Playing alone: can game design elements satisfy user needs in gamified mHealth services?

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Technology

Background:

• Chronic conditions require ongoing behavioral interventions, often delivered via mobile health (mHealth) services.
• Gamification is a strategy to boost engagement in mHealth, but its impact on psychological needs is understudied.
• Designing effective gamification for health faces challenges in satisfying users' social needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between specific game design elements (GDEs) and psychological needs satisfaction in gamified mHealth.
• To propose and utilize a structural taxonomy of GDEs based on self-determination theory.
• To assess the impact of GDEs on autonomy, competence, and relatedness in users of gamified exercise applications.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 236 users of gamified exercise/fitness applications.
• Qualitative interviews with 20 users to elaborate on survey findings.
• Analysis using a novel taxonomy of GDEs based on structural features (social, narrative, reward, control, presentation).

Main Results:

• Control and presentation GDEs positively correlate with autonomy satisfaction.
• Control and reward GDEs positively correlate with competency satisfaction.
• Relatedness satisfaction appears less influenced by GDEs alone, potentially moderated by player type and context.

Conclusions:

• A structural GDE taxonomy is effective for assessing gamification's impact on autonomy and competence in mHealth.
• Gamification design must consider player types and context to adequately address relatedness needs.
• Further research should explore limitations and strengths of structural taxonomies in gamification assessment for health promotion.