Do they Play as Intended? – Comparing Aggregated and Temporal Behavioral Analysis in a Persuasive

Do they Play as Intended? – Comparing Aggregated and Temporal Behavioral Analysis in a Persuasive Gamified System

Do they Play as Intended? – Comparing Aggregated and Temporal Behavioral Analysis in a Persuasive Gamified System

Enrica Loria, Jessica Rivera-Villicana, Annapaola Marconi

Abstract

“Gamified systems nurture an ulterior goal set by their designers (e.g., a positive behavioral change). Behavioral profiling allows understanding whether users play as intended and reach such a goal. Analyzing in-game behaviors can also highlight unexpected interaction patterns or unengaged users. Current logging systems can track and store any in-game action. However, such high-dimensional data should be carefully processed to retain relevant knowledge while filtering unnecessary noise. Analysts can either aggregate data into a single data point per player or maintain temporal information. This study compares aggregated and temporal behavioral analysis conducted on a gamified system, promoting sustainable mobility (Play&Go). Results show how, in Play&Go, aggregated analysis conveys information on long-term winning strategies, whereas temporal analysis describes short-term strategies. Additionally, studying the temporal evolution of players’ behaviors emphasizes a sharp division among engaged and unengaged users. We show how aggregated and temporal analysis hold a complementary view of players’ experiences”.

Reference

Loria, E., Rivera-Villicana, J., & Marconi, A. (2021, January). Do they Play as Intended?-Comparing Aggregated and Temporal Behavioral Analysis in a Persuasive Gamified System. In Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (p. 1315). http://www.enricaloria.it/papers/LoriaHICSS54_Preprint.pdf

Keywords

Behavioral profiling, high-dimensional data, Play&Go