Can gameification motivate exercise : A user experiment regarding a normal exercise app compared to a gamified exercise app

• Main Author: Sundberg, Jonathan
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Blekinge Tekniska Högskola 2018
• Subjects: gameification; exercise; motivation; health; virtual progression; experiment; Computer Systems; Datorsystem
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-17240

Background. Regularly exercising is difficult, some people stop exercising either due to it not being fun or they might not see any results of the effort they put in. Exercise and gaming or also know as exergaming, is a way to combine the fun entertainment of games with the health benefits of exercise. Objectives. The objective of this study is to conduct an experiment to find out if people are more interested in an exercising app which has been gamified compared to a normal exercising app. Gamifyingsomethingsuggeststhatsomethingwhichisnotconsideredagamemedium is taken, and then influence with game related aspects. Methods. A prototype was created to show the participants both sides of the exercise apps, one normal app which resembles an everyday exercising app, and one gamified app which shows the user their progress in a fashion similar to role-playing games with levels and quests. The participants of the test will try both apps and later vote in a survey whichever they liked the most. Results. While only about 60% of the participants had prior experience with exercise apps, 90% would rather choose the gamified app over the normal app. 95% of the participants were regular gamers. Conclusions. The vast majority of the participants preferred the gamified version of the app over the normal one. Specifically mentioning that they find it more interesting and that they enjoy the upfront progression system a lot more since they are used to it from the games they play on their free time