Just Not The Usual Workplace: Meaningful Gamification in Science

Abstract

Gamification is known as motivational tool that can increase engagement and performance. And while its application in corporate work environments has received significant research attention, little focus has been placed on gamification of tools employed in the scientific workplace. As is well understood, meaningful gamification needs to appeal to intrinsic motivations of users, requiring a deep understanding of their needs and practices. As we lack research on gamification design models adapted to scientific work environments, we have no structured way of considering researchers as a unique type of employee. We motivate the need for future research on gamification design for tools employed in the scientific workplace, which should take into account unique practices, needs and ambitions of scientists. We highlight how a structured design process can profit from social scientists’ field studies.