Understanding playability and motivational needs in human computation games

Abstract

Human computation games (HCGs) refer to applications that use games to harness human intelligence to perform various computational tasks. We examine how different types of HCGs affect players' perceptions and their motivational appeal, as these influence good HCG design. We focus on image tagging HCGs, where users play games to generate keywords for images. Three versions were created: collaborative HCG which required players to cooperate, competitive HCG where players worked against each other, and a control non-game manual tagging application. The applications were evaluated to uncover participants' playability perceptions, and the influence of motivational needs on usage intention. Results suggest that participants reported liking the collaborative and competitive HCGs over the control application. Further, using the trichotomy of needs theory, we found that an individual's need for achievement and power influenced intention to use the various applications. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.