Gamification in a Physical Activity App: What Gamification Features Are Being Used, by Whom, and Does It Make a...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Behavioral Science
• Exercise Physiology

Background:

• Gamification is increasingly integrated into health apps to boost user engagement and effectiveness.
• Understanding the impact of specific gamification features on app usage and physical activity is crucial for optimizing digital health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if gamification in a physical activity app enhances usage and goal adherence.
• To describe the utilization patterns of gamification features and identify user demographics.
• To determine the association between engagement with gamification and increased physical activity.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving adult participants in gamified and non-gamified app conditions.
• Physical activity assessed via accelerometers and surveys at baseline and 9 months.
• App usage, goal adherence, and feature engagement analyzed using server logs and multilevel modeling.

Main Results:

• The gamified app demonstrated significantly higher usage days compared to the non-gamified version (113 vs. 81 days).
• Goal adherence (≥10,000 steps daily) did not differ between groups.
• Leaderboard and status features were most used; older age and lower BMI correlated with status views; higher stress correlated with gift sending.
• Engagement with gamification features was positively associated with increased physical activity.

Conclusions:

• Gamified physical activity apps can lead to substantially longer usage periods.
• While not improving goal adherence, gamification engagement is linked to greater physical activity.
• Leaderboards may be an effective gamification strategy; further research into diverse gamification techniques is recommended.