TWA focused on one scenario that was relevant and universal (e.g. earth) so that the concepts taught on TWA were understandable to Wikipedia's vast user population. Also using one scenario allows the tutorial to teach a range of technical skills and discuss community norms

The tone of the prompt must be conversational and humorous to ease the user's inhibitions 

Stories/Themes

Helps new users realize that they are not just completing tasks, they are creating an identity for themselves. Each completed task is awarded by a badge shown on their public profile  

Badges

Challenges encourage users to make a certain number of contributions within a period of time

Challenges

The Wikipedia Adventure (TWA) is organized into seven sequential missions (levels), each targeting different learning objectives tied to the five pillars of Wikipedia: (1) Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia; (2) Wikipedia has a neutral point of view; (3) Wikipedia is free content; (4) Wikipedians should interact in a respectful and civil manner; and (5) Wikipedia does not have firm rules. Beyond technical skills, the missions convey Wikipedia's key common norms and rules and reinforce its purpose as a collaborative effort while explaining the project's history and philosophies.

Missions (Levels)

Hamari, Juho, et al. “Does Gamification Work? -- A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification.” 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2014, doi:10.1109/hicss.2014.377.

Does Gamification Work? A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification (Hamari, et al.)

- Points
- Leaderboards
- Achievements/ Badges
- Levels
- Stories/Themes
- Clear goals
- Feedback
- Rewards
- Progress
- Challenges


University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Wikipedia launched an interactive tutorial that has both a structure and video game elements that helps new editors get accustomed to Wikipedia's technical requirements and rules/policies

The Wikipedia Adventure (TWA): Field Evaluation of an Interactive Tutorial for New Users

Purpose:
- How new users perceive the system design and tone (via survey~11,000 editors)
- If using TWA led to making more contributions prior to being invited to participate in the tutorial (via field experiment~1,967 editors)

Results:
- From the survey, users found TWA engaging and well-designed for new users.
- Even though new users say that TWA is very useful and helps new editors, the results from the field experiment report that TWA did not effect editing contributions)


Purpose and Summary of Results

10 Common Motivational Affordances of Gamified Systems (Hamari, et al.)

Having a dedicated space for new users to make contributions without being penalized for mistakes

Creating Spaces for New Users to Practice Making Contributions

Wikipedia relies on individualized socialization where it is up to the user to learn the norms and policies. New members learn by asking for help/feedback and referring to Wikipedia's help and policy page

Also learn what not to do by receiving warning and advisory messages they receive from senior members. 

Newcomers Learning about Wikipedia

University, Sneha Narayan Northwestern, et al. “The Wikipedia Adventure: Field Evaluation of an Interactive Tutorial for New Users.” The Wikipedia Adventure | Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, 1 Feb. 2017, https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2998181.2998307

The Wikipedia Adventure: Field Evaluation of an Interactive Tutorial for New Users

Without structured guidance about Wikipedia's contribution rules, newcomers may develop their own contribution practices, and those practices may persist over time.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After