HCA Framework

The Here Comes the Airplane (HCA) Gamification Framework:

Facilitating Gamification Design through Narrative Structure

September 4th, 2023 (half day)

Description

This workshop presents the Here Comes the Airplane (HCA) gamification framework. The framework is based on several narrative arcs such as Freytag’s Pyramid, The Hero’s Journey, and Story Spine; its concept focuses on establishing a relationship between the structure of a narrative arc and Level 2 Octalysis as a way to facilitate the design of gamified narratives for educational activities.

A prototype will also be presented, designed for the use case of a digital platform called Fora d’aulas. This prototype is aimed at facilitating the usage of the HCA framework in a scenario where digital badges are the main game element used in the design process of gamification strategies. The topics addressed in this workshop are as follows: PBL gamification, storification, Freytag’s Pyramid, The Hero’s Journey, Story Spine, Octalysis framework, and the usage of storification in the design of gamification strategies.

Goals

This process hopes to help the participants find a richer and more well-rounded approach for their gamification strategies even when dealing with more day-to-day educational activities.

Workshop Activities

Activity one: Presentation of the HCA framework, its goals, structure, and the concepts it is based on.

(30 min.)

Activity two: Exercise where participants create a storification narrative for an activity chosen by the participants and based on the HCA framework resorting to a validated prototype. This process also includes the design of digital badges following the HCA framework principles.

(1h)

Activity three: Presentation the resulting gamification strategy to the group.

(45 min.)

Activity four: Open debate regarding the pertinence of the framework, its integration into an interface, and the experience of designing a gamification strategy while following this framework.

(remaining time of the session)

Workshop objectives and expected outcomes

The workshop expects its participants to use the HCA framework for reimagining a chosen educational activity as a narrative and later on design and position digital badges throughout the created narrative. This process hopes to help the participants find a richer and more well-rounded approach for their gamification strategies even when dealing with more day-to-day educational activities.

The outcome of this process will consist of several gamification strategies designed by the participants while resorting to the presented prototype. The exercise will be followed by a presentation of all the designed strategies and an open debate regarding the pertinence of the HCA framework, its integration into an interface, and the experience of designing a gamification strategy while following this framework, which will serve as data for the investigation at hand.

Participation and Workshop Format

The workshop will be held in person and is prepared for 6-10 participants. No previous preparation is necessary to enroll in this workshop as all activities and artifact production will take place during the session.

Participation in this workshop does not require any previous experience in the subject matter. The themes explored during the workshop will be introduced and briefly explained during the initial presentation in order to facilitate its debate later on.