warming the kiln…
Segmentation layer
There is no average user. Andrzej Marczewski’s Hexad takes Bartle’s four MMO archetypes and re-grounds them in Self-Determination Theory — six motivational types you can actually segment and design for. Hatched bakes Hexad into the recommendation engine: registry-backed feature surfaces declare which types they serve, and the Planner ranks your roster by your audience’s real mix.
Richard Bartle’s 1996 paper "Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades" carved MMO players into Achievers, Explorers, Socialisers and Killers — a useful taxonomy for MUDs but a poor fit for the workplace. Andrzej Marczewski’s 2015 work kept the segmentation instinct but re-anchored it around gamification motivations instead of MUD roles.
Tondello, Mora, Marczewski, and Nacke later developed and validated a 24-item Hexad scale across large English and Spanish samples, with further adaptations in other languages. That gives us a peer-reviewed segmentation model specific to gameful design — not an unverified vibe check.
For UX designers and L&D leads the practical version is simpler: stop optimising for an imaginary median user. Six tiles, six motivations, one recommendation engine that respects the mix.
Progress and competence. Loves a clear track from novice to expert; gets visibly upset when the criteria are fuzzy.
Loves
Giving meaning to teammates with no expectation of reward. The quiet engine of healthy workplaces.
Loves
Connection and shared moments. Energy lives in feeds, reactions, and "your teammate just…" pings.
Loves
Creativity and meaningful choice. Wants to make the system theirs, not just play it.
Loves
Rewards and the game itself. Honest about the loop — give them a fair scoreboard and they will play it well.
Loves
Pushing the system to its edges. Drawn to the unpredictable corners (CD7) and to bending the surface to their own ends (CD3).
Loves
The 6D Wizard Step 3 pre-fills the audience mix using one of these five presets. Admins fine-tune the sliders from there; if a tenant turns on the in-widget Hexad survey, runtime responses replace the estimate after 30+ responses land.
Mastery-heavy with a strong Free Spirit and Philanthropist undercurrent — autonomy and helping teammates outweigh leaderboard chasing.
Honest scoreboard culture — Player + Achiever lead, with Socialisers powering team dynamics. Leagues, leaderboards and bossfights work as intended.
Achiever-Philanthropist balance — learners want progress and meaningful contribution, with Socialiser energy in study cohorts.
Philanthropist-led — the team is wired to help customers. Kudos, mentor visibility and Group Quest carry more weight than leaderboards.
Free-Spirit-led with a strong purpose layer — wellness programmes thrive on autonomy, meaningful framing and quiet team support.
Twenty-four Likert items, about five minutes, your results back on screen. The same widget that ships inside Hatched tenants — running against the demo origin.
Hexad answers "who is this for?" — the segmentation problem. RAMP carries the ethics and narrative voice, Octalysis runs the 8-Core-Drive design audit, Werbach 6D scaffolds your onboarding, MDA names the architectural layers, and Fogg + Hook checks registry-backed behaviour units. Six frameworks, one segmentation engine — no average user in sight.
The 6D wizard takes ten minutes — and pre-populates the Planner with the features that match your objectives, players, and culture.