In recent years, different studies have proposed and validated user models (e.g., Bartle, BrainHex, and Hexad) to represent the different user profiles in games and gamified settings. However, the results of applying these user models in practice (e.g., to personalize gamified systems) are still contradictory. One of the hypotheses for these results is that the user types can change over time (i.e., user types are dynamic). To start to understand whether user types can change over time, we conducted an exploratory study analyzing data from 74 participants to identify if their user type (Achiever, Philanthropist, Socialiser, Free Spirit, Player, and Disruptor) had changed over time (six months). The results indicate that there is a change in the dominant user type of the participants, as well as the average scores in the Hexad sub-scales. These results imply that all the scores should be considered when defining the Hexad's user type and that the user types are dynamic. Our results contribute with practical implications, indicating that the personalization currently made (generally static) may be insufficient to improve the users' experience, requiring user types to be analyzed continuously and personalization to be done dynamically.

中文翻译：

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人们的用户类型是否会随时间变化？一项探索性研究

近年来，不同的研究提出并验证了用户模型（例如 Bartle、BrainHex 和 Hexad）来表示游戏和游戏化设置中的不同用户配置文件。然而，在实践中应用这些用户模型（例如，个性化游戏化系统）的结果仍然是矛盾的。这些结果的假设之一是用户类型可以随时间变化（即，用户类型是动态的）。为了开始了解用户类型是否会随时间变化，我们进行了一项探索性研究，分析了 74 名参与者的数据，以确定他们的用户类型（成就者、慈善家、社交者、自由精神、玩家和破坏者）是否随时间（六个月）发生了变化）。结果表明，参与者的主要用户类型以及 Hexad 子量表的平均分数发生了变化。这些结果意味着在定义 Hexad 的用户类型时应该考虑所有的分数，并且用户类型是动态的。我们的结果具有实际意义，表明当前进行的个性化（通常是静态的）可能不足以改善用户体验，需要持续分析用户类型并动态进行个性化。