The More, the Merrier? - How Adding and Removing Game Design Elements Impact Motivation and Performance in a Gamification Environment

• Published in: International journal of human-computer interaction Vol. 37; no. 12; pp. 1130 - 1150
• Main Authors: Groening, Christopher, Binnewies, Carmen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Norwood Taylor & Francis 21.07.2021; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc
• Subjects: Between-subjects design; Cognitive tasks; Design; Games; Gamification; Trading cards
• ISSN: 1044-7318; 1532-7590; 1044-7318
• DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2020.1870828

Gamification became a well-established technique by implicating game design elements into applications, activities, and services. We investigate the impact of the amount of game design elements on motivation and performance in cognitive tasks by adding and removing game design elements. We manipulated the amount of game design elements in three online experiments (N = 440), both between-subjects as well as within-subjects in a repeated measure design. Results suggest that more game design elements provide higher benefits for motivation and performance. A curvilinear relationship suggests a potential threshold of game design elements, which has to be met for gamification to become effective. Removing game design elements from the ongoing task did not result in a decline of performance. Based on Self-Determination theory, results indicate toward competence and relatedness being core mechanics underlying the positive effects of gamification. We conclude that a high amount of game design elements benefits motivation and performance.