Sessions at Web Directions South 2011 about Game Design and Gamification

Thursday 13th October 2011

• Sustaining Passionate Users

  by Stephen Anderson

  Yes, business applications can be made fun and gamelike. No, points, levels and badges are not the way to create sustained interest.

  While many sites have added superficial gaming elements to make interactions more engaging, the companies that “get it” have a better understanding of the psychology behind motivation. They know how to design sites that keep people coming back again and again.

  So what are the secrets? What actually motivates people online? How do you create sustained interest in your product or service? Speaker Stephen P. Anderson will share common patterns from game design, learning theories, and neuroscience to reveal what motivates—and demotivates—people over the long haul.

  • Game Design
  • Gamification
  • Motivation
  • Neuroscience

  At 4:05pm to 5:15pm, Thursday 13th October

  Coverage audio clip slide deck

Friday 14th October 2011

• You're Already a Game Designer

  by Paris Buttfield-Addison

  Gamification’s still the hot new thing, somehow, but it’s a term that’s poorly applied and even more poorly understood.

  In this session, you’ll learn how gamification has been with us all along, how to design with your user’s emotions in mind, and how to go beyond badges, buttons and points.

  Bring your sense of fun, and be prepared to learn how your product is already a game — you just need to point it out!

  • Game Design
  • Gamification

  At 11:45am to 12:40pm, Friday 14th October

  In Design Track, Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre