CoSSMunity: Applying Gamification to create Informed Energy Users within a Smart Grid Community.
Abstract
s the world's population continues to grow, the importance of energy efficiency is getting increasingly dire. The amount of fossil fuels and and kilowatts a household expends has to be reduced. One way to accomplish this is by using green energy in the form of solar panels, and to educate the owners to utilize the energy in a smart way. Such a user will need tools in order to learn how much the house and its appliances are spending, how to save energy, and shift the timing of the expenditure according to availability. This project will introduce an ICT concept, which aims to inform the users of their behaviour, give tips on how they can improve it, and gradually persuade the users to change their behaviour into a more efficient one. The concept has adopted different behaviour change methods and theories, such as feedback, gamification, and social norm.
This study follows the design science research methodology and results in a working prototype of the behaviour change technology. This prototype is evaluated through an expert evaluation in the form of a semi-structured interview session.The findings of the evaluation suggest that the prototype is a solid foundation in regards to creating a successful persuasive ICT. However, the findings suggests that the user should be able to choose what information is presented. This is in order to keep the information understandable concerning difficult terminology and measurements. The information given should also provide suggestive feedback to the users, so they can utilize the feedback from the system and learn how to be more efficient. The participants of the evaluation presented creative ideas ideas for improvement in regard to these findings. These have been documented and should be considered during further development of the prototype.
Although findings from this study show that the foundation has been made, further research is required in order to determine the level of relevance of the ICT and if it is of a successful persuasive design.