Sebastian Deterding

Sebastian is a researcher and designer working on persuasive, playful and gameful design (or “gamification”) for human flourishing. He pursues a PhD on the motivational psychology of gameified applications at the Hamburg University in Germany. He is broadly interested in how code shapes conduct: how software and games pervade everyday life, and what ramifications this holds for individuals, communities, ethics, and design.

He speaks and publishes internationally on gamification, social games, and the social contexts of video games at events such as the Gamification Summit, Gamescom, reboot, Playful, or DiGRA. His work has been covered by The Guardian, the LA Times, The New Scientist, EDGE Magazine, and Fast Company’s Co.Design.