# Engagement

There are three ways to create engagement (explained below) but the key thought to hold in mind is to **show the player that their actions matter**.

People learn best when an exercise meets these criteria:

* It’s **relevant** to their job
* There’s a **problem** to solve
* They have **agency** to solve it
* They can use their **experience**
* There is something **practical** they can do

## Creating Engagement

The diagram below and the following explanation is an easy way to think about creating engagement in your exercise.

<figure><img src="/files/mUMSfAJGx9d0RYdgOqTR" alt=""><figcaption><p>Repurposed from Fundamental Components of the Gameplay Experience by Frans Mayra &#x26; Laura Ermi</p></figcaption></figure>

1. **Challenge-based engagement:** when someone is trying to solve a problem, make a decision, or create some content (e.g. a press release/update brief)
2. **Narrative-based engagement:** this is how relevant and believable the scenario is to the training audience
3. **Spectacle-based engagement:** this is the momentary engagement from rich media such as video pop-ups, images, audio, and phone calls etc.

## Flow

"Flow" is a game design term, which refers to **the player's state of mind when their skills and the challenge of the game are aligned**. Too high a challenge for the capabilities of the audience will create anxiety and too low a challenge will create boredom.&#x20;

Some anxiety may be necessary in a crisis exercise to condition the player to working under duress. As the player rises to the challenge **their skill level will increase and enable them to grow beyond their comfort zone**. However, it's still important to pitch challenge at the right level.&#x20;

Exercise control can use Conducttr's MELs and Pattern of Life to dynamically add or or less for the player to consider - this can be really helpful in maintaining engagement.

## Ultimately...

**Sustained engagement comes from designing exercises that adapt to player actions**; balancing challenge, relevance, and realism so players remain in a state of productive "flow".


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