Simple acts for a better world: A gameful system for prosocial behavior - Preliminary design and research plan.

Games and gameful systems designed to support social change most often seek to persuade by inducing empathy and outrage through the depiction of the direness of social issues and thus motivating people to take action. However, motivation is only one possible angle from which to approach behavior change. When capability or opportunity for meaningful impact are not given, people may refrain from taking action even when motivated. This work-in-progress outlines the theoretical background and design plan for a pervasive gameful system. Based on the behavior change wheel this system is designed to propose simple actions tailored to the player’s given capabilities and opportunities, thereby encouraging prosocial behavior. We conclude with a discussion of the research plan for the evaluation of the prototype and the prosocial actions by means of two rounds of mixed-method diary studies.