Communication Arts
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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Communication Arts. It was known as the Department of Drama and Speech Communication until September 2018.
Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).
Waterloo faculty, students, and staff can contact us or visit the UWSpace guide to learn more about depositing their research.
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Item Item Taking Care of Authenticity on the CBC’s Randy’s Vinyl Tap(Taylor & Francis, 2020-06-19) Svec, Henry AdamThis essay explores the radio program Randy’s Vinyl Tap, which is hosted by Randy Bachman and airs on CBC Radio 1 (2005-present). I argue that the show’s complex reception can be explained, in part, by the fact that it transgresses dominant conceptions of authenticity in both rock music and public broadcasting discourses. Drawing on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, I explore ways in which Bachman evokes a “carnivalesque” approach to public communication.Item Empirical validation of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale in English and Spanish(Elsevier, 2018-10-13) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Mora, Alberto; Marczewski, Andrzej; Nacke, LennartGamification, the use of game elements in non-game systems, is now established as a relevant research field in human-computer interaction (HCI). Several empirical studies have shown that gameful interventions can increase engagement and generate desired behavioral outcomes in HCI applications. However, some inconclusive results indicate that we need a fuller understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gamification. The Gamification User Types Hexad scale allows us to parse different user motivations in participants� interactions with gameful applications, which are measured using a self-report questionnaire. Each user type represents a style of interaction with gameful applications, for example, if the interactions are more focused on achievements, socialization, or rewards. Thus, by scoring an individual in each one of the user types of the Hexad model, we can establish a profile of user preferences for gameful interactions. However, we still lack a substantial empirical validation of this scale. Therefore, we set out to validate the factor structure of the scale, in both English and Spanish, by conducting three studies, which also investigated the distribution of the Hexad's user types in the sample. Our findings support the structural validity of the scale, as well as suggesting opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, we demonstrate that some user types are more common than others and that gender and age correlate with a person's user types. Our work contributes to HCI research by further validating the utility of the Gamification User Types Hexad scale, potentially affording researchers a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and effects of gameful interventions.Item A Theory of Gamification Principles Through Goal-Setting Theory(Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2018-01-03) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Premsukh, Hardy; Nacke, LennartGoal-setting theory has been used for decades to explain how to motivate people to perform better in work-related tasks, but more recently gamification has also gained attention as an alternative method to increase engagement and performance in many contexts. However, despite goals and feedback being common elements of gameful implementations, there is a lack of literature explaining how gamification works through the lens of goal-setting theory or suggesting how goal-setting concepts and recommendations can be employed to improve gameful systems. Therefore, we present a literature review and a conceptual framework that establishes a relationship between goal-setting and gamification concepts. Next, we describe how this framework can help explain gamification principles and suggest potential improvements to current gameful design methods. Finally, we propose directions for future empirical research aimed to apply this conceptual framework in practice.Item Personalizing Persuasive Strategies in Gameful Systems to Gamification User Types(Association for Computing Machinery, 2018-04-21) Orji, Rita; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Nacke, LennartPersuasive gameful systems are effective tools for motivating behaviour change. Research has shown that tailoring these systems to individuals can increase their efficacy; however, there is little knowledge on how to personalize them. We conducted a large-scale study of 543 participants to investigate how different gamification user types responded to ten persuasive strategies depicted in storyboards representing persuasive gameful health systems. Our results reveal that people’s gamification user types play significant roles in the perceived persuasiveness of different strategies. People scoring high in the ‘player’ user type tend to be motivated by competition, comparison, cooperation, and reward while ‘disruptors’ are likely to be demotivated by punishment, goal-setting, simulation, and self-monitoring. ‘Socialisers’ could be motivated using any of the strategies; they are the most responsive to persuasion overall. Finally, we contribute to CHI research and practice by offering design guidelines for tailoring persuasive gameful systems to each gamification user type.Item Towards a Trait Model of Video Game Preferences(Taylor & Francis, 2018-04-19) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Valtchanov, Deltcho; Reetz, Adrian; Wehbe, Rina Renee; Orji, Rita; Nacke, LennartTypologies for understanding players’ preferences toward different gameplay styles have gained popularity in research. However, attempts to model players’ preferences are based on type models instead of trait models, contrary to the latest personality research. One such model, BrainHex, was designed as an interim model to enable investigations toward a definitive player trait model. However, it lacks empirical validation in support of its psychometric properties. The present work analyzed a dataset with over 50,000 respondents to devise a player traits model based off the BrainHex scale. Results indicate three player traits: action, esthetic, and goal orientation. Furthermore, we analyzed the games listed by participants as examples of what they enjoy, to understand which factors influence player preferences. Results illustrate that the emergent player traits and participants’ genders and attitudes toward story can partially explain player preferences toward certain games. Finally, we present the implications toward a definitive player traits model.Item Positive Gaming: Workshop on Gamification and Games for Wellbeing(Association for Computing Machinery, 2017-10-15) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Orji, Rita; Vella, Kellie; Johnson, Daniel; Van Dooren, Marierose; Nacke, LennartGamification and games have been used and studied in a variety of applications related with health and wellbeing. Nevertheless, there are very few studies aimed at designing games (whether serious games or recreational games) or gameful applications for improving wellbeing or flourishing – the pursuit of a happy and meaningful life, rather than the avoidance of illness. Therefore, this full-day Workshop aims to form a community, discuss theoretical and practical considerations, and promote the development of research projects focused on “Positive Gaming” – the use of gamification and games as tools for realizing Positive Computing objectives. This will create the opportunities for interested researchers to form a common understanding, develop methods and procedures, and establish a roadmap for future research in Positive Gaming.Item Recommender Systems for Personalized Gamification(ACM, 2017-07-09) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Orji, Rita; Nacke, LennartGamification has been used in a variety of application domains to promote behaviour change. Nevertheless, the mechanisms behind it are still not fully understood. Recent empirical results have shown that personalized approaches can potentially achieve better results than generic approaches. However, we still lack a general framework for building personalized gameful applications. To address this gap, we present a novel general framework for personalized gameful applications using recommender systems (i.e., software tools and technologies to recommend suggestions to users that they might enjoy). This framework contributes to understanding and building effective persuasive and gameful applications by describing the different building blocks of a recommender system (users, items, and transactions) in a personalized gamification context.Item Elements of Gameful Design Emerging from User Preferences(Association for Computing Machinery, 2017-10-15) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Mora, Alberto; Nacke, LennartSeveral studies have developed models to explain player preferences. These models have been developed for digital games; however, they have been frequently applied in gameful design (i.e., designing non-game applications with game elements) without empirical validation of their fit to this different context. It is not clear if users experience game elements embedded in applications similarly to how players experience them in games. Consequently, we still lack a conceptual framework of design elements built specifically for a gamification context. To fill this gap, we propose a classification of eight groups of gameful design elements produced from an exploratory factor analysis based on participants’ self-reported preferences. We describe the characteristics of the users who are more likely to enjoy each group of design elements in terms of their gender, age, gamification user type, and personality traits. Our main contribution is providing an overview of which design elements work best for what demographic clusters and how we can apply this knowledge to design effective gameful systems.Item A Framework and Taxonomy of Videogame Playing Preferences(Association for Computing Machinery, 2017-10-15) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Wehbe, Rina Renee; Orji, Rita; Ribeiro, Giovanni; Nacke, LennartPlayer preferences for different gaming styles or game elements has been a topic of interest in human-computer interaction for over a decade. However, current models suggested by the extant literature are generally based on classifying abstract gaming motivations or player archetypes. These concepts do not directly map onto the building blocks of games, taking away from the utility of the findings. To address this issue, we propose a conceptual framework of player preferences based on two dimensions: game elements and game playing styles. To investigate these two concepts, we conducted an exploratory empirical investigation of player preferences, which allowed us to create a taxonomy of nine groups of game elements and five groups of game playing styles. These two concepts are foundational to games, which means that our model can be used by designers to create games that are tailored to their target audience. In addition, we demonstrate that there are significant effects of gender and age on participants’ preferences and discuss the implications of these findings.Item Towards Understanding the Importance of Co-Located Gameplay(Association for Computing Machinery, 2015-10-05) Wehbe, Rina Renee; Nacke, LennartAnalyzing the social con¬text present in a gameplay environment and its effect on player experience can provide insights informing the design and social value of games. We investigate the influence of social condition (cooperative or competitive play with a human player versus computer-controlled character) on player experience. The study controlled for co-presence by ensuring that another individual attending to the same stimulus was present in all conditions. Although physiological measures were not significant, subjective measures of arousal and pleasure were significantly different under varying conditions.Item Personalization in Serious and Persuasive Games and Gamified Interactions(Association for Computing Machinery, 2015-10) Busch, Marc; Mattheiss, Elke; Orji, Rita; Marczewski, Andrzej; Hochleitner, Wolfgang; Lankes, Michael; Nacke, Lennart; Tscheligi, ManfredSerious and persuasive games and gamified interactions have become popular in the last years, especially in the realm of behavior change support systems. They have been used as tools to support and influence human behavior in a variety of fields, such as health, sustainability, education, and security. It has been shown that personalized serious and persuasive games and gamified interactions can increase effectivity of supporting behavior change compared to "one-size-fits all"-systems. However, how serious games and gamified interactions can be personalized, which factors can be used to personalize (e.g. personality, gender, persuadability, player types, gamification user types, states, contextual/situational variables), what effect personalization has (e.g. on player/user experience) and whether there is any return on investment is still largely unexplored. This full-day workshop aims at bringing together the academic and industrial community as well as the gaming and gamification community to jointly explore these topics and define a future roadmap.Item ABOVE WATER: Extending the Play Space for Health(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-11-06) Wehbe, Rina Renee; Watson, Diane K.; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Nacke, LennartABOVE WATER is a game that disseminates information about Clinical Anxiety Disorders, particularly Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder. This game focuses on teaching players about treatments as well as providing a safe space for discussion of personal experiences. This game focuses on using the physical world (physical space, physical and tangible cards) and the digital world (accessible by any phone or tablet with a modern web browser) as part of its gameplay.Item SIGCHI Games: The Scope of Games and Play Research at CHI(ACM, 2016-05-07) Nacke, Lennart; Cox, Anna; Mandryk, Regan; Cairns, PaulThe games research community at CHI has become an ever-growing significant part of the conference, demonstrated by the SIGCHI-sponsored CHI PLAY conference and the inclusion of a games subcommittee at CHI 2016. Given the increase in quantity and variety of submissions, and the involvement and engagement of practitioners within the community, it is important for the community to have this SIG as a forum. We plan to give a brief overview of the history of game research at CHI as well as its current state. Then, we want to engage the community in a discussion about the scope that games research at CHI should have and where we want to take this community from here. We want to vibrantly explore new outlets for academic dissemination, community outreach, and collaborations with practitioners.Item Lightweight Games User Research for Indies and Non-Profit Organizations(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-05-07) Nacke, Lennart; Moser, Christiane; Drachen, Anders; Mirza-Babaei, Pejman; Abney, Andrea; Zhenyu, Zhu (Cole)The Games User Research (GUR) community has thrived at CHI with four workshops and a course since CHI 2012; all of these were well attended. In line with the #chi4good spirit this year, the GUR field must advance towards demographics that will benefit from GUR but are currently underrepresented in the community: Small, independent developers, non-profit organizations, and academics that create mobile games, games for health or change, or educational games. This workshop will be a think tank for participants to construct collective knowledge, share and discuss. We plan to discuss topics online beyond the workshop via the International Game Developer Associations Special Interest Group on GUR, which serves as a basis for disseminating workshop outcomes and further discussion.Item "The Collecting Itself Feels Good": Towards Collection Interfaces for Digital Game Objects(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-10-16) Toups, Zachary; Crenshaw, Nicole K.; Wehbe, Rina Renee; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Nacke, LennartDigital games offer a variety of collectible objects. We investigate players' collecting behaviors in digital games to determine what digital game objects players enjoyed collecting and why they valued these objects. Using this information, we seek to inform the design of future digital game object collection interfaces. We discuss the types of objects that players prefer, the reasons that players value digital game objects, and how collection behaviors may guide play. Through our findings, we identify design implications for digital game object collection interfaces: enable object curation, preserve rules and mechanics, preserve context of play, and allow players to share their collections with others. Digital game object collection interfaces are applicable to the design of digital games, gamified applications, and educational software.Item The Gamification User Types Hexad Scale(ACM, 2016-10-16) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Wehbe, Rina Renee; Diamond, Lisa; Busch, Marc; Marczewski, Andrzej; Nacke, LennartSeveral studies have indicated the need for personalizing gamified systems to users' personalities. However, mapping user personality onto design elements is difficult. Hexad is a gamification user types model that attempts this mapping but lacks a standard procedure to assess user preferences. Therefore, we created a 24-items survey response scale to score users' preferences towards the six different motivations in the Hexad framework. We used internal and test-retest reliability analysis, as well as factor analysis, to validate this new scale. Further analysis revealed significant associations of the Hexad user types with the Big Five personality traits. In addition, a correlation analysis confirmed the framework's validity as a measure of user preference towards different game design elements. This scale instrument contributes to games user research because it enables accurate measures of user preference in gamification.Item CLEVER: Gamification and Enterprise Knowledge Learning(ACM, 2016-10-16) Elm, Dominic; Kappen, Dennis; Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Nacke, LennartThis paper describes the design and a preliminary implementation study of a gamified knowledge management system (KMS) that supports the learning component within knowledge management (KM). KM includes acquiring social capital through the process of acquisition, sharing, and dissemination of knowledge within a company. Employees often lack the motivation to share their implicit knowledge with one another and are reluctant to engage in a collaborative forum for such knowledge exchange. We developed a gamified learning component of an enterprise KMS to help foster this process of collaborative and participatory learning. More importantly, this game combines trivia and strategy elements as game elements to motivate the players for knowledge exchange. We report preliminary results from an exploratory study with nine participants which indicates that the above combination of game elements does contribute to participatory knowledge learning within an enterprise KMS.Item Heuristic Evaluation for Gameful Design(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-10-16) Fortes Tondello, Gustavo; Kappen, Dennis; Mekler, Elisa; Ganaba, Marim; Nacke, LennartDespite the emergence of many gameful design methods in the literature, there is a lack of evaluation methods specific to gameful design. To address this gap, we present a new set of guidelines for heuristic evaluation of gameful design in interactive systems. First, we review several gameful design methods to identify the dimensions of motivational affordances most often employed. Then, we present a set of 28 gamification heuristics aimed at enabling experts to rapidly evaluate a gameful system. The resulting heuristics are a new method to evaluate user experience in gameful interactive systemsItem Design and Preliminary Validation of The Player Experience Inventory(Association for Computing Machinery, 2016-10-16) Vanden Abeele, Vero; Mekler, Elisa; Johnson, Daniel; Nacke, LennartWe present the design and preliminary results of the validation of the Player Experience Inventory (PXI). Based on the input of 64 experts in the field of player-computer interaction, we designed and refined this new scale. Our scale is based on the MDA framework (and on Means-End theory, underlying MDA). The PXI incorporates two subscales, one with dimensions at the functional level (i.e., dynamics) and one at the psycho-social level (i.e., aesthetics). The initial results, via principal factor analysis, suggest the scale can be used accurately to evaluate player experience. This work is our first step towards presenting a new, validated survey instrument for player experience evaluation.