So what is a Social Games?

A Social Game by its very nature is a multi-player activity. It requires others to participate and interact. But what are social interactions? Well here is a good diagram of everything considered to be a social activity, game or otherwise.

But there are lots of different aspects to social game design in today’s media landscape and so for the record this is what PlayGen defines as Social Gaming Mechanics :

Competition – the struggle between players or against the game system which is aimed at achieving key goals where the performance of the player can be measured in an absolute or relative way.

The easiest form of competition in social games is the accumulation of resources but literally any situation where the players have goals and rewards can be considered a competition.

Collaboration – a well designed game with a high level of social interaction often relies on the players to be able to collaborate and not only to compete against each other. This means coordinating their actions and sharing resources in order to reach goals or sub-goals of the game. Cooperation may allow players to divide goals between them and rely on one another abilities and resources to triumph.

Group Activities – although this may look like collaboration its actually a step beyond this, where a number of players do things together , this could be team play, developing alliances or specialist role play.

Stimulated Social Interaction – When we play games together it is social ! But what happens when you’re sat in front of a computer? At the basic level the idea is to provide the means with which players can have two-way communication between each other and respond to each others actions. This could be literal or it could be symbolic such as Trading or Duelling.

Here some of the top industry leaders try and define the means with which to make money from social games.

Its worth remembering, aside from War (an extreme form of social games) its games we play together that gives us our collective identity.

Ofcourse here at PlayGen we are developing  new social games, focusing on the serious and interesting issues and topics, rather than wasting time making games about planting virtual gardens, when in reality, the real garden is withering for lack of attention. The way we see it, this is the future – after all its been our collective past!

To see  how we start thinking when we conceptualise our game designs see :  Designing Social Games.

There’s a lot of variety out there in the realm of social network design. Some sites keep a very professional approach (like LinkedIn) while others have a more organic, free-form look (like MySpace). Most sites fall somewhere in between, mixing professionalism with personalization (like Facebook). But what’s the best way to design a social network? What are the elements that make a social network more user-friendly and more attractive to users? Read on to find out.

1. Engage Quickly

Engagement is crucial for the success of any website. You need to make sure that visitors are immediately drawn into your site, either through great content, a compelling call to action, or some other means.

What’s It For?

Users need to know what your site is all about within seconds of reaching your home page. Most people don’t have time (or inclination) to try to figure out what a website is for if it’s not immediately apparent to them. A simple tag line, the use of graphics, your site’s title, or any number of other elements on your home page can serve to provide new visitors with some indication of what your site’s purpose is.

Facebook does an excellent job of quickly informing new visitors of their purpose right on their home page.

Give Visitors Something To Do

Your home page should present visitors, both new and returning, with something to do. Logging in or signing up is the most obvious thing for visitors to do, but think about other options. Give them the opportunity to explore what the site is all about before they sign up. Let them search for people they already know on the site. Give them a chance to see why they should sign up before forcing them to. It builds a sense of trust between your site and its users right from the start.

Xing presents users with multiple actions right on their home page, including signing up, taking a tour, or exploring content.

Promote Interesting Content From Friends

Show your users what their friends are doing. From the moment someone logs in, they should be able to see what their friends have been doing, posting, and otherwise promoting. Most sites approach this with a news feed or similar listing of all the activities your friends are up to.

Library Thing shows books recently added by friends.

Make It Easy To Find Friends

There’s nothing sadder than a social network account with few or no friends. Make it easy for your users to find friends, both new and old. Letting users search by email, school, company, name, and other identifying factors makes it more likely they’ll engage with a lot of other users, improving everyone’s user experience. The more friends a user has, the more active their profile and news feeds will be, meaning they’re more likely to come back often.

Facebook’s “Invite Friends” page uses a format similar to sending an email.

2. Let Users Express Themselves

Self-expression is one of the hallmarks of social media. Some sites approach this by giving users almost full control over the way their profile page looks (MySpace). Others restrict the design options but let users add content to suit their own preferences (Facebook). The degree to which your social network allows users to cusotmize and personalize their profiles is up to you; just make sure there’s some functionality in that area.

Profile Pages Should Promote Personal Expression

Whether you allow full control over user profiles or only limited access to changing their appearances, users should at least have some ability to make their profile reflect their personality. This can be done through changing color schemes and backgrounds or adding content.

DeviantART allows artists to customize their profiles by adding different kinds of content modules.

Promoting Individuality In Applications

Letting users show their individuality within applications is also a good idea in social networking design. You can do this by allowing users to comment on their activities within applications (as Facebook does) or in other ways. Some applications can be used directly to express a user’s personality. Applications like this include the various gifting, flair, and survey applications. One of the best examples of an application that lets users express who they are is the Living Social application (which is kind of a social network within itself), which allows users to create “top 5? lists about almost anything.

3. Be Dynamic

Dynamic content is the lifeblood of Web 2.0 sites. Social networks are no different. Content should change constantly, with the newest, most popular, and most valuable information continually pushed to the forefront for users.

Have Regularly-Changing Content

Because of the nature of social networking sites, there’s new content constantly available from users. Take advantage of this by including content, both on the home page and on individual users’ profiles or main pages, comprised of these updates. Updated content keeps users coming back, as there’s more to see each time they visit.

Experience Project includes featured content on their home page.

Update Content in Real-Time

Utilizing a real-time news feed for your users is a huge convenience. At this point, very few sites are doing this. Facebook has the closest thing to a real-time news feed I’ve seen. It shows you when there are updates, but still requires a click to actually view them (and is often buggy when displaying them). The ideal would be an ajax or similar news feed that updated every minute or so without requiring any user input.

Living Social has a real-time news feed of activity happening across their network.

4. Allow Friends To Be Grouped

As friend numbers grow, the ability to group them becomes more important. When you only have thirty or forty friends, it’s often not a big deal to just lump them all together. But when your friend numbers grow to 100, 200, 500 or higher, being able to group them together almost becomes a necessity. After all, you might want to keep your work friends, college friends, casual acquaintances, close friends, and family all in separate groups, both to filter whose updates you see and how much others see of your updates and other information.

Let Users Define Groups

User-defined groups make the most sense when it comes to organizing friends. Some users may only want to organize their friends into a couple of different groups (such as business and personal or family and friends). Others might want to set up dozens of groups for their friends. In either case, make sure users can add their friends to more than one group at a time.

Create Automatic Groups

Automatically grouping friends makes sense, too. Grouping friends by which applications they’re using seems to be the most popular of this kind. Other options might include friends who are also members of the same groups or who share common friends.

The Brooklyn Art Project social network groups their members by the type of art they work with.

5. Use OpenSocial

OpenSocial, Google’s application platform for social networks, opens up a range of possibilities for your social networking site. The primary function of OpenSocial is to allow developers to create applications that can be used across a wide range of social networks. But OpenSocial has other benefits, too, like letting your users take their profile information across the range of sites using OpenSocial.

Provide More Applications To Users

Applications have become one of the most important and most-used features of social networks. Everything from productivity apps to games to gifting apps to apps for expressing yourself are available through OpenSocial. And developers are adding new applications on a daily basis. Because Google runs it, you also don’t need to worry about the program closing down anytime soon.

Ning is only one of a host of social networks that supports the OpenSocial API.

Let Users Take Their Profiles Anywhere

Allowing your users to take their profile information to other sites implementing OpenSocial is another big advantage. This, of course, means they can also bring their profile information over to your network, which can increase the number of new registrations you get.

6. Make It Easy To Communicate

The entire point of a social network is to foster communication. If you make it difficult for users to converse with each other, your site most definitely will not last for very long. Make sure when you’re planning and developing your site that you keep communication at the forefront of every decision you make. If it does anything to hinder your users from talking to each other, drop it.

Provide Multiple Means Of Communication

Most social networks provide multiple means of communication for their users. The basics are private messages, public wall messages or comments, and live chat or instant messaging. While it’s best to include all three of these, at a bare minimum your site should provide some way to send public messages and a way to send private messages.

Facebook’s private messaging system is only one way they foster communication among members.

Foster Conversations

Make it easy for users to have conversations with each other. Whether this is done through threaded messages, commenting, or some other method, you want your users to have effective conversations. Make it easy to pull additional people into the conversation, too, to make your site even more dynamic.

7. Show Only Relevant Information

Social networks are generally teeming with information. Between friend updates, users’ own activities, and notices from groups they’re associated with, there’s a constant stream of data coming at your users. Don’t compound the problem by sending them even more information that they dont’ necessarily need.

What Really Needs To Be Here?

When designing your user interface, ask yourself this question repeatedly. Is it really necessary for a certain bit of information or an option to be included on a given page? If the answer is no, then don’t include it there. Only give your users the minimum necessary information to perform the tasks you want them to perform. Just make sure if there’s additional information some users might want that you make it easy enough for them to find it.

Daily Challenge hides some information until users hover, which leaves their interface decluttered and clean-looking.

Don’t Overwhelm Your Users

The volume of information on a social network can quickly become overwhelming. Don’t contribute to this problem by then offering them a dozen different options for each action they might take on your site. Simplify the information and choices you give them to make their user experience better.

The same principal applies to the volume of information the site itself provides to users. If your site is constantly sending out updates and news announcements, it can quickly overwhelm users. Only send out notifications when absolutely necessary. Set up a blog or news page (with an RSS feed) for posting non-essential information. This way users can see what’s happening on their own terms.

Give Users The Ability To Filter

Allowing users to filter out information from some users or groups is another way to improve a user’s experience. Letting users filter out updates from certain users or applications makes it easier for them to see the information they want to see without getting overloaded.

Facebook allows users to filter their news feed based on content or user-defined groups.

8. Make It Easy To Take Action

Every social network has certain actions they want users to take. Whether it’s to join more groups, invite more friends, click on ads or sponsored links, or post more updates, there’s likely a laundry list of desired activities every site would like to have all of their users perform. The key to getting users to actually take these actions is to make it both easy and appealing to do so.

Emphasize The Desired Response

Make it obvious which response or action you want users to make. This can be as simple as using larger buttons for the preferred response and a small text link for the less desirable one, or using different colors or language for different options. In either case, make the desired response appear to be the more desirable one.

WriterFace makes it very obvious what actions they want users to take.

Make It Easy To Find Things

If you want users to perform certain actions, make it easy for them to find those actions. The most obvious example is in inviting new friends. Make it straightforward and easy for users to find the form to invite their friends who might not be members of your network. Organize available actions in a semantic manner so users can logically find the options they’re looking for.

9. Show Avatar Photos

Virtually every social network out there allows users to upload a profile photo. Display this image near any activity a user performs. This could be next to their updates in a news stream, in lists of friends, or in the general site directories.

People Like Seeing Other People

Social network users like to see other social network users. And seeing your friend’s picture next to a particular application or other element of the site makes it more likely you’ll click on whatever they’re promoting. It builds a sense of trust to see a face you recognize, even if you’ve never actually met that person in real life.

10. Include Ways For Members To Connect

When social networks first started, most people only friended other people they knew in real life. But as social networks have grown, they’ve become a way to meet new people. Empower your users to find each other based on common interests. Provide tools to let people who don’t know each other, and who possibly aren’t even friends on the network, to communicate and get to know each other.

Include User Groups

Many social networks now allow users to create and join groups based on common interests. Sometimes these groups are serious (such as professional groups) while other times they’re just for fun. What they all share in common, though, is that they allow users to find other users who are interested in the same things they are.

Eons showcases user groups right on their home page.

Provide A Member Directory

Member directories are another good way to allow your users to find each other. These are particularly useful for small, niche social networks, as they allow every member to see every other member. In a large social network they quickly become less valuable unless you also include ways for members to filter the directory (such as by age or location). In large social networks it’s also a good idea to let members opt out of being included in the directory (kind of like having an unlisted phone number).

This article was written by Cameron Chapman and has featured on http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/13/social-network-design-examples-and-best-practices/

Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman is a professional Web and graphic designer with over 6 years of experience. She writes for a number of blogs, including her own, Cameron Chapman On Writing. She’s also the author of Internet Famous: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Online Celebrity.

The design framework is the result of analysing a number of social network games. Looking at the most popular multiplayer games such as Farmville, Lil’ Green Patch, Mafia Wars, Who Has the Biggest Brain?,  or interesting game designs such as Parking Wars, PackRat, PhotoGrab.

Translating the results into a framework that can; inform design decisions, be used as an inspiration, and a starting point when brainstorming social network game concepts.

A design framework for social network play mechanics

Here is a framework of design drivers in visual format as devised by Aki Jarvinen.

Part 1:  Narrativity. This is  the concept that various player actions and play results are narrated across the network. That is why I argue that Narrativity, in this sense, deserves to be identified as an important aspect in the framework.

Asynchronicity permeates play in social networks: Play takes place in turns, or in individual time units (‘ticks’) per player which then get acknowledged by the game as a system facilitating networked play. That is why it is pictured as an orange, cyclical path of game play along which players repeatedly go through. Furthermore, their progress, network standing, and reputation evolves parallel to this cyclical process of core play mechanics.

In the visualization, the clouds between individual play moments specify some consequences for player experience, or ‘PX’ as Nicole Lazzaro calls it, that the particular transitions bring about. Therefore, the idea of the framework is that design solutions affecting and producing such transitions can be put into specific focus, and some perhaps emphasized over the others, thus giving the play the game facilitates potentially a different flavor.

Now, let’s start identifying design patterns which relate to the four aspects of playful interactions: Spontaneity, Symbolic Physicality, Inherent Sociability, and Narrativity.

Design patterns for social network play

The illustration below unravels a number of design patterns that can be used in supporting a particular aspect of social network play. Various specific implementations of each pattern can be found already out there, especially in Facebook, and without doubt, new ones will be introduced. However, such design solutions are constrained by the particular network they are implemented within, to varying extent.

Designing social network play: Unlearning game design and embracing network play

Design topics traditionally held as integral to good, successful games matter less – they are there to pay attention to, but they do not necessarily break your game. For example: game balance, i.e. designing the goals and rewards in a balanced way for each player to guarantee satisfactory play experiences, seems to matter less in social network games than with board games, or computer and video games.

Another aspect to unlearn, to an extent: Subtlety of game mechanics, and the dynamics they create, are not that important, when we are designing networked social play. This is largely due to the fact that it is the network, and its whimsical and contextual factors, including players with playful dispositions, that substitute such design sophistications in creating fun (enough!) experiences.

As a game designer, it can be hard to break from the above-mentioned tools of the trade, as they can be the very reason that games and designing are fascinating. But online social networks, and how people play them, is fascinating as well, right?

The near future of innovation in social network games

The above is not to say that new game design innovations won’t be seen in social network games – however, it is to say that the innovations will more likely take place in the aspects that characterize the network, rather than the game as a design object.

This example gives evidence that games in social networks are events and services, and they should be designed as such. This means being sensitive to the constraints and possibilities of networks, and the online human interactions – and creativity – they facilitate.

This article would not have been possible without the excellent work of Aki Jarvinen.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

We use established principles to achieve the best learning outcomes with our games and simulations. We use approaches from a wide range of fields; from psychology to instruction design and theories of fun and engagement.

The concepts we use when designing our games and simulations are similar in nature to the most successful games, training and education programmes. Our approach entails:

Creating Engaging Environments:

From the moment the student sits at a console, PlayGen games look and feel like popular console games. By purposely mimicking the curiosity-driven challenges and control techniques found in mainstream market games, the player’s attention is focused on the reactions necessary to succeed. Once play begins, the subject is transported to a virtual world, picking up the how-to’s by using in-game tutorials that allow play to continue. PlayGen’s staff consists of established writers and artists which strive to create fresh storylines with drama, humour and memorable characters, fully drawing the player into the fictional game world.

Providing Competitive Learning:

Players compete against one another, pushing their skill level in order to overcome obstacles and opponents. In competitive learning games, the better the player’s score, the better the comprehension level of the training.

Providing Motivational Tools:

PlayGen games are fun and interesting, using the virtual environment and challenges to extend the student’s desire to learn the subject matter. Mastery of subject matter will result in winning the game, motivating the player to truly comprehend the subject.

Rewarding Achievement:

Players are rewarded when they achieve a certain number of points and become the “winner,” meaning that they have achieved the goals and objectives for that particular lesson or game. Gaining and understanding new skills is a reward accomplished as different levels are reached within the game.

Aiding Comprehension:

Evaluations take place throughout the levels of the game, assessing comprehension of the subject. The reports generated highlight problem areas that are then replayed and explained within the game through the use of informative agents and plot twists. Problems are discussed between the tutor and the player, prompting questions and answers that in turn boost comprehension.

Ensuring Flexible Integration:

PlayGen games can be readily integrated into more traditional training or psychometric programs, combining the power of gaming with existing teaching methods. The games can be used in multiple modes, such as guided training sessions, group play and self-directed learning.

Providing Continuous Assessment:

PlayGen builds comprehensive performance monitoring for its games, as well as real time learning objective assessment and management. Our assessment programs show conclusively that comprehension has occurred and that the player understands and can recall the lesson material.

Delivering Comprehensive Output:

We provide during action and after action review – automatically generating customised reports for both the player and the facilitator. Workbooks and revision guides can be provided for individuals based on their skills.

PlayGen games and simulations have the same ability as the most popular computer and console games to emotionally transport the player into the virtual world, where adventure awaits. Learning and measuring occurs whilst the user is having fun or is fully immersed in the experience. Progress checkpoints help with knowledge transfer and better assessment of behaviour and knowledge.

What are Serious Games and Game Based Learning?

Serious gaming is the use of gaming technology for purposes other than primary entertainment. Digital game based learning is educational content delivered via a computer game. It goes further than e-learning packages, which simply put the textbook on the screen, to create a highly engaging, interactive virtual learning environment where the learner has complete agency to explore and react to the virtual world.

The fundamental characteristics which make computer games so entertaining also make this an ideal medium for teaching, learning and assessment. The training features of an excellent computer game are the same as the features of an excellent learning experience.