Going from the game world to the real world: user experience innovation guided by gamification thinking

As the mobile game market develops, an increasing number of users get to embrace the virtual world and enjoy the fun experience within. Netease Games, one of the biggest self-developed game companies in China, stays committed to ingenious and innovative interaction experience. As users mature, the on-screen game experience is not enough for user expectation. To this end, gamification thinking is employed to take both in-game and outside-the-game user experience into consideration, thereby breaking the wall between the virtual world and the real one.

Strategies that encourage user interaction (such as challenges, achievements and rewards) in game design are already seen in all industries. People’s craze for koi fish reposts and lucky card collection can be considered as reflection of gamification thinking in the real world. When it comes to games, is there anything we can do to further engage the users, beyond the screen?

We’ve witnessed a growing use of user experience theories in all industries, not only on the internet but also in the real world. To meet our users’ new demands, our game experience design focus has been shifted from product design towards service design. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for experience design.

To explain the focus shift in design from traditional in-game user experience to user experience in real life, the example of the Netease Games Experience Store will be discussed in the workshop. In addition, we’ll seek to analyze the latest trend with several cases. Working in cooperation with other designers, we’ll try to break the existing boundaries, address technical problems and analyze complex cases, using gamification thinking. The in-game & out-of-game closed loop thus created will allow for better user experience.

Detailed content includes:
1. Overview of relevant theories
Summarize theories related to gamification thinking and real-life experience design with cases, including:
• Definition, basics and development of gamification thinking;
• Cases analysis of gamification thinking in design;
• Touch-points in real-life game experience;
• E3 Value theory regarding service design & behavior design;
• Stakeholder evaluation and management; etc.

2. Design tool sharing
Based on related theories and real-life work experience in the NetEase Games Experience Store, we have compiled a set of highly operational design tools that cover every process in the work flow (search for design requirement, focus and the value of user experience, look into game mechanics, review and evaluate diverse designs, etc.) Given the case of NetEase Games’ offline experience store, we will explain this set of tools in detail.

3. Industry prospects
Having introduced the theoretical background and design tools, we will further look into some updated technologies and news in terms of interaction design. Brainstorming is encouraged as a warming up and preparation for the next step.

4. Design practice in groups
Given much freedom, attenders are encouraged to organize in groups and work on their own designs, using the tools mentioned above. A background gallery and an assignment gallery will be given for reference. Creative, applicable designs are encouraged at the end of the practice.

1、Introduction and warm-up: Introduce workshop and meet the other attendees.
2、Basics overview: Brief on gamification thinking, real-life user experience design and relevant methods & theories.
3、Case study: Study the case of Netease Games Offline Experience Store, etc.
4、Trend discussion: Brief on the latest tech news and trends regarding user design experience in real-life. Prepare for the group practice.
5、Group practice: Work on an real-life experience design with theories and method above.

1、Interaction designer
2、Product designer
3、Passionate gamer

1、All round knowledge of gamification thinking in design (in view of a game developer)
2、Focus shift in user experience design from in-game to real-life
3、Design method that aims to strike a balance between gamification thinking and real-life experience
4、Real-life experience design cases provided by NetEase Games