Mapping Gamification Mechanisms to User Experience Factors for Designing User Interfaces

Abstract

Healthy living applications have been proposed as an ideal tool for behavior change. The use of gamification in healthcare interventions is gaining popularity, but there is still a need to clarify how to employ the benefit of this technology for managing children’s behavior. This paper proposes a new approach for mapping Gamification Mechanism (GM) to User Behavior Techniques (UBTs) considering User Experience (UX) factors. The reason for this mapping is to provide a list of recommendations for the gamification designers to include new design features in designing and developing the user interface for mobile games to sustain user engagement and to keep using the game for the benefit of changing behavior. The proposed design aims to provide a solution for both the provider (designer) and consumer (user) of the healthcare application. The benefits of the proposed approach help to increase the usability, awareness and attention of the user through engaging in the gamification.