Developing and implementing a gamification method to improve user engagement: A case study with an m-Health application for hypertension monitoring

摘要

The lack of engagement throughout a patient's treatment is a regular concern among health professionals, who have been adopting technology as a motivational factor. This study presents a gamification proposition that aims to promote engagement in the user's treatment with the use of health-related systems. Seven stages compose the method: inspection of system requirements and its functionalities; mapping of the target audience characteristics; identification of interaction flows; gamification analysis applied in similar systems; selection of gamification elements; development; and evaluation. To validate the method, we developed two versions of an m-Health application, one with the game elements and one without these elements. In the evaluation stage, 14 patients with hypertension were divided into four groups to verify if the inclusion of game elements would promote greater engagement in health care. Data collection included engagement questionnaire, technology acceptance questionnaire, system logs, and participants' feedback. Results showed gamification favored the engagement, stimulating intrinsic motivation in the participants. Groups assisted by health professionals spent more time with the app and were motivated in maintaining control of their health. In conclusion, gamification proved to be effective for this context, since it did not add complexity to the application and promoted the desired engagement results.