Mapping Gamification Elements to Heuristics and Behavior Change in Early Phase Inclusive Design: A Case Study

This paper identifies the connection between heuristics, gamification, and system visualization in the early design phase of a mobile application in order to create what we call environmental behavior change. Participant motivations, abilities, and triggers are identified as a part of the design process using Fogg’s behavior model. Through purposive focus groups and the design of wireframes, features that can enable environmental behavior change are identified and turned into design goals. Example User stories, or personas, were generated for each goal. These goals are also mapped to heuristics for interface design, white hat drives for motivation using the Octalysis framework, and aspects of behavior change. The gamification of these aspects are discussed. Network features and competition were elements identified by participants as motivating factors that may enable environmental behaviour change. Key heuristics identified by participants include: 1. a match between the system and the real world, 2. user control and freedom, and 3. recognition rather than recall. These factors align with Fogg’s Hope, social acceptance, and social rejection.