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ENTERTAINMENT COMPUTING Volume 46, May 2023, 100571 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2023.100571Get rights and content HIGHLIGHTS * • Identifying the factors responsible for user retention.
* • Implementing gamification elements in OnTheMove! Application for user adherence. * • Using Performance Functions to measure the effectiveness of Behaviour Change Technique and Self-
Determination Theory. ABSTRACT Numerous applications have been developed using gamification in the field of health and well-being to help modify lifestyle factors associated with various
diseases such as cancer, diabetes and many more. To improve well-being, an individual needs motivation, and this motivation is the key driving factor responsible for user engagement. This
research aims to investigate strategies to encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle using gamification and identify the key factors responsible for retaining users. The study was not
limited to certain activities such as the gym or sports but also motivated people to engage in small activities, for example, doing household work, walking and many others. Most of the
existing physical activity gamification application focuses on elements such as reward, leaderboard and competition, while very few of them investigate various motivational elements using
motivational techniques. Therefore, as a part of the project we found useful to develop a system with which to measure different ways to implement motivational elements and to identify which
motivational technique works on certain age groups. The application was developed using Unity and C# supported by iOS, Harmony OS and Android. The main aspect of the research focused on
motivational techniques such as Behavior Change Techniques (BCTs) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to tackle the issue of behavior change and user adherence. BCTs are techniques to help
individuals change their behavior to adapt to a healthy lifestyle, and SDT is a theory in which individuals motivate themselves. The pilots were conducted to measure the impact of BCTs and
SDTs with organizations such as Middlesex University, Unitas and Hendon School. The participants were of different age groups. The strategy used is to gather feedback using questionnaires
and collect data used in Performance Functions to measure the effectiveness of BCTs and SDT. Using Performance Functions, we measured each component of SDT and BCT, which is one of the
contributions of this research. The results show that certain age group participants adopt certain characteristics. Therefore, the Purpose component of SDT motivates participants of all age
groups to be physically active compared to other SDT components. In addition, the Daily Streak was popular among adults, while Active Travel was mostly used by teenagers and children in the
Habit Formation category of BCT, which helped them to stay engaged for longer. INTRODUCTION A sedentary lifestyle has become a major issue, and is a worldwide problem. According to the World
Health Organization [1], 39 % of adults are overweight and 13 % are obese, i.e. 650 million adopted unhealthy lifestyles in 2016. A key reason for this is owing to minimal mobility and
exercise, causing an adverse effect on human wellbeing and leading to incurable ailments such as diabetes and cardiac issues. Despite having gyms and fitness courses, people are more
inclined towards a sedentary lifestyle. There are various reasons for adopting an unhealthy lifestyle. Firstly, being physically active is difficult due to long working hours and
insufficient time to exercise. Also, desk jobs adversely affect individuals’ health, leading to less physical activity, which causes a sedentary lifestyle. Secondly, many people spend time
on digital leisure activities such as TV, smartphones, etc., which require constant sitting, and continuous seating for a long time, causing spine disorders. Finally, shopping has become
easy. More people are using online services for shopping or buying groceries. Sitting in one place and with one click, the items are at doorsteps, which leads to increasing sedentary
behavior. Consequently, people are adopting unhealthy lifestyles, which cause health problems. One of the important causes for sedentary behavior is a lack of motivation, leading to an
inactive lifestyle. The contemporary lifestyle health risks are increasing due to people’s individual behavior. Thus, a change in behavior can significantly improve well-being. However,
behaviors such as physical activity, exercise and diet require motivation to achieve behavior change. In the area of health and well-being, gamification has been increasing in importance
[2]. Gamification is defined as “the use of game design elements within non-game contexts” [3]. The advantage of gamification is to enhance user engagement and user experience. Gamification
is used in various industries, such as the health sector [4], social media [3], education [5] and many more. Game-based technology, also known as gamification, is used to promote intrinsic
motivation. It increases the level of involvement and motivation. There are two types of motivation, namely, intrinsic motivation rises from doing things ‘for their own sake’ while extrinsic
motivation rises from external factors [2]. Extrinsic motivation includes feedback such as money or verbal praise while intrinsic motivation includes group quests [6]. According to
Kasurinena and Knutas [7], Crowdsourcing and Games for Health are used in the context of gamification. Crowdsourcing is an online task to socially interact where a group of people
participate in a task of different levels to gain a mutual advantage. On the other hand, Games for Health are to enhance the health or fitness level of the user by motivating users to engage
in health-based activity. It is designed to train the user to be physically active while playing games. It promotes exercise gaming to improve the user’s way of living. However, user
adherence is a key factor in the domain of gamification. More insight is required into the driving factors responsible for user adherence [8]. The goal of this study is to focus on user
adherence and encourage them to live a physically active life. Due to the historical context described in the previous section, it was identified that gamification has a good potential for
addressing some health issues, particularly in terms of motivating people to be physically active. However, it is still not clear which things work well to motivate people to move more. It
was worth investigating more deeply the role of gamification in well-being. Therefore, the initial aim and objectives of this research are as follows: * A1 – To identify the advantages and
challenges of using gamification for well-being. * A1- O1: To identify the challenges in the existing gamification applications for well-being. * A1- O2: To identify the factors encouraging
the uptake of gamification for well-being. These aims and objectives will be expanded with other aims and objectives after the Related Work. The main challenge is encouraging people to focus
on their well-being by being physically active and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. Advanced technology, such as gamification, can help people to change their habits [7]. However, existing
gamification application developed focuses on elements such as points, badges, and leaderboard, but only a few of them investigate various motivational components using motivational
techniques such as BCT and SDT. After a comprehensive review of these studies, the outcome suggests a gap in the research, and more research is required for the factors responsible for
motivation. Therefore, to provide a better solution and fill this research gap, this research proposes a methodology using a user-centered development methodology linked with motivational
techniques. To support our research, it was identified that a gamification application better equipped with motivating factors such as BCTs and SDTs could prove useful. We supplemented the
app with the definition of Performance Functions which can be used to measure which motivating factors encourage users of certain age groups to stay active for a longer term. At the initial
stage, an in-depth survey and workshop with colleagues were conducted to examine different existing gamification technologies and motivational techniques used to motivate people to be
physically active. The study's outcome indicates that a better development of the system is required that focuses on identifying driving factors responsible for user adherence that keep
users sticking to a healthy lifestyle for the long term. Therefore, the key contributions of this research are as follows: * • Proposing a methodology using a user-centered development
methodology supplemented with motivational techniques. * • Developing a user-friendly gamification application to collect data and identify the effectiveness of various elements of
motivational techniques. * • Assessing the proposed innovation with people from different sectors of society and different age groups through several pilots. We systematically gathered
feedback from the participants through competition and questionnaires which we used to expand the offer of motivational techniques offered. * • Defining Performance Functions to examine each
element of motivational techniques and identify which works best for user motivation. The next section provides a state-of-the-art summary of relevant work on user adherence. We explain
which adherence features we have considered and how we implemented them in the current system. We further explain the various mechanisms we used for continuous assessment of the product and
the embedded adherence strategies. In Section 3, we proposed a methodology linked with a motivational technique guided by User-centered Development Process. Also, a detailed discussion of a
workshop conducted with colleagues and stakeholders is explained in this section. The development of the application is discussed in Section 4, linking it with motivational techniques. The
validation and results are discussed in Section 5, which gives information on which motivational technique works best for our system. The conclusion and future work are provided in Section
6. SECTION SNIPPETS RELATED WORK This section focuses on the research closely related to user adherence and gamified applications used in healthcare. The research conducted by Rose et al.
[9], designed a gamified mobile health application known as ‘_MYSUGR_’ to examine the behavior of a group of diabetic patients over 12 weeks. The outcome of this research was positive.
Improvement in blood sugar levels was observed. However, the challenge faced by them was to keep users engaged. The adherence rate of the app users was 88 % but SYSTEM DESIGN METHODOLOGY The
methodology used to achieve the objectives of this research is to follow the User-centered Intelligent Environments Development Process (UCIEDP) [21]. The UCIEDP is used in this research
for iterative improvement and to incorporate novel design ideas. It guides the development of the system. Methodology emphasizes the direct involvement of stakeholders at all stages of the
project. Fig. 1 shows how the project evolved from the low maturity level of the app to a high level through DEVELOPMENT OF ONTHEMOVE! APP The OnTheMove! application has been developed using
BCTs and SDT in the Development stage of UCIEDP. The application mainly focuses on user adherence and encourages users to stay active using small physical activities. Fig. 6 shows the
proposed application architecture. When the user opens the OnTheMove! application, the user gets steps from the Health app in iOS and the android sensor in android, and using the algorithm,
the steps are converted into virtual coins (top of Fig. 6). The coins can VALIDATION AND RESULTS The OnTheMove! application was designed to implement the motivational technique for user
adherence. It collects the steps and converts them into coins, and the steps can also be transferred to goals and competitions. The application was then examined using pilots with different
organizations to enhance our system using user feedback and to get in-depth knowledge about each component of BCTs and SDTs by measuring it using quantitative metrics (PFs) in our system.
These pilots are discussed in DISCUSSION This section discusses the overall achievement and outcome of this research based on the aims and objectives stated in 1.1 Initial problem
definition, aim, and objectives, 2.1 Problem definition, aims, and objectives. A literature review was conducted to identify the advantages and challenges of using gamification to encourage
people to be physically active. As a result of the literature survey, we gained a better understanding of the topic. The literature review in Section 2 revealed that some CONCLUSION AND
FUTURE WORK In conclusion, although gamification is used for user engagement and enhancing user experience, previous research suggests that user adherence is still a challenge and requires
more research. This study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental elements that contribute to encouraging and retaining users to become more physically active and focus on their
health. The strategy is to keep people engaged by using a gamified app and inspiring them to stay fit. The main factor in DECLARATION OF COMPETING INTEREST The authors declare that they
have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project has benefited from
the input of colleagues: Ondrej Benes, M.Sc. and Dr Simon Best (Management Leadership and Organizations Department). We would like to thank Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) and Barnet Council
team for their contribution and funding of this project (Contract number 102368). Also, we appreciate the work of author JBGarraza for creating avatars such as Toon teens and Toon people.
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SMARTPHONE-BASED WAY TO IMPROVE WALKING AND URBAN HEALTH 2025, Journal of Transport and Health Show abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has led to reduced physical activity and well-being, and
there's a need for innovative approaches to encourage active lifestyles. Snailstep, a walking-encouraging app that offers personalized walking incentives, could be a promising solution
for urban settings. Our study evaluates the influence of Snailstep on the improvement in walking, health, and mobility patterns of Zaragoza users under COVID-19 mobility restrictions and its
possible impacts on CO2 emissions. Comprehensive data on Snailstep usage, step counts, mobility patterns, and user surveys were collected from 210 users per month in Zaragoza, Spain, from
February to December 2022. Linear regression models examined associations between app usage time and changes in physical activity. Geospatial analyses mapped hotspots of walking activity and
modeled neighborhood factors influencing mobility. Self-reported health and mental well-being were also assessed. The 210 monthly Snailstep users took an average of 286,050 steps, traveling
2435.67 km over the study period – reducing the equivalent of 51.8 private cars, 5.4 buses, and 4.32 trains from Zaragoza's transportation system in peak months. Each additional 30
days of app use was associated with a 25-step increase in daily steps and 723 more monthly steps on average (p < 0.001). Engaging more businesses (B = 9 steps/business, p < 0.001) and
social sharing (B = 21 steps for sharing, p < 0.05) amplified activity gains. Over 120 days of use led to nearly 55 more daily steps compared to newer users. Maps highlighted walking
hotspots in mixed-use neighborhoods with amenities. However, lower-income areas had 24.2% less app usage (p < 0.001). The percentage reporting good/excellent health rose from 71% to 81%
(p < 0.001), while depressive symptoms fell from 42% to 27% (p < 0.001) after app adoption. Snailstep incentivizes physical activity and improves health in urban areas, even during
pandemic restrictions. It could be integrated into public health initiatives to promote healthier habits post-pandemic. * ACQUISITION OF MATH KNOWLEDGE IN DIGITAL AND NON-DIGITAL GAME-BASED
LEARNING CLASSROOMS: IMPACT OF INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AND COGNITIVE LOAD 2025, Entertainment Computing Citation Excerpt : The interest/enjoyment subscale assesses the level of enthusiasm for
learning, considered as the main self-report measure of intrinsic motivation. The perceived choice and perceived competence concepts are theorized to be positive predictors of both
self-report and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation, and pressure/tension is theorized to be a negative predictor of intrinsic motivation [33]. Our study therefore adopts this
framework to measure learners’ intrinsic motivation. Show abstract Educational games, spanning a wide spectrum from digital games to non-digital games, have been considered as promising
tools to facilitate math learning. However, previous studies focused more on digital game-based learning, few compared the differences between digital and non-digital games. We conducted a
quasi-experiment to examine the effects of digital and non-digital games on math knowledge acquisition, intrinsic motivation and cognitive load in Chinese classrooms. Two equivalent versions
of games (digital vs non-digital) focusing on coordinate knowledge acquisition were developed, and three groups (digital game, non-digital game and traditional teaching group) were
assigned. The results reveal that students in the digital game group reported significantly higher intrinsic motivation and lower intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load than non-digital
game group. While non-digital game group had better knowledge acquisition performance and germane cognitive load than digital game group. Our findings suggest that affordance of game
technology influences students’ motivation and cognition, causing “false” high motivation and low cognitive engagement among students. Non-digital games could serve as cost-effective
alternatives to enhance math learning performance within authentic classrooms, thus providing valuable insights into establishing a resilient and sustainable game-based learning environment.
* EVALUATION OF THE “15 MINUTE CHALLENGE”: A WORKPLACE HEALTH AND WELLBEING PROGRAM 2024, Healthcare Switzerland * INDOOR-OUTDOOR GAMIFIED SCHOOL PROPOSAL TO GENERATE HEALTHY HABITS 2024,
Sportis Scientific Technical Journal of School Sport Physical Education and Psychomotricity View full text © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.