (list as many reasons as you can)
You have 90 seconds GO! Set Completion Sequencing Appropriate
Challenges Status Positive Mimicry Self-Expression Curiosity
Collecting Autonomy Visual Imagery Pattern Recognition Feedback
Loops Reputation Competition Achievements Status-Quo Bias Surprise
Variable Rewards Scarcity
What do all these experiences have in common?Q:Q:
2 OBSERVATIONS: 1. These are Platforms You can make of them
what you want. There is no prescribed way to use these system.
The WTF Problem. WhatsThisFor?
The WTF Problem. Whats This For?
2 OBSERVATIONS: 1. These are Platforms You can make of them
what you want. There is no prescribed way to use these system. 2.
These are Social Spaces People learn from each other how to use the
system. Many of the psychological nudges that follow stem from
observing others.
While MineCraft is a place for exploration and self-expression
(perhaps survival!), its watching others that inspires new ideas
and creates personal challenges. The hashtag in twitter was an
emergent element. It wasnt until I saw my wife pinning decorating
ideas that I saw Pinterest as a visual bookmarking system.
A sandbox is a style of game in which minimal character
limitations are placed on the gamer, allowing the gamer to roam and
change a virtual world at will. In contrast to a progression-style
game, a sandbox game emphasizes roaming and allows a gamer to
select tasks. Instead of featuring segmented areas or numbered
levels, a sandbox game usually occurs in a world to which the gamer
has full access from start to finish. A sandbox game is also known
as an open-world or free-roaming game.
http://www.techopedia.com/denition/3952/sandbox-gaming
Sandboxes create open spaces for self- directed play and
creativity.
Childrens toys and organization:
Childrens toys and organization:
Architecture: Adventure Playground A castle, made of carton,
rocks and old branches, by a group of children for themselves, is
worth a thousand perfectly detailed, exactly finished castles, made
for them in a factory. And the proposed solution: Set up a
playground for the children in each neighborhood. Not a highly
finished playground, with asfalt and swings, but a place with raw
materials of all kindsnets, boxes, barrels, trees, ropes, simple
tools, frames, grass, and waterwhere children can create and re-
create playgrounds of their own.
I am convinced that standardised playgrounds are dangerous,
just in another way: When the distance between all the rungs in a
climbing net or a ladder is exactly the same, the child has no need
to concentrate on where he puts his feet. Standardisation is
dangerous because play becomes simplified - Helle Nebelong
PATHS SHAPE BEHAVIOR END IN AN EXCHANGE HAVE PREDICTABLE
OUTCOMES ARE GAMES TO BE PLAYED DESIGN EVERY DETAIL ARE MEASURABLE
LEAD TO COMPLETION LEAD PEOPLE ALONG ARE CONSUMPTIVE CREATE
DEPENDENCY (ON DIRECTIONS) HAVE A CLEARLY DEFINED PURPOSE BEST FOR
INSTRUCTION SANDBOXES CREATE ENGAGEMENT END IN LEARNING &
DISCOVERY HAVE UNKNOWN OUTCOMES ARE SPACES IN WHICH TO PLAY
UNDERSPECIFY THE DESIGN ARE OBSERVABLE LEAD TO UNDERSTANDING LET
PEOPLE EXPLORE ARE GENERATIVE ENCOURAGE AUTONOMY PURPOSE IS
SELF-DETERMINED BEST FOR PEFORMANCE
Education
The jockey offers a piece of sugar to his horse before jumping
into the saddle, the coachman beats his horse that he may respond
to the signs given by the reins; and, yet, neither of these runs so
superbly as the free horse of the plains. MARIA MONTESSORI
we have prepared the environment and the materials MARIA
MONTESSORI
Mixed age classrooms Specialized educational materials Student
choice of activity from within a prescribed range of options
Uninterrupted blocks of work time A Constructivist or "discovery"
model, where students learn concepts from working with materials,
rather than by direct instruction
Playing is learning.
Googles founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin Amazons Jeff Bezos
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales Julia Child rapper Sean P.Diddy Combs
videogame pioneer Will Wright Montessori taught me the joy of
discovery Its all about learning on your terms, rather than a
teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of
Montessori
videogame pioneer Will Wright Amazons Jeff Bezos Wikipedia
founder Jimmy Wales Julia Child rapper Sean P.Diddy Combs Googles
founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin We both went to Montessori
school, and I think it was part of that training of not following
rules and orders, and being self-motivated, questioning whats going
on in the world, doing things a little bit differently.
A sandbox education teaches you to play at life.
Human beings have an inherent tendency to seek out novelty and
challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore,
and to learn. Edward Deci psychologist
EQUATE TO INFORMAL (NON-INSTITUTIONAL) LEARNING VIEW STUDENTS
AS VESSELS TO BE FILLED VIEW STUDENTS AS FIRES TO BE KINDLED
SANDBOXESPATHS EQUATE TO FORMAL (INSTITUTIONAL) LEARNING SPECIFY
PERFORMANCE GOALS LEAD TO LEARNING CHALLENGES Getting an A in
French Learning to speak French
EQUATE TO INFORMAL (NON-INSTITUTIONAL) LEARNING VIEW STUDENTS
AS VESSELS TO BE FILLED VIEW STUDENTS AS FIRES TO BE KINDLED
SANDBOXESPATHS EQUATE TO FORMAL (INSTITUTIONAL) LEARNING SPECIFY
PERFORMANCE GOALS LEAD TO LEARNING CHALLENGES Getting an A in
French Learning to speak French FALSEDICHOTOMY
! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! Normally, learning in CodeSpells is encouraged by way
of a series of quests that must be completed with the use of
Java-based spell crafting [In our version], players could walk up
to in-game gnome-like characters who would give various spells to
the player, along with simple explanations. Our hope was that these
spells would serve as starting points for code exploration. from On
the Nature of Fires and How to Spark Them When Youre Not There
LEGO BRICKS
LEGO BRICKS
buthowis thisuseful?
Practical Takeaways Underspecify features Thank Kars Alfrink
for this one!
As a user I want a way to flag interesting tweets for reviewing
later or As a user I want a way to give kudos to people for sharing
something interesting. or As a user I want a way to save positive
tweets for later use as testimonials or? As a (user role), I want
(function) so that (benet)
Practical Takeaways Avoid long workflows. (AKA Short Paths vs
Long Paths)
Practical Takeaways Build and consume your own APIs
A SANDBOX, AT DIFFT LEVELS SCRIPTING LAYER / ABILITY ADD MODS
INTERFACE LAYER API / DATA LAYER OPEN SOURCE THE CODE BASE
Practical Takeaways Back off. Let people make mistakes and
learn through trial and error.
Practical Takeaways Direct Manipulation is best! (AKA No more
wizards!!)
Practical Takeaways Help people understand through Playful
Interactions
http://vimeo.com/36579366 Watch this!
The approach to teaching without words that Im proposing makes
heavy use of interactivity and instant informative feedback.
http://www.creativitypost.com/education/teaching_without_words
STMath
SANDBOXESPATHS SHAPE BEHAVIOR CREATE ENGAGEMENT END IN AN
EXCHANGE END IN LEARNING & DISCOVERY HAVE PREDICTABLE OUTCOMES
HAVE UNKNOWN OUTCOMES ARE GAMES TO BE PLAYED ARE SPACES IN WHICH TO
PLAY DESIGN EVERY DETAIL UNDERSPECIFY THE DESIGN ARE MEASURABLE ARE
OBSERVABLE LEAD TO COMPLETION LEAD TO UNDERSTANDING LEAD PEOPLE
ALONG LET PEOPLE EXPLORE ARE CONSUMPTIVE ARE GENERATIVE CREATE
DEPENDENCY (ON DIRECTIONS) ENCOURAGE AUTONOMY HAVE A CLEARLY
DEFINED PURPOSE PURPOSE IS SELF-DETERMINED BEST FOR INSTRUCTION
BEST FOR PEFORMANCE
SANDBOXESPATHS SHAPE BEHAVIOR CREATE ENGAGEMENT END IN AN
EXCHANGE END IN LEARNING & DISCOVERY HAVE PREDICTABLE OUTCOMES
HAVE UNKNOWN OUTCOMES ARE GAMES TO BE PLAYED ARE SPACES IN WHICH TO
PLAY DESIGN EVERY DETAIL UNDERSPECIFY THE DESIGN ARE MEASURABLE ARE
OBSERVABLE LEAD TO COMPLETION LEAD TO UNDERSTANDING LEAD PEOPLE
ALONG LET PEOPLE EXPLORE ARE CONSUMPTIVE ARE GENERATIVE CREATE
DEPENDENCY (ON DIRECTIONS) ENCOURAGE AUTONOMY HAVE A CLEARLY
DEFINED PURPOSE PURPOSE IS SELF-DETERMINED BEST FOR INSTRUCTION
BEST FOR PEFORMANCE To quote Kathy Sierra which of these will help
users kick ass? The BIG Practical Takeaway:
One Last Practical Takeaway
we have prepared the environment and the materials MARIA
MONTESSORI
Environment Objects Rules we have prepared the environment and
the materials MARIA MONTESSORI
The idea for knowledge games [came] from watching people at the
cutting edges of new disciplines; people who are entrepreneurs,
creators, designers and innovators. Watching them work, watching
them play, and sometimes having difficulty telling the difference.
Dave Gray
PlayingatLife!
How do you approach LIFE? Like a Path to follow, or a Sandbox
in which to play?
What we learned from that project then allowed us to ?? (WETA
DOCUMENETARY)
Play is the answer to how anything new comes about. JEAN
PIAGET
My book proposal
Yes, this was my book proposal!
Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has
been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been
playful, rebellious, and immature. TOM ROBBINS QUOTES (AMERICAN
NOVELIST. B.1936)
Q:Are you designing Paths or Sandboxes?
Q:Are you designing Paths or Sandboxes? Are you following a
path or playing in a sandbox?
Thank you! getmentalnotes.com Design for Understanding Stephen
P. Anderson @stephenanderson www.poetpainter.com |
www.slideshare.net/stephenpa
http://leapfrog.nl/blog/archives/2008/11/17/a-playful-stance-my-game-design-london-2008-talk/
http://www.slideshare.net/dings/paideia-as-paidia-from-gamebased-learning-to-a-life-wellplayed
See also:
The cutting room oor:
http://www.dvice.com/archives/2012/10/ethiopian_kids.php What
happens if you give a thousand Motorola Zoom tablet PCs to
Ethiopian kids who have never even seen a printed word? Within ve
months, they'll start teaching themselves English while
circumventing the security on your OS to customize settings and
activate disabled hardware. Whoa. The One Laptop Per Child project
started as a way of delivering technology and resources to schools
in countries with little or no education infrastructure, using
inexpensive computers to improve traditional curricula. What the
OLPC Project has realized over the last ve or six years, though, is
that teaching kids stuff is really not that valuable. Yes, knowing
all your state capitols how to spell "neighborhood" properly and
whatnot isn't a bad thing, but memorizing facts and procedures
isn't going to inspire kids to go out and learn by teaching
themselves, which is the key to a good education. Instead, OLPC is
trying to gure out a way to teach kids to learn, which is what this
experiment is all about.
The mind, basically, is a pattern-seeking machine We tend to
seek patterns and then we tell stories about them. I think were
pretty much conditioned to look for a pattern and to try to
interpret it in terms of certain stories.
the native and unspoiled attitude of childhood, marked by
ardent curiosity, fertile imagination, and love of experimental
inquiry, is near, very near to the attitude of the scientific mind.
-John Dewey
'Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of
comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games
fun. With games, learning is the drug.' -Raph Koster x
