User-Centered Gamification: The Case of IoT-Enabled Energy Conservation at Work

Gamification is a contemporary powerful means of affecting human behavior. However, its effectiveness relies on both the users' profiles and non-game context characteristics. This article focused on designing gamified interventions guided by the users' profiles and the application context, towards increasing the potential for user engagement and behavior change. The authors apply a structured process while designing a serious game for energy conservation in three workplaces. First employee needs for self-actualisation, self-regulation, rewards and recognition, and affiliation are identified as the most prominent motivations to participate in gamification at work. Then their relationships with employee game element preferences and energy-saving behaviors are explored. Additionally, a mechanism producing personalized messages, which can be integrated with the gamified intervention, is proposed. Overall, this research can be useful to future researchers and practitioners that aspire to design successful user-oriented gamified interventions at work as well as different non-game contexts.