Points, levels and leaderboards led to more tags but not more enjoyment.

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   273 adults who had signed up for university studies. Most were women, and their average age was about 33, from 17 to 68.

2. 02

   What they did

   Everyone tagged 15 abstract paintings online, in one session of about 22 minutes. The plain group had no game elements, and the others got points per tag, a progress bar of levels, or a leaderboard. The leaderboard's four other players were made up, and people were not told.

3. 03

   What happened

   Points, levels and a leaderboard each got people to make more tags than the plain task. Levels and the leaderboard got more tags than points alone. Tag quality, enjoyment of the task and feeling competent stayed the same.

What the study found

1. HelpedGoals

   Adding points, levels or a leaderboard got people to make more tags, and levels and a leaderboard beat points.

   • Action: Set a specific goaltested
   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested

   Randomised trial of 273 adults who signed up for university studies · vs the same task with no game elements · behaviour was recorded

2. No differenceGoals

   Adding points, levels or a leaderboard did not change how well the tags matched the images.

   • Action: Set a specific goaltested
   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested

   Randomised trial of 273 adults who signed up for university studies · vs the same task with no game elements · behaviour was recorded

3. No differenceMotivation

   Adding points, levels or a leaderboard did not change how much people enjoyed the task for its own sake.

   • Action: Set a specific goaltested
   • Rule: Get a reward or payment for doing ittested
   • Rule: Compete or compare with otherstested

   Randomised trial of 273 adults who signed up for university studies · vs the same task with no game elements · behaviour was recorded

Source