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Motivational Design

While the motivation of employees has been recognized as a major factor for successful implementation of knowledge management systems, most measures to influence motivation have concentrated on incentives, both in terms of monetary rewards and other extrinsically motivation schemes which are designed as top-down instruments. Research has shown that these can work under certain circumstances, but usually (particularly in genuine knowledge worker environments) are problematic, often short-term in their effects and sometimes even counter-productive. Web 2.0 has shown that under certain circumstances people are highly motivated to contribute and to share knowledge, a phenomenon which has stimulated further investigation into the subject like experiments on knowledge sharing behaviour from a psychological perspective. Little investigation has taken place for workplace settings where informal learning and the integration of learning and working are dominating elements: which barriers do we have to take into account there? How should supporting tools be designed for a workplace context?

As motivation is a wide and open field, the ethnographic studies have shown that it is more valuable to describe and address motivational barriers, rather than trying to decompose determinants of motivation as such. Those determinants rarely occur in isolation; real-world phenomena are complex mixtures so that the decomposition does not yield much added value. Barriers, however, and their systematizations allow for identification of different fields of intervention.

Within the MATURE project, a motivational model has been developed that identifies three different dimensions:

2011

John Cook, Andreas Schmidt, Christine Kunzmann, Simone Braun
The challenge of integrating motivational and affective aspects into the design of networks of practice
In: 2nd International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects in Technology Enhanced Learning (MATEL 11), ECTEL 2011, Palermo, Italy, 2011

BibTeX
Abstract In this position paper, we (i) set out the background, problems and questions involved in moving towards a design methodology for incorporating motivational and affective factors in networks of practice, (ii) define networks of practice, highlighting that motivational and affective factors are intertwined with a range of other complex issues, (iii) examine some of these aforementioned problems using a specific example from the MATURE IP (http://mature-ip.eu/) called people tagging, and use this case (iv) to delineate the challenge of integrating motivational aspects into the design of networks of practice.

Christine Kunzmann, Andreas Schmidt
Ethnographically Informed Studies as a Methodology for Motivation Aware Design Processes
In: 2nd International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects in Technology-Enhanced Learning, ECTEL 2011, Palermo, Italy, 2011

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Abstract While motivational aspects have been recognized as important factors for IT support for learning, it has been difficult to integrate them into requirements engineering processes. We propose ethnographically informed studies as an effective means that has been successfully applied in two research projects as part of their design processes and discuss the remaining challenges.

2010

Andrew Ravenscroft, Andreas Schmidt, John Cook
Designing for Motivation in TEL: Relevance, Meaning and Value in Context
In: Schmidt, Andreas and Braun, Simone and Cress, Ulrike and Holocher-Ertl, Teresa and Kunzmann, Christine and Mazarakis, Athanasios (eds.): First Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects in Technology-Enhanced Learning, ECTEL 2010, Barcelona, September 28, 2010, 2010

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Abstract Given the increasingly pervasive and important role of the net in our everyday lives, along with the many practices it mediates and supports, it is becoming crucial that we consider the role of motivation in TEL. This will help us to ensure that our TEL innovations are adopted, and their related learning activities are favoured, supported and realised in the digital landscape - and not avoided because our focus lies elsewhere or there are simply too many other things to do. And yet, motivation is poorly understood and usually not considered in the design of TEL. In addressing this issue (of motivation) this paper will reflect on perspectives from Psychology, Serious Games and Social Software, before proposing some initial ideas for designing for motivation. The arising design ideas that have initially been applied to the development of Digital Dialogue Games are now being articulated within a larger scale EU Integrated Project called MATURE, that is particularly challenged to design informal learning and knowledge maturing in the Web 2.0 workplace.

Andreas Schmidt
Motivation, Affective Aspects, and Knowledge Maturing
In: 1st International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2010

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Andreas Kaschig, Ronald Maier, Alexander Sandow, Mariangela Lazoi, Sally-Anne Barnes, Jenny Bimrose, Claire Bradley, Alan Brown, Christine Kunzmann, Athanasios Mazarakis, Andreas Schmidt
Knowledge Maturing Activities and Practices Fostering Organisational Learning: Results of an Empirical Study
In: Sustaining TEL: From Innovation to Learning and Practice 5th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2010, Barcelona, Spain, September 28 - October 1, 2010. Proceedings, Lecture Notes in Computer Science vol. 6383, Springer, 2010, pp. 151-166

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Abstract Knowledge work is performed in all occupations and across all industries. The level of similarity of knowledge work allows for designing supporting tools that can be widely used. In this paper an activity-based perspective towards knowledge work is taken. Based on findings from a previous ethnographically-informed study, we identified valuable activities to be supported in order to increase knowledge maturing inside companies. The goal of this paper is to contribute to which knowledge maturing activities are deemed important, so that they can be supported by IT services. Quantitative and qualitative data have been collected in 126 organisations of different size, sector and knowledge intensity. Important feedback and issues emerged and need to be managed in order to support success in the knowledge maturing activities that allow improvement of organisational learning through the dissemination and application of the most appropriate knowledge.

2009

Christine Kunzmann, Andreas Schmidt, Volker Braun, David Czech, Benjamin Fletschinger, Silke Kohler, Verena Lüber
Integrating Motivational Aspects into the Design of Informal Learning Support in Organizations
In: 9th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies, September 2-4, 2009, Graz, Austria, 2009, pp. 259-267

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Abstract Motivational aspects in knowledge management have so far largely been considered from the perspective of designing and implementing incentives that influence the extrinsic motivation of employees to participate, contribute, share etc. This is increasingly considered problematic so that this contribution takes a more holistic viewpoint by analyzing and systematizing barriers that have an impact on the motivation to engage in knowledge maturing activities. Based on an ethnographic study and targeted semi-structured interviews, a model is presented that decomposes the motivational aspects. Furthermore, it is presented how motivational aspects can be incorporated into the design of learning support systems.