Beyond Keywords: Ethnographic Methods to Inform the Design of a Gamified System for Domestic

Electricity Conservation

Andrew HarveyThesis ReviewMay 2014

BackgroundResearch FocusMethodAnalysisFindingsContributionsLimitationsFurther Research

Outline

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Background

Gamification“the use of game design elements in non-game contexts”(Deterding, 2011, p. 9)

Gamification

Background

• Player Focus– Player Types– Player Stories– Stages of Mastery

• System Focus– Objectives– Metrics– Integration with Technology

• Activity focus– Mechanics

• Elements– Points– Levels– Leaderboards– Badges

– Dynamics– Activity Loops

• Engagement loop• Progression Loop

– Win Conditions

Gamification Architecture(Zichermann, 2013)

Acts as a system blueprint

Gamification

Background

• Player Focus– Player Types– Player Stories– Stages of Mastery

• User-Centered Design– Personas– Scenarios

Design Ethnography?

Designing Technology

Background

(Jacobs et al., 2008) (Faily and Flechais, 2011)

Designing Technology

Background

Ethnographic

Research

Player Focus

Gamification

Architecture

?• Player Types/Personas• Player Stories/Scenarios• Stages of Mastery

Research Focus

Overall Research ProblemHow are ethnographic methods used to inform the Player Focus section of a Gamification design architecture for domestic energy conservation?

1. How are Player Focus Gamification architecture elements derived from telephone data?

2. How are additional Player Focus Gamification architecture elements derived from in-home data?

Method

Ethnographic Research• Interviews• Direct observation• Ethnomethodologically focused analysisConstruct Design Tools• Personas• Scenarios• Stages of MasteryReflect on Methods• Ethnomethodologically reflexive dissertation• Why ethnomethodology?

– Description of researchers methods– This is aligned with traditional EM work that sought to analyse

the methods of sociologists by turning the resources for achieving sociology into topics of enquiry themselves (Heritage, 1984; Ritzer, 2008).

• EM focus demystified the arrows in diagrams

Phase 1: Telephone• 10 Participants• 44 Scripted interview questions

– 10 Demographic– 11 Technology use– 23 Energy Use

• 20-30 mins - average length• Recorded and transcribed

Phase 2: In-Home• 3 households• Standardised interview• Walk around inventory/observation

Method

Ethnographic Research

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

Scenario 1 Use the system to examine energy use

Scenario 2 Challenging another user to an energy saving competition

Stages of MasteryNoviceProblem Solver Expert Master Visionary

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

Transcript 5 Lines 65-74

Andrew:ok fair enough ok so um would you please tell me about your social media

use so which social media sites do you use?

John: In what way

Andrew:umm

John: When you mean social media

Andrew:ok, do you use any sites such as Facebook or Twitter or Google Plus?

John: Um Facebook, I’ve got an account but don’t use it I’ve got a few friends on

there, basically if I’m going to contact someone I’ll jump on the telephone

and ring them have a chat, mainly because my typing skills are not that

good

Andrew:ok 

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

Transcript 8 Lines 57-60

Andrew: alright and do you use social media, any social media websites

Bec: like Facebook

Andrew: yes

Bec: yep occasionally I’ll log on but not very much

Request for Clarification (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 2008)

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

“Video Analysis Wall” (Schuler and Namioka, 1993 p 149)

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

Scenario 1 Use the system to examine energy use

James picks up the device after seeing an advertisement for an electricity company on television which stated that the average house uses 12 kilowatt hours a day. He taps on the “Energy Use” button and looks at the graph of his use for the day. James then selects ‘Monthly View’ which displays a line graph of his energy use over the last six months. Having a fast paced life; he likes the graphs and concise ways of showing his electricity use information. James is able to get a quick understanding of his electricity use relative to his historic use.

Phase 1: Telephone

Analysis

Stages of MasteryNoviceProblem Solver Expert Master Visionary

Expert James is familiar with his specific energy behaviours that have significant impact on the system. James doesn’t spend hours on the system exploring understanding its ins and outs. He just knows the specific areas of it which benefit him the most. He demonstrates his familiarity with the system by not requiring instructions on the system tasks.

NoviceJames is unsure of both the system and its functions. He is eager to save energy, but, he is unsure what exactly he can do to save energy. James begins experimenting by turning appliances off and on and viewing their effects on the device.

Phase 2:In-home

Analysis

Phase 2:In-home

Analysis

Phase 2:In-home

Analysis

Ethnographic Research• Interviews• Direct observation• Ethnomethodologically focused analysisConstruct Design Tools• Personas• Scenarios• Stages of MasteryReflect on Methods (Accounts)• Ethnomethodologically reflexive dissertation• Why ethnomethodology?

• Description of researchers methods• This is aligned with traditional EM work that sought to analyse the

methods of sociologists by turning the resources for achieving sociology into topics of enquiry themselves (Heritage, 1984; Ritzer, 2008).

• EM focus demystified the arrows in diagrams

Findings

Overall Research ProblemHow can ethnographic methods inform the Player Focus of a Gamification design architecture for domestic energy conservation?

1. How are Player Focus Gamification architecture elements derived from telephone data?

2. How are additional Player Focus Gamification architecture elements derived from in-home data?

Ethnographic

Research

Player Focus

Gamification

Architecture

?

Findings

• Ethnographic Research– Conduct telephone interviews and transcribe– Ethnomethodologically focused analysis– Identify common themes/points of interest

• Player Focus– Group relevant themes together into personas– Identify regular actions as scenarios– Construct a persona narrative– Identify persona based stages of mastery– Use the EM notion of accounts to develop stages of mastery

1. How are Player Focus Gamification architecture elements derived from telephone data?

Findings

2. How are additional Player Focus Gamification architecture elements derived from in-home data?

• Visual elements– Design artefacts– Exemplify persona traits

Contribution

• Ethnomethodologically informed analysis to construct design tools of personas, scenarios, and stages of mastery -> Player Focus section of a Gamification Architecture.

• Demystified the overlooked ‘arrows’• Provided empirical research in Gamification

design

Limitations

• Sample is a convenience sample.– Time constraints– Resource constraints

• Two participants withdrew from the in-home phase

• New area of research – comparatively little published on the topic of Gamification

• Ethnographic data to inform other areas of Gamification design

• Empirical research - Gamification on energy conservation behaviour

Further Research

Now: Thesis Review Milestone

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Submit: 2 June - Latest

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