UC Davis

The users' behavior in a house impacts the amount of electrical energy consumption in the electrical products of the household; therefore, energy consumption can be optimized by using sense, smart and sustainable products (S3) as Social Products (SPs) for saving energy in the housing. The SPs communicate between devices and consumers through game design elements known as gamification that can yield behavioral changes in users. Furthermore, behavioral models can shape human behavior to motivate the individual to achieve a specific target, like saving energy. For the energy consumption reduction in households, it is proposed a structure with SPs that uses a gamification Human Machine Interface in each device to communicate between products and consumer in a Smart Home (SH). In this descriptive paper, it is proposed a three-steps structure that applies to every social product. First, it requires the classification of the type of end-user, the behavior, and usability problems when the product is deployed. Then, through the analysis of fuzzy logic, either type 1 or type 2, it is proposed which housing gamification elements best tailors the interface for each appliance. Finally, the application sends stimulus to individuals to test their performance and motivation to use each social product. After every social product has its proper gamification, it is possible to have interconnected SPs to get a Gamified SH. Besides, this Gamified SH could communicate with other Gamified Smart Homes to obtain a Gamified community.