Data-driven goal setting: Searching optimal badges in the decision forest

Although badges are among the most-used game elements in gamified education, studies about their optimal features to motivate learning are scarce. How should a badge be designed to represent an incentive for a specific goal like optimal exam preparation? This study examines usage data of a higher education learning app to determine whether the used badges have the intended motivational effect. The preliminary results suggest that the badges that were initially implemented in the app have the intended effect in most cases, but the stages of the multi-level badges could be optimized. The methodological framework used in this study can be transferred to usage data of other similar learning tools. With the help of easy-to-interpret outputs of decision trees, researchers and practitioners alike can work towards an optimal badge design.