论文标题
游戏化如何影响软件开发人员：GitHub上自然实验的警告证据
How Gamification Affects Software Developers: Cautionary Evidence from a Natural Experiment on GitHub
论文作者
论文摘要
我们研究软件开发人员的行为如何响应于删除GitHub的游戏化元素的响应，GitHub是一个用于协作编程和软件开发的在线平台。我们发现，从用户界面（从用户配置文件页面）中未经通知的每日活动条纹计数器（从用户个人资料页面）进行了重大变化。长期的活动被放弃了，变得越来越不常见。周末活动减少，开发人员做出单一贡献的天数变得不那么普遍。平台的社交网络中连续行为的同步也减少了，这表明游戏化是社会影响力的强大渠道。专注于一组公开追求目标以连续100天做出贡献的软件开发人员，我们发现其中一些开发人员在拆除公共条纹柜台后放弃了这一任务。我们的发现为游戏化对开发人员在大型协作编程和软件开发平台上的行为产生重大影响提供了证据。他们敦促谨慎：游戏化可以将软件开发人员的行为引导到意外和不必要的方向上。
We examine how the behavior of software developers changes in response to removing gamification elements from GitHub, an online platform for collaborative programming and software development. We find that the unannounced removal of daily activity streak counters from the user interface (from user profile pages) was followed by significant changes in behavior. Long-running streaks of activity were abandoned and became less common. Weekend activity decreased and days in which developers made a single contribution became less common. Synchronization of streaking behavior in the platform's social network also decreased, suggesting that gamification is a powerful channel for social influence. Focusing on a set of software developers that were publicly pursuing a goal to make contributions for 100 days in a row, we find that some of these developers abandon this quest following the removal of the public streak counter. Our findings provide evidence for the significant impact of gamification on the behavior of developers on large collaborative programming and software development platforms. They urge caution: gamification can steer the behavior of software developers in unexpected and unwanted directions.
