How Game Devs Control Player Behavior (Kurt Lewin’s Secret)

[00:00:00]Did you know there's an equation for behavior? It can help you herd cats.

[00:00:03]Kurt Lewin is often called the father of modern psychology, a pioneer, a practical theorist, and in my mind, the godfather of social experience design.

[00:00:11]He coined the term group dynamics and developed an equation I often use to illustrate how game developers have more leverage over player behavior than they might realize. Behavior is a function of a person and environment, written as B = F and in parentheses P, E. What Lewin's behavior equation shows us is that behavior doesn't always happen in isolation, requires an environment, or as I like to say, conduct needs context.

[00:00:36]This means that the behaviors you see in games happen because we made the games and put players in them. And because we built the environment, we can change the environment, and changing the environment can change the behavior. The question is how, and that's for you to figure out. And that leads us to talk about herding cats, a metaphor often used to describe the futility of handling difficult situations, particularly when it comes to organizing people. Well, I have an answer for you.

[00:01:00]To herd cats, you tilt the floor. I'll say it once again so it sinks in. To herd cats, tilt the floor. Now, I wish I could take credit for this genius answer, but that goes to the book Community, The Structure of Belonging.

[00:01:14]The solution helps to underline what Kurt Lewin taught us. If you change the environment, you'll change the behavior.

[00:01:18]All right, that's it for this Grok and Go. Thank you for joining. Please hit subscribe wherever you're watching, and I hope you're thriving out there.