Andreas notified me of a great blog on the topic of experience design: Creating Passionate Users

He also gave me a link to a great post by Kathy Sierra that I wanted to share. She translates the Rules of Play book rules into general rules for all kinds of applications:

Typology of Cognitive Pleasures (in no particular order)

1. Discovery – User experience as exploration of new territory
2. Challenge – User experience as obstacles to overcome, goals lying just beyond current skill and knowledge level.
3. Narrative – User experience as story arc (user on hero’s journey) and character identification
4. Self-expression – User experience as self-discovery and creativity
5. Social framework – User experience as an opportunity for interaction/fellowship with others
6. Cognitive Arousal – User experience as brain teaser
7. Thrill – User experience as risk-taking with a safety net
8. Sensation – User experience as sensory stimulation
9. Triumph – User experience as opportunity to kick ass
10. Flow – User experience as opportunity for complete concentration, extreme focus, lack of self-awareness
11. Accomplishment – User experience as opportunity for productivity and success
12. Fantasy – User experience as alternate reality
13. Learning – User experience as opportunity for growth and improvement

It is nice to see such a list defining all the types of good experiences that help to bind users to your product/application/whatever. She proved that these gaming theories translate well to the real world. Games are all about immersion and fun and this is also the main goal for experience design. It is also nice to see that game elements that fullfill these needs really work in successes like mySpace and Flickr.

Games are primarely searching for the best experience and I think we need to translate more of the findings in that area to all what surounds us to make life more fun.