Gamified Trashcan
Littering in public parks has become a prevalent issue, undermining the intended purpose of these spaces, and posing environmental concerns. This project explored the use of co-experienced gamification to motivate individuals to properly discard trash in public parks. The Gamified Trashcan challenged users with a cooperative or competitive game when discarding their trash to motivate them to act in a more environmentally friendly way. As it was a research project, a constructive design research study was conducted to investigate their behaviour.
Project Type : Individual Project – Research Through Design
Contribution: As it was an individual research project I carried out all activities by myself.
Date: Feb/2023- July/2023
Prototyping
I defined the two game modes after which I started prototyping it. The final prototype is designed to resemble a trashcan where the top surface has six circular holes. At the centre of the top surface, a large green button is installed which serves to start the game modes but is also used as a feature in the cooperative game mode. Additionally, an LCD display is installed to relay the player’s score. Next to each hole, an individually addressable RGB LED is attached to offer instantaneous performance feedback to players.
Beneath the top surface, each hole is equipped with infrared (IR) sensors. When either game mode is started, the IR transmitters activate and, if trash is discarded into a hole, the IR receivers detect elevated values as the IR beams are reflected towards the receiver.
Testing
The participants were first introduced to a scenario in which they were enjoying a picnic in a park during summer. Afterwards, participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire where the Competitiveness Index (CI) was employed to assess the degree of competitiveness of each participant.
Subsequently, the scenario was continued, explaining that they had been sitting there for several hours and accumulated trash. Participants were then asked to gather a few pieces of trash lying around. Following the interaction with the gamified trashcan, participants were presented with the emotions from the Geneva emotion wheel.
The scenario was then reset, and the participants were asked to play the second game mode. Lastly, a semi-structured focus group was conducted.
Conclusion
This project investigated whether co-experiencing a competitive or cooperative gamified trashcan would lead to more intrinsic motivation to properly discard trash in public parks. Guided by the self-determination theory, the findings of the study indicate that both game modes are perceived as enjoyable and engaging by participants. Each game mode provides a sense of competence to players albeit in distinct ways. Notably, participants report a higher degree of autonomy in the competitive game mode, where solely their individual actions influence the game outcome. Thus, according to the SDT, the competitive game mode is more likely to enhance intrinsic motivation, potentially fostering long-term behavioural change.
These findings highlight the potential of co-experienced gamification of trash receptacles in parks, as a means to change the mindset of park visitors to discard their trash correctly, and to mitigate the negative environmental and social consequences associated with litter.
To read my full research paper about the gamified trashcan and it’s effects on motivation to discard trash, you can download it here: